Persuasion...I am almost persuaded to like this new version!

The new PBS Masterpiece Classic version of Persuasion aired last Sunday evening. I waited with bated breath to see how they would treat my favorite Jane Austen novel this time around.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root version from 1995. I have watched it at least a dozen times, and always anxiously await the letter scene -- the scene where Anne reads Captain Wentworth's letter. It takes my breath away. In both the film and the book, THAT is my favorite scene. The language is delectable...filled with heartfelt honesty and passion.

You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years and a half ago.

See, what I mean? That's good stuff right there!

So, here we are 13 years after that film, and this latest rendition of Persuasion debuted last Sunday. First off, like my sister, I enjoyed it. I did. Captain Wenworth was a great deal more handsome in this version for our added viewing pleasure. Anne was charming and delightful despite the breathless running sequence at both the beginning and end of the film.

However, Mary was NOT delightful. No, I didn't like the acting, the voice or screen presence of Mary. Elizabeth seemed too old to be merely 2 years older than Anne. She was old enough to be Anne's mother by her appearance.

The film was rushed in places, scenes and language from different sections of the book were pulled together in a jumbled convaluted sequence at times, but all in all, I liked the film and have already ordered my own copy.

I guess even though I tend to be a bit of a purist and don't like liberties to be taken with my favorite books, I am able to separate a rendition as a work in and of itself. Yes, I'll take the time to see the inconsistencies as compared to the novel or previous film versions and do a full critque to be sure, but I can accept this new version on its own merits, too. It had flaws to be sure, but I still found it delightful!