Persuasion or The Bride of Frankenstein - distinctly discombobulating

 The new Netflix 2022 Persuasion has been out for a week and has been ravaged by the critics.

In my opinion, it is mildly entertaining, a bit annoying in parts, and occasionally toe-curling embarrassing: still mostly an easy and intriguing watch. 

So mixed feelings on my side, I want to start by unpacking my problems with the film:

Stylistically it seems a bit of an odd mashup, I’ve only ever watched about 10 minutes of the hugely popular Bridgerton, but this Persuasion adaptation immediately made me think of Bridgerton. I don’t have a problem with Bridgerton, it is just I’m not into films and drama on the small screen. But I do want to give Bridgerton another go at some stage. 

I quite like the use of multiracial cast in Persuasion, it doesn’t seem historically accurate, but I particularly enjoyed the Nigerian-British actress Nikki Amuka-Bird, who played Lady Russel beautifully, one of several minor characters I thought this version of Persuasion portrayed nicely. The stylistic problems were the modernisation of the dialogue, lots of modern parlances, talking directly to the camera and a big dumbing down on Austen’s delightful dialogue, detailed descriptions, dry humour and inventive use of English. This was annoying.

There are a couple of toe-curling moments in the film. I struggle to imagine Jane Austen writing a scene with Anne Eliot struggling with peeing in public, behind a tree while she eavesdrops on Captain Wentworth & Louisa’s flirtatious small talk. Anne struggles with her ridiculous Georgian costume, which is absolutely unsuitable for peeing in public. Jane Austen’s humor could be quite near the knuckle, with the infamous reference to gay sex in the navy: her “rears and vices” joke in Mansfield Park. There is also a private letter where she makes a very embarrassingly bad dead baby joke. But these are highly atypical, and this public peeing scene feels so wrong for Anne Eliot: one of Austen’s more earnest and most loved heroines? 

And this brings me to the main problem with this adaptation which has been rubbished by the critiques and Janeites (Austen’s disciples and devotees): Anne Eliot is one of Austen’s most loved heroines and the film really needs to get this right . This is especially true for many Janeites who like the more mature romance narrative of mistakes, total estrangement for 7 years, torturous reconciliation and ultimately, second chances. Anne Eliot is probably a more interesting heroine to the youthful rollercoaster ride with Elizabeth Bennett. Unfortunately, this latest Frankenstein Anne Eliot is more like a SciFi time travelling Bridget Jones, teleported back into 19th Georgian society with an infinite supply of cheap red wine from the local supermarket. I like to think I'm pretty open-minded and enjoy radical perspectives and playful adaptions, but this Persuasion left me feeling distinctly discombobulated.

I don’t think this is all Dakota Johnson’s fault; she has great screen presence and style: a modern, sassy and sexy actress and fun to watch. Possibly a bit too much femme fatale. The script writing seems, and broader production seems largely responsible to me.

So what do I like about this adaptation? Well Austen’s novels also include a rich cast of minor characters: many of which provide comic relief and many of these are very well and pretty faithfully portrayed. 

At the London Jane Austen bookclub discussion (online this month) there was a lot of praise for Marry Musgrove and Sir Walter Eliot. I particularly like Lady Russel and Lady Darlrympe.

I also quite liked Captain Wentworth, he is a bit too present in this adaptation but well played by xxx and the tearful open scene of this film was beautifully played by DK and xx, my very first reaction to the film was : “well I would marry him!”, not a bad start for a Jane Austen film.

So like the Bride of Frankenstein, this Persuasion is entertaining but not in the same league as the original.

discombobulated [ dis-kuhm-bob-yuh-leyt ]

Informal. to confuse or disconcert; confound; bewilder:

The speaker was completely discombobulated by the hecklers.

RIP Edana & Glen, long live the Rainbow Chorus!

 

It's 5am on Saturday morning, I just woke up, and I'm probably still slightly drunk, and the cats are delighted to see me. My cats love it when I wake up early and allow them into the bedroom for cuddles (I have a strict no-cats policy during deep sleep).

Unfortunately, while the cats are licking my face and demanding cuddles, the Facebook updates on my phone was heartbreaking news, 

Edana’s partner, Heather, and all the family are so sorry to have to tell you of Edana’s untimely death, late on Wednesday night, here in her beloved Liguria. Edana asked us to respect her privacy in dealing with her devastating cancer diagnosis, so we know that this will be a shock to many of you. Edana would have wanted you to remember her as we all do: the passionate, vivacious woman of style, love, joy, song, curiosity and furious politics. For those in Italy, the funeral will be held in Pugliola tomorrow, Saturday 16th July at 11am, at La Chiesa Parrocchiale di Santa Lucia in Pugliola, and afterwards at the Narbostro cemetery. 

Two weeks have now passed, and I still feel a sense of mourning for Edana and another lost connection to Brighton's Rainbow Chorus, an LGBTQIA+  choir still going strongly.

Although I didn't know that Edana well, I felt a strong affinity to her. We had been Facebook friends for over 15 years, and we occasionally chatted, but in 2010 I moved from Brighton to Amsterdam, and I hadn't seen Edana in person for a very long time.

I knew Edana through choir, Brighton Rainbow Chorus, both Edana and I joined when the choir was relatively small (rehearsals with 5-10 people) and overtime it grew until the typical rehearsal was 20-30. 

I was fortunate I first got know Edana as a fun-loving, friendly, vivacious lesbian with a great jazz voice. She had such a beautiful singing voice. It was only quite a lot later that I learnt she was from a "famous family" (two of her brothers are famous movie directors/producers?).

Her sister is also a famous Anglican and OBE, she also gave this great interview to Church Times:

Loretta Minghella became the First Church Estates Commissioner in November 2017, succeeding Sir Andreas Whittam Smith.
Before arriving at Church House, she was chief executive of Christian Aid for seven and a half years, and before that, she headed up the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, a job she says got “very rocky indeed” when the 2008 financial crisis hit.
Our Editor Paul Handley spoke to Loretta Minghella about how her experience prepared her for this latest role, and how the Commissioners are pressuring companies to improve their record on climate change and executive pay, among other things.
https://soundcloud.com/user-632063010/loretta-minghella-first-church-estates-commissioner-ep-51  

I vividly remember listening to this about 5 years ago and being soo impressed with Loretta, plus a brilliant interview with Paul Handley.

I was looking forward to meeting Edana again and telling her about my progress with singing (I've been having lessons for about 5 years now, which has been worth every penny i.e. I love singing. I also wanted to tell Edana about my admiration for her sister.

The last time I saw Edana perform was a memorable occasion in the upper room The Grand Central, Brighton (the closest pub in Brighton Station); not a very grand venue but it was a lot of fun.

It was an off-beat cabaret, foreshadowing the upcoming era of Tory austerity portraited in a perverse SM style. I believe Edwina both wrote and performed all the music, so was not prancing around in SM gear. My only disappointment is that I did get to hear Edwina sing on that occasion.

Over the last two weeks, I've also been thinking about Glenn: a very accomplished musician and quite often the accompanists (piano) for the Rainbow Chorus. Glenn passed away a few of years ago - equally heartbreaking.

I watched Glen perform on many occasions in the UK and in Greece. He was a sensitive accompanist and wonderful pianist with a particular passion for Rachmaninov.

A little over nine years ago, Glen and I met through our mutual friend the composer Matthew Pollard. Matt and I were collaborating on a project that was to become This Concert Will Fall In Love With You — later recorded with additional material as the CD Clameur and Glen was Matt’s first choice to play piano. Matt and Glen had were old friends, performing together in the Tacet Ensemble and The Rainbow Chorus for example.

https://peterkenny.co.uk/tag/glen-capra/

 
RIP Edana and Glenn and long live the Rainbow Chorus!

The end of BJ but maybe not the bonkers brexiteers

This is from an email thread with my aunt from Jan 2021 (about 18 months ago), I was lamenting the corruption in the current government:

...this government is suffering from too many nasty scandals: the FT had good coverage Robert Jenrick / Richard Desmond scandal, which is a real stinker. However the Track and Trace scandal is even bigger and more serious, there were headlines of "consultants" charging up to 700 GBP/day for a system running off an Excel spreadsheet!? This came to light because they lost data for a huge number of registered covid cases from their spreadsheet-based application, the media focused on that they were running on a serious out-of-date version of Excel. 

I don't follow UK politics that closely now: I'm an ex-pat of 12+ years (and about to move from The Netherlands to Spain).

Plus, the UK news is also so depressing; I still fail to see any upside of Brexit; after 6 years, it seems to be a lose-lose-lose situation?

I was visiting my parents in Oct 2021 and caught this shocking story on the BBC1 panorama program

Pandora Papers: Questions over Tory donations by ex-Russian minister's wife
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-58711151

Major Tory donor advised on Uzbekistan deal later found to be $220m bribe
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/oct/04/major-tory-donor-advised-on-uzbekistan-deal-later-found-to-be-bribe-mohamed-amersi

Apparently, senior Tories (including one ex-Prime Minister) have been knowingly courting money from highly dubious sources, something the opposition has been trying to highlight for some time 

The public has a right to know which government ministers are meeting with donors who have access to the corridors of power, including what appears to be exclusive access to the prime minister and the chancellor. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/aug/01/labour-calls-on-tories-to-reveal-which-ministers-met-elite-donors-club

Even the more traditional right FT has headlines like "Kremlin ties to 'Londongrad' need to be cut":

Even US officials are reportedly dismayed about the potential of “Londongrad” to derail western efforts. The current Conservative government has come under scrutiny for ties to donors such as the wife of Putin’s former deputy finance minister…
https://www.ft.com/content/33b71405-4885-4bce-8215-9b6e05543919

In the end, it was a sex-pest scandal which brought down BJ, who allegedly has his own problematic history? However, what did for BJ, was that:

(a) he knowingly appointed Mr Pincher (aka "Pincher by name, Pincher by nature" - BJ's sick humour and an epically bad joke with hindsight?) 

(b) the BJ told another bare-faced lie about not knowing of Mr Pincher's historical behavioural problems after he was caught red-handed again! The BJ lies backfired again: the cabinet initially rallied around their leader and went out to defend BJ, only to find they had been badly misled by BJ.

This was the final straw and then over about 48 hours, there was an extreme number of cabinet resignations i.e. as predicted last month, the Tory backbenchers had sent a clear signal they wanted BJ out, and it was up to the cabinet now…

However, a Dutch friend asked me 

I suppose you are celebrating now Johnson is out. I hope England has learnt its lesson regarding populist politicians, at least for a few generations. I hope England and UK will get some sense back in power. 

and my less than 100% optimistic response

I hope so too. But honestly I suspect the next PM will be another crazy Brexiteer. Could hardly be more odious than BJ but might be more effective and harder right wing politics, think Thatcher. But hopefully the Conservative party will see some sense?

 

I don't really believe in great men theories and the great men of history; apparently, Boris Johnson is a fan of this worldview (apparently his fascination with the "great men of history theory" was formed by his classics studies at Oxford?). As I can tell, it takes powerful teams of people working very well together to build something great, but unfortunately, only a handful of fools to tear all this good work down?

Honestly, I suspect that BJ will be mostly remembered for a mixture of toxic masculinity and corruption...

toxic masculinity 

The concept of toxic masculinity is used in academic and media discussions of masculinity to refer to certain cultural norms that are associated with harm to society and men themselves. Traditional stereotypes of men as socially dominant, along with related traits such as misogyny and homophobia,   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_masculinity 

corruption | kəˈrʌpʃ(ə)n | noun [mass noun] 1 dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery: the journalist who wants to expose corruption in high places. 
the action or effect of making someone or something morally depraved: the corruption of youth was a powerful motif | the word 'addict' conjures up evil and corruption.