The movie that jump-started the contemporary fascination with all things Jane Austen was an unlikely smash hit. Roger Mitchell's dramatization of Austen's final novel was originally made for BBC television, and he himself had no previous experience directing movies. The story itself is also not a slam dunk: unlike other Austen stories about the flirtations of attractive young people, Persuasion is about second looks and last chances: Anne Elliot (Shakespearean actor Amanda Root) turned down a proposal of marriage from humble-but-honest Frederick Wentworth (Ciarán Hinds) years ago, and now regrets letting her status-conscious family influence her decision. Now, years later, Wentworth reappears in her still-single life -- but this time as a wealthy Navy captain wooing her sister-in-law. Shot in natural light with deglamorized costumes, the unpretentious staging allows sensitive actors like Root and Hinds to shine with all sorts of deliciously unspoken torments and exaltations. This retelling not only made Hinds a refined sex symbol, but opened the way to a cinematic Austen boom including Emma (1996), Pride and Prejudice (2005), and Sense and Sensibility (1995). Anglophiles will also enjoy notable locations like Lyme and Bath shown in sigh-inducing vistas.

By Violet LeVoit