| 8+ Cautions: some language, very mild sensuality, some immodesty and a brief image of a nude statue, brief emotional intensity, and mild ethical confusion
Persuasion is a story of unrequited love. It’s been eight years since Anne refused him because a family friend objected to his poverty and obscurity. Now Captain Wentworth’s wealth and prospects greatly exceed her own. Meeting again, her heartache and his indifference, absurd and painful social forms, the persistent domineering influence, and the introduction of dangerously appealing romantic interests play out in a thousand looks and sighs in this understated film that is unique among Jane Austen adaptations.
1995 | Roger Michell | 107 min
Some Language
d-mn
d-mn
d-mn
Lord bless me!
Lord bless me!
in the name of heaven
A use of “Oh G-d!” may be sincere.
Very Mild Sensuality, Some Immodesty and a Brief Image of a Nude Statue
An engaged couple kisses very lightly.
Characters walk past a large, male full-frontal nude statue. This is very brief, but very noticeable.
Women occasionally reveal some corseted cleavage.
A girl behaves in a somewhat flirtatious manner, but is negatively portrayed.
Brief Emotional Intensity
A young boy is carried unconscious as his mother follows in a screaming panic (the boy had broken his collarbone and recovers). A young woman falls from a height and is seen unconscious while people gather around her. These scenes are not sensationalized and will not bother most viewers.
When told about the fall, the girl’s parents react in complete panic.
The deaths of a mother and a fiancee are referenced with sadness.
Mild Ethical Confusion
Main character Anne argues with her father (an obvious fool, by biblical definition) over keeping an appointment with a person of lower social standing rather than breaking off the appointment to visit an unliked person of high social standing. Anne refuses to break her prior engagement. Given Anne’s pattern of obeying her father’s petty and/or wrongly-motivated commands at other times, the conflict is over morality, not authority.
Anne’s invalid friend gathers “delicious gossip”. Anne appears somewhat interested, but stops her when it gets too personal. Later, the gossip reveals a deceitful person’s character.
Note:
A man and woman get into a minor debate about whether men or women are more prone to forget a loved one. No side is ultimately taken.
Anne excuses a father’s decision to leave his injured son for an evening by saying, “Nursing does not belong to a man. It is not his province.”
A military man hopes to see another war.
A couple of romances between cousins are referenced.
Characters smoke pipes.
Characters drink beverages which may be presumed to be wine and beer.
Luck is referenced once.
