Persuasion screenplay by Nick Dear, based on the novel by Jane Austen was the 1996 Winner of The BAFTA TV Award for Best Single Drama, it also won another four BAFTAs – incidentally, they have given the BAFTAs for 2026 the other day, and we had a little scandal, what with the fellow with Tourette shouting during the ceremony – the 1995 adaptation (there are more than five it seems) is also one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made – you find thousands of notes on films from the NYT 1,000 and other lists, plus reviews of books from The GOAT and other sites on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html

 

Persuasion screenplay by Nick Dear, based on the novel by Jane Austen was the 1996 Winner of The BAFTA TV Award for Best Single Drama, it also won another four BAFTAs – incidentally, they have given the BAFTAs for 2026 the other day, and we had a little scandal, what with the fellow with Tourette shouting during the ceremony – the 1995 adaptation (there are more than five it seems) is also one of The New York Times’ Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made – you find thousands of notes on films from the NYT 1,000 and other lists, plus reviews of books from The GOAT and other sites on my blog https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html

 

6 out of 10

 

I wonder how it happened that I was so enthused about Persuasion https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/07/persuasion-by-jane-austen-10-out-of-10.html the first time I encountered the narrative and there are some answers, one would be that it was the book, or audiobook, all those years back

 

Ergo, the original must have been much more impressive, without the ‘contribution’ of the BBC team, mind you, I have been an admirer of the outfit, and things British in general, somehow, especially that period of glory, British Empire, Somerset Maugham, but this time, I thought the adaptation a failure, as far as I am concerned

Both leads have been a disappointment, especially Amanda Root as Anne Elliot, for this viewer, she was confused, unconvincing, I could not see a good reason why I should watch her act, and then there is Ciarán Hinds as Captain Wentworth, wooden, perhaps a bit better than his partner, still, the question was:

 

-          How is this one of The Best Movies Ever Made

 

The answer would be, in a cynical vein, it must be in the last, 1,000th place, but even then, it would not make it on my list: not that it matters, indeed, I am tempted to laugh at myself once in a while, now would be a good moment, what with 20 clicks in some days, on my blog, who bothers to take any account of this?

I have had days when there have been one thousand clicks, but that was some mistake, surely, anyway, to make me less enchanted by Jane Austen, I have Kingsley Amis to thank https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/11/what-became-of-jane-austen-and-other.html his essay on Austen in particular

 

He called ‘Mansfield Park an immoral book. What became of that Jane Austen (if she ever existed) who set out bravely to correct conventional notions of the desirable and virtuous? From being their critic (if she ever was) she became their slave. That is another way of saying that her judgment and her moral sense were corrupted. Mansfield Park is the witness of that corruption. I did teach Mansfield Park at Swansea, and very scathing about it I was. I had concluded that Jane Austen was a 2nd-rate pisser while still at school.’

Furthermore, I have read in another essay about Jane Austen, related to Thomas Picketty, a very influential French economist, of the (far?) left, that the relationships described by her could never have happened, the different classes lived in separated universes, you could not have Pride and Prejudice https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2024/12/pride-and-prejudice-by-jane-austen-12.html which I used to enjoy so much, and it is on the list to watch, so a note will be posted in the near future, on the version with Laurence Olivier

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – I am on Goodreads as Realini Ionescu, at least for the moment, if I keep on expressing my views on Orange Woland aka TACO, it may be a short-lived presence

Also, maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this https://realinibarzoi.blogspot.com/2025/09/do-you-have-any-feedback.html – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the benefits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

 

 

 

 

 

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