Persuasion

Persuasion is a 1995 film by Sony Pictures Classics and BBC Films.


Overview 

Eight years earlier, Anne Elliot, the daughter of a financially troubled aristocratic family, was persuaded to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a young seaman, who, though promising, had poor family connections. When her father rents out the family estate to Admiral Croft, Anne is thrown into company with Frederick, because his sister is Mrs. Croft. Frederick is now a rich and successful Captain, and a highly eligible bachelor. Whom will he marry? One of Anne's sister's husband's sisters? Or will he and Anne rekindle the old flame?

 The film enters on a shot of a sinking boat

 There is then a close up of the oars of a rowing boat with the first title of the film

 it then moves to a medium shot of rowing boat with another title

 there is then a new location as it moves to the grounds of a stately hope with sheep in the front garden and the title of the film

 we then return to the nautical shots with another close up of the oars

 there is then an extreme long shot of the sail boat accompanied by some larger ships in the distance and another title

finally there is a shot of the spokes of a carriage and it tells us that the music was an original score for this movie by composer jeremy sams

The target audience for this film are people interested in literary adaptations through film as Persuasion is a famous Jane Austen novel.

The opening also shows that there are two parallel stories and two different locations, the sea and the grounds of a stately home.

This film conforms to the codes and conventions of a period drama as it is a literary adaptation, it is also strong in the sense of mise en scene with the costume and location, the characters are dressed in traditional 18th century dress and the location of the stately home really supports the time in which the film is set.