Oh, how horrible was this 1971 adaptation! I was cringing and screaming in my head. Ann Firbank, what were you doing? Why did you have to kill the essence of Anne Elliott? Where was the tension, the vulnerability, the maturity that came despite the hesitation? You saw Frederick for the first time in Mary's kitchen as if you saw a postman delivering a letter!! You read Frederick's letter at the end, as if you read a newspaper advertisement for a cheap toaster!! There was no chemistry between Anne and Frederick. No, No, No! Simply no! A beautiful book rendered charmless. The only saving grace was that this adaption literally covers almost all the scenes from the book - no matter how inefficiently. I had to re-watch some scenes from 1995 and 2007 adaptations to restore my world before I could sleep.
Review of Persuasion
