Dom Robinson reviews

Cat.no: BBCDVD 1004

Cert: U

Running time: 103 minutes

Year: 1995

Pressing: 1999

Region(s): 2, 4 (UK PAL)

Chapters: 18 plus extras

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)

Languages: English

Subtitles: English

Widescreen: 14:9 (1.55:1)

16:9-enhanced: No

Macrovision: No

Disc Format: DVD 5

Price: £19.99

Extras : Scene index, Booklet, Biographies.

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Director:

Roger Michell (My Night with Reg, Notting Hill, Titanic Town)

Producer:

Fiona Finlay

Screenplay:

Nick Dear

Music:

Peter Howell

Cast:

Anne Elliot: Amanda Root (The Man Who Cried)
Captain Wentworth: Ciaran Hinds (The Man Who Cried, Oscar and Lucinda, Titanic Town, TV: Ivanhoe, Jane Eyre, Prime Suspect 3, Young Person's Guide To Becoming a Rock Star)
Lady Russell: Susan Fleetwood (Heat and Dust, The Krays, TV: The Buddha of Suburbia)
Sir Walter Elliot: Corin Redgrave (Four Weddings and a Funeral, TV: The Ice House, Ultraviolet)
Mrs Croft: Fiona Shaw (The Butcher Boy, London Kills Me, Three Men and a Little Lady, Undercover Blues)
The First Doctor (original): William Hartnell (Brighton Rock, Carry On Sergeant, Private's Progress, The Way Ahead, Will Any Gentlemen?)

Jane Austen's Persuasion is a love story gone wrong. Over seven years ago it wasn't her head that ruled the heart of Anne Elliot (Amanda Root), but the heads of others who persuaded her not to accept the proposal of marriage from Captain Wentworth (Ciaran Hinds).

Now, after all this time, he has returned from his time at sea one of the most eligible batchelors around, but it's up to her to persuade him that they should be together, despite all the misunderstandings and the etiquette of social arrangements of the era getting in the way. Of course, you know how it will end because you can see the result on the front cover, which is different to the original choice seen above.

The picture quality is rather a disappointment. Yes it's watchable and it's not the occasional flecks on the print that are the problem, but it's one that could have so easily been resolved: The ratio on the disc is 14:9, but like all major BBC dramas filmed in the last few years, they were shot at the 16:9 widescreen ratio much associated with digital television but when transferred to video or broadcast on analogue TV, they are often compromised with this 14:9 halfway-house ratio which is a central crop of the original 16:9 ratio. The average bitrate is a fine 5.37Mb/s.

The sound quality is fine. I have no complaints with the surround soundtrack but it's mainly used for ambience and a few directional effects and won't have the neighbours banging on the walls.

Extras :

Chapters :

Languages & Subtitles :

Biograhpies :

Booklet :

Menu :

Overall :

Jane Austen isn't usually my cup of tea and whatever your thoughts on her works, Persuasion will not change your mind. Due to the widescreen ratio, this particular disc is only worth considering if you watch the video so often that it's wearing out and are in need of a more durable medium.

The other titles now available are Monty Python: Best of Vol.1, The Black Adder Series 1, Noddy In Toyland, Persuasion and coming in January 2000, The Planets.

Scheduled for Spring next year are : Monty Python: Best of Vol.2, Gormenghast, Walking with Dinosaurs and, of course, Black Adder II.

As for which DVDs I'd like to see from the BBC in future. They include : Red Dwarf (in their original versions, not the remastered form), The Young Ones, Filthy Rich and Catflap, Fawlty Towers and, depending on whether I could bribe the new DG with enough cash, Eldorado...

FILM	 		: **
PICTURE QUALITY 	: ***
SOUND QUALITY		: ***
EXTRAS			: *½
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OVERALL			: **½

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.