Netflix’s latest period drama, Persuasion, is now available to watch, though audiences might need some persuading to actually do so after the scathing reviews the film has received. Despite this, there are some classic nods to period drama tropes, and the Netflix Twitter account has picked up on one in particular.
It would seem that a good period drama cannot be without a shot of women staring out of a window. In a time when all noble women were good for was chasing after men and getting married, what else were they to do but stare longingly out of the window as the well-to-do gentlemen pass on by?
Though comparing their current efforts to that of Little Women (1994) may be reaching, as the film has failed to win the hearts of critics. Many have found the film to be an absolute abomination of an adaption, as it failed to imbue the emotion of Austen’s novel and treated the audience in a condescending manner, handholding them the whole time.
The love of period dramas is still strong, though some are finding ways to zhuzh it up a little, such as Bridgerton, which has modernized the period story through the use of heavily stylized costumes, contemporary music played on classical instruments, and a color-conscious cast. Though Persuasion attempted to reach out to a modern audience, it fell short, unable to decide exactly what it was doing.
It still manages to fit in plenty of other period drama tropes though, the smoldering looks from a handsome gentleman, the would-be suitor you know is a rogue, the heroine alone in a dramatic landscape, and of course some kind of confusion that would have been easily avoided if they just spoke honestly to one another. Persuasion still has all of these, so if you are looking for some of these and aren’t feeling too fussy, then give it a watch.