Highlights Archives
Classic Book and Movie Club: Persuasion
Director Roger Mitchell's 1995 screen adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel, " Persuasion," will be presented on the big screen in a free public screening in the auditorium of the Wisconsin Historical Society's headquarters building in Madison at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, January 18. This will be the final film in the Classic Book and Movie Club series. "Persuasion" is the story of a love that survives eight years of dormancy and the frustrating obstacles of class prejudice in 19th-century England. Anne (Amanda Root) is captivated when she meets the dignified naval officer Captain Wentworth (Ciarán Hinds), but she is advised to discourage his romantic overtures because he has no fortune.
They meet again eight years later, but now Captain Wentworth has become wealthy while Anne's father is in reduced circumstances in the wake of reckless extravagance. A series of circumstances ensue that prevent Anne and Wentworth from expressing their mutual and inevitable love. The film's success depends entirely on the subtle, superb performances of Root and Hinds. The film builds slowly, occasionally leaving you wondering if anything at all is going to happen. When it does, you realize how carefully crafted a film this is, and the final result is grandly rewarding. Besides Root and Hinds, the film stars Susan Fleetwood, Corin Redgrave and Fiona Shaw.
Joseph Weisenfarth, professor emeritus of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will introduce the film and lead a post-screening discussion about both the book and the movie. Reading the book in advance of the screening, while not required, is recommended.
As an aside, Irish actor Ciarán Hinds starred in 13 episodes of HBO's hit series "Rome" as Julius Caesar. The series was co-produced by University of Wisconsin alum James Hirsch and Robert Papazian. Papazian-Hirsch Entertainment, Inc. established a collection with the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research in 2005. The first donation consisted of 37 archives boxes of scripts, production files and development records for both produced and unproduced films and television shows. As the collection continues to come in, it's proven to be a rich resource for young communication arts students and other researchers studying the the inner workings of the contemporary entertainment industry.
The Classic Book and Movie Club has been a joint venture of the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, and The Capital Times newspaper.
:: Posted January 12, 2009
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