Anne Elliot
Persuasion

I imagine it's really hard to cast Anne, just as it's hard to cast Jane Eyre. The point of this heroine is that she's past her prime, she is no longer the beautiful flower and because of that she is going to end up alone. That's not saying that ALL women of 27 or 28 are faded - her sister Elizabeth is *older* than her and is still actively planning on getting married. So Elizabeth is presented as being very pretty. However, Anne is presented as being a wallflower - in large part because she's been miserable these last years between pining for her Wentworth and her family squashing her down at every opportunity. So how do you present an actress who looks faded and undesireable but is one you can root for?

The 2008 Masterpiece Theater version is below. I think myself that they made her a little *too* pale and unassuming here. In the book she's suppsoed to "blossom" over time. I never got that sense. This is the very best image I could find of her - near the end when she's talking to Wentworth at the music event - and it's still not as blooming as I would have hoped. Then after this you get her running marathon which does little for her attractiveness.



During most of the movie she looks wet-haired and very much in full blown depression.



In the next image, Anne and the Captain are talking while Anne waits for a carriage. It is one of the only times they are "happy together", as they laugh at the idea of Louisa learning to love morbid poetry.



I like the 1995 version. She's a reasonable mix between completely mopey and not caring. She is VERY ineffectual though. She lets people walk over her through the entire movie, rather than taking a stand for herself at the end like she's supposed to.

I like this shot - the image shows her reflection in her mirror, thinking about how much she has aged.







Anne with the Musgrove matriarch.









The back of her dress, for dressmaking purposes :)



In the 1971 BBC version, there is just no passion at all. Anne is a quiet, mature, settled woman. Yes, she thinks about Wentworth, but she is happy in her decision because she feels she set Wentworth free to have a successful military career. She is happy with her place in the world. The walks, the poetry, are enough for her. She just wants to stay home and have peace. You don't get any real sense that she is thrilled inside when Wentworth shows up. There's no sign that she really wants him back in her life.

I do like that she's MORE settled - the Anne of 2008 was over the top. But they made her TOO settled. Also this green dress seems VERY not well suited to her. It's bright, and is it even accurate for the 1814 time period??





The beehive hairdo also seems very out of place.





Finally Anne looks a little reasonable.





Even their final scene together is very mild.



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