Persuasion

Saw Persuasion (thanks, Anne!) It was a period drama, based on the Jane Austen novel of the same name. The protagonist, Anne, is an unmarried woman who is regarded as essentially sexless by her friends and family. They cavalierly throw her under various buses and nobly sacrifice her happiness to the common good. She is left unsupervised, in a sort of familial isolation which, thanks to her strength of character, is not a prison but a sanctuary. Most of the plot's activity happens to other people while Anne watches and listens and waits her turn. Even the climactic kiss (this is, naturally, a romance) is upstaged by a passing circus parade.

The film opens underwater, looking up the bottom of a boat. Although of course we don't know it at the time, this scene sets up some themes for the film. We are looking at a peaceful, blue stillness while frantic activity is taking place above the water, outside of the camera's view. This is also a little detail that most period films would skip. Therefore, it is no great surprise to learn that this film was shot entirely on location and in natural light. This is a detail-obsessed film. Close-up shots emphasize tiny details which are sometimes used, solo, to tell the story. A hand on Anne's hip as she is helped into a carriage, a purposeful lack of eye-contact, a backward glance, these tell us uncertain volumes. There is an essentially comic montage early on, showing how much Anne is emotionally exploited by her family. No one behaves particularly badly, no one even raises their voice, but we understand how trapped and how put-upon Anne must feel.

Usually, restrained films don't get to me. I don't really know why but this one did. Perhaps the uncertain, almost gossipy (but never salacious,) way in which the film is shot made it easy for me to be interested. Does she really mean what she's saying there? Why did she emphasize "family" just then? Why did he emphasize "duty?" Why are we closing up on their shoes? It's a very fun maze to navigate. Not all of these questions are relevant, and sometimes I hit dead-ends, but the film ushers us along to a satisfying ending that side-steps schmaltz and hysterics. This is a restrained film, but not dry, and not moralizing. Classy is more the word.