Persuasion (2007) (Repackage/DVD)

EUREKA! I have found it. I have found the key word.The key word is ENJOY!I ENJOY being alive. I ENJOY breathing the air. I ENJOY being able to sleep, to dream, to think, to write. I ENJOY reading books. And I especially ENJOY writing personally-revealing reviews of personally-revealing books that ignite the imagination and send the mind flying!OK. OK. Enough about me. What about you?Why might you want to read Jane Austen's "Persuasion"?Why, to ENJOY the book of course!OK. Very good. But why stop there? Why stop at the ENJOYMENT of reading the book? Why not let your mind go beyond the ENJOYMENT of reading the book? Why not keep going until you arrive at the ECSTASY of seeing, hearing, experiencing something imaginary, something ideal, something unreal, as if it were really happening right here, right now, in real life?Sounds great! But how?By bringing the book to life in your mind.Yes. Yes. Yes. But how? How??By seeing the 2007 movie “Persuasion,” starring Sally Hawkins and Rupert Penry-Jones, BEFORE reading the book. That's how.I did see/hear the movie BEFORE I read the book. And I'm glad I did.As I read the book, the movie kept coming back to life in my mind.In addition, the book revealed -- in depth and in detail -- all of those seemingly minor thoughts, feelings, and incidents that did not make their way into the movie.By means of the written word, a book can open a character's heart and mind to the reader. By means of voice-over, a movie can do the same kind of thing. But not to the EXTENT that a book can.Be that as it may, whatever the movie may lack in such EXTENT is made up for, many times over, by the movie's astounding EFFECT.Indeed, insofar as EFFECT goes, there is something in the movie that surpasses anything and everything in the book; in any other book I have ever read; and in any other movie I have ever seen.That extraordinary "something" that I am raving about is the kiss scene. Not just the kiss, mind you. The scene!(Not to mention the love letter -- and the race against time -- leading up to the kiss scene.)In that kiss scene, a moment of time becomes an eternity of bliss. The infinity of space shrinks to nothing. Nothing except! Nothing except a small warm pocket of space wherein there is room enough for only two human beings, two people, a man and a woman, this man and this woman. Each is the whole world of the other.What will become a kiss evolves and revolves between the two of them, binary stars, paired, gradually encircling one another, beyond the reach of all the universe that is not their own. It is just the two of them. Nothing more. Nothing less.Try as I may, I cannot tell you in words. The book cannot tell you in words. You have to see the movie to believe it. Seeing it, hearing it, you will believe it, even though it is nothing but make-believe."Nothing but make-believe"??? What a thing to say!!!As if make-believe were of little or no value. A next to nothing sort of thing. A waste of time! of money!! of life itself!!!OK. OK. I stand corrected. How dare I down-talk make-believe!Let me slow down here, stop, and ask myself a couple of questions:1. What would thinking be like without the make-believe of imagination?2. What would life be like without the make-believe of dreaming?Those two questions have these two answers:1. We cannot think without imagining.2. Nor can we live without dreaming.So, no more down-talking make-believe. Not by me anyway.OK. Agreed.Now that's settled, I can turn my back on things that do not interest me, and return to what does -- i.e., "Persuasion" -- book and movie.Much as I much prefer books to movies, the "Persuasion" movie of 2007 is exceptional. So exceptional that, if I had to choose one over the other, either the book or the movie, I would choose the movie.By the grace of good fortune, however, I don't have to choose between the two. For, I have both: the movie and the book.Each is excellent. Both are superb. And the two together are scintillatingly synergistic.When push comes to shove, however, my mind must admit, and my heart must confess, that, to my way of thinking and feeling, the movie is even better than the book, simply because of the kiss scene.That kiss scene is so good, so well done, so realistic, so believable, that I believe it to be real, even though it is make-believe.Is believing in make-believe such a bad thing? I think not.Speaking of thinking, consider this:Once you have seen/heard the love letter, the race against time, the kiss scene, and the other scenes in the movie, you can replay them in your mind by conducting "search and enjoy" missions: just pick up the book; flip to the juiciest pages; and read to your heart's content.What could be easier? What could be more enjoyable?? Certainly not the realities of everyday life. Ugh! Why get into that when you can get into this: a good book.

I got tired of what I was reading. Read the book then decided to buy the movie. I was surprised how often the movie used phrases from the book l love the movie.

(***contains some spoilers***)I enjoyed this movie very much. The musical score is beautiful, and adds great depth to the story. Costumes and locations also draw viewers into the story period. Although not an "Austen purist", I have read "Persuasion" and I own most of the various film adaptations of her novels, including the previous version of "Persuasion" starring Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root.Comparing the two DVDs, I find that, while the earlier version of "Persuasion" may more exactly align to the book and is a wonderful movie, this newer adaptation has an updated approach that allows viewers to more closely engage with the characters, especially with Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth. Sally Hawkins plays Anne Elliot as a well-born Englishwoman who loves her family, close friends and home with such depth that she accedes to their disapproval of her attachment at 19 to as yet unproven young naval officer Frederick Wentworth and breaks off her engagement. The movie picks up 8 yrs later when Captain Wentworth has made his fortune in the Navy and returns to the area where Anne sees him again through his interaction with her extended family and friends.In this 2007 movie version I better understood the relationship between Wentworth and Anne. I felt Anne's grief and regret at losing through her own choice what she later realized was her best chance for happiness, loving him still and forced to watch him being pursued by others. I recognized Wentworth's anger and resentment at being dumped as a young man because of his "station"; his pride smarting at the continued denigration he experienced from Anne's supercilious family and close friend Lady Russell. I saw his fascination with Anne despite all this, his inability to love or marry another because of her. In Rupert Penry-Jones' portrayal of Captain Wentworth, you sense that he is constantly aware of Anne both in and out of her actual presence. There is also a fuller realization of his own culpability in the events that transpire due in part to his own behavior. In his initial desire to prove his indifference to Anne, he himself is the one that nearly derails a second chance at happiness.The ending scenes are what I found most expanded from the novel. While Anne's racing around Bath on foot to find Wentworth was perhaps unusual, it is in keeping with her determination to seize her happiness despite any obstacles. Though she deals graciously in her own sweet way with interruptions along the way, her absolute determination to reach Wentworth is very evident. The scene where she responds to his proposal has got to be one of the most intensely filmed, yet innocent, love scenes in recent memory. Sally Hawkins' whole demeanor - her eyes, body language - as she tells Wentworth in period language that she'll marry him was absolutely stunning. In the final scene, there was a certain justice in Anne receiving from Wentworth the home she loved and had tried so hard to maintain despite her family's spendthrift ways.All in all, a great movie and refreshing take on a classic period novel.

Seemed to be a hiccup with the delivery date as received messages order was delayed and was to be delivered several days after original delivery date - most likely a glitch with the Postal Service. Order was received on the original delivery date and arrived in perfect condition. Pleased with the product.