ENSTARZ REVIEW: 'Persuasion' Starring Dakota Johnson Honors Jane Austen's Humor, Strength, and Intelligence With a Dignified 2022 Flair
The Netflix adaptation of Persuasion is a delightful reimagination of the Jane Austen classic that perfectly blends the heart of the original work with enough modern flair to answer the ever important, though often overlooked, question every remake should face: "Why?"
I am a MAJOR Jane Austen fan. I spent the lockdown combing through every novel. I have spent long and thrilling days with my friend marathoning the 1995 (yes, 1995) Pride and Prejudice BBC series (which IS better than the 2005 film). Where my Instagram Discover Page is not littered with videos of food (because, obviously), it is all Jane Austen memes. I actively follow the hashtag #JaneAwesomeWednesday.
Have I proven my qualifications? Amazing.
(Sorry for shading the 2005 movie - please keep reading! Don't leave me yet!)
When I heard that there was a new film adaptation of Persuasion coming out, I was a bit weary. In the novel, the Elliot family was so cruel and Anne so maddeningly obedient, I often wanted to throw the book into the ocean (a la Kim Kardashian throwing her cell phone into the water but with a classic Brit-lit spin).
Of course, the novel still captivated the quintessential Austonian levity, but I feared this tempered nuance would be completely missed in a film adaptation, reducing Anne Elliot to a weak, girl-sighing-out-of-window-refusing-to-say-what's-wrong type. Nightmare.
I have never been more thrilled to be wrong.
Dakota Johnson plays an Anne Elliot that radiates strength, humor, and kindness. Rather than allowing her character to be defined by her romantic disappointment, she instead lives her life boldly in spite of it. She finds humor in the ridiculous stiff-upper-lip of her family. She is kind not because she feels obligated to be, but because she sees no reason not to be.
She is capable, strong, intelligent, free-spirited; Her portrayal of the Regency-Era lead reads less like a Radio Rebel and more like a Ferris Bueller.
The brilliant use of asides in the film allows the viewer to understand the character's innate awkwardness in public social settings (which adds depth to her image-obsessed family's aversion to her) while understanding her clear and advanced intellect in her private moments of thought.
We see her playful personality shine through. Rather than falling victim to society's expectations, she is instead a champion of confidently (as Jane Austen *certainly* would have summarized it herself) not giving a LITERAL f***.
The only place we see a crack in her self-assured armor is in her romantic life.
Due to the brilliant construction of the character, the juxtaposition of Anne's confidence with her romantic uncertainty breathes new life and pain into the love story. Seeing someone so steadfast in respect to their own kindness and character falter in the one instance that would bring them joy is powerfully painful, and poignantly revealing.
When we first see Anne, we understand that she has been yearning for Captain Wentworth, played by Cosmo Jarvis, unfalteringly for eight years. Instead of seeing a character who has let life pass her by, passively at the whims of others, viewers watch a woman who was persuaded (get it?) by those closest to her into one bad decision; a decision for which she fears she will forever reap the consequences.
Even in the height of her despair, we do not see someone weak. Instead, the pining Anne Elliot is displayed as something of a Bridget Jones's Diary type (which itself is a Pride and Prejudice film interpretation, so this reference is like an Austonian tuduken, but I digress.) She makes laughing remarks about how she is handling it quite well while sardonically referencing her wine drinking, crying baths, and - of course - lying dramatically face down on her bed.
Through this adaptation, the Anne Elliot established by Johnson is awkward and emotional in a way that makes her hilariously relevant to the modern viewer.
Many film adaptations, when tackling time-period sensitive material, falter when it comes to the negotiation of Regency Era values with modern day constructs. The reason that Austen's work has been so long enduring is that, regardless of the strict moral codes of the time (or the it's-cool-if-you-marry-your-cousin mentality), she put her finger brilliantly on the pulse of the human condition, a heartbeat has maintained a steady beat through the course of time.
Many adaptations fall victim to trying to layer something new and modern onto the work, making the final product seem pushy and disjointed. When creating a successful adaptation of Austen's work, the goal is not to develop direct parallels to modern situations, but to harvest this truth and ever so slightly accentuate it. This was masterfully done in Persuasion.
Through the adherence to Regency Era social norms, the creators of the film were able to take minor liberties in the language, which gave viewers a solid foothold into the more relatable aspects of the piece.
For example, when Anne's sister Mary Elliot, played by the hilarious Mia McKenna-Bruce, was going off on yet another self-involved tirade, she managed to work the phrase, "I'm an empath" into her speech, giving every 2022 viewer a laugh, an eye-roll, and an IMMEDIATE understanding of exactly who Mary Elliot is.
This kind of liberty is excellent only because the adherence to the source material in other areas of the film was so intelligently sincere: In short, they didn't over-modernize.
This leads us into the film's major success: Answering "Why?"
Remakes should not be made for the sake of having a remake. There should be a reason, something that is specifically being addressed about the modern world that can best be told through this time-tested vehicle.
We live in a world filled with image obsessed people who think they know everything. Remaining true to yourself in the face of it all is far more difficult than it may seem. Furthermore, with the rise of technology, information is everywhere, and it is overwhelming. It is easy to fall into the trap of assuming you know nothing and that everyone around you knows everything (and vice versa.)
It is far easier to reject the siren call of self-congratulatory "empaths," and social-standard edicts set by over-edited Instagram influencers, than it is to reject the confidence of those closest to you that they know, better than you do, what you should do with your own life.
This adaptation of Persuasion comes at a poignant time for society, because it shows us that in order to live a truly happy life, it has to be your life. Without the courage of your convictions, you will be lost.
Persuasion is streaming on Netflix now.
