I liked this movie better than the 2007 movie. If the new film is more sensual and focused mainly on Frederick and Anne and on the glances that flash between them, then this is a clear measured film adaptation that gives us more ideas not only about lovers, but also about their environment, which is still important. Although the two films are only 10 minutes apart in timekeeping, all the minor characters do not appear all at once, but gradually, and we manage to get at least some information and get an idea of their character before we move on to acquaintance with others. We fully see the snobbery of Sir Walter and Elizabeth, their extravagance and absolute disregard for Anne, the selfishness and hypochondria of Mary, the meanness of Mr. Elliot, who in the 2007 film adaptation did not look like a lying hypocrite, which he is.
I think it's the concise but accurate depiction of Anne's environment that gives us insight into her condition. Someone wrote that she looks bad, at all 35, but what should a girl look like, who is forced to listen to the complaints of numerous relatives and acquaintances on each other, endure the stupid vanity of her father and 8 years in a row beat herself up for a minute, when in her cowardice she refused the only one she loved? I believe that these are the best ways to reveal before us the emotional state of the heroine and her confusion.
The brave Captain Frederick is played here by Kieran Hinds. He may not be an example of classical male beauty, and his facial features are rough, but he is full of charisma, and his eyes are simply bottomless, and what a huge palette of feelings is hidden in them! Kieran Hinds succeeded in something that Rupert Penry-Jones, who from the very first meeting with Anne, showed us deep but one-sided feelings. And here we see how Frederick's eye expression changes - he meets Anne with coldness and almost natural indifference. When he says things that only Anne can understand the double meaning, and his eyes are fixed on her, we see his resentment and the pain of a wounded heart that he has cherished for 8 years and cannot easily forget. And then, gradually, what a dramatic change happens in these eyes, how interest, hope, passion appear in them. However, his face remains calm. Bravo, Kieran Hinds, to play such a range of feelings with one eye - it's strong.
Also, this film adaptation seemed to me closer to the style of the time than the film adaptation of 2007. I can’t explain why it’s possible to choose colors and materials. Here I see the dresses on the girls, and I can believe that they really wear them as casual clothes, not just received from the costumer. When I see a sofa, I’m really sure that family members like to sit on it in the evening, it doesn’t scare with too bright and new upholstery. The sea here seems much closer and more natural, the same applies to all other locations – they are more like a natural environment than a scenery.
I really liked the ending of the movie. I think that in this story it is absurd to focus on the house, as in the end of the 2007 film, because the main thing here is the feelings, the determination of a woman who once almost missed her happiness forever, the determination to follow him always and everywhere, anywhere, as long as he is with him, the only one and beloved, which is shown to us.
In my opinion, this film deserves more attention
9 out of 10