VividSimon Simply Perfect

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Irishchatter I really did like watching this television movie because it was interesting to see what a real persons life was like back in the 19th century when being a lesbian was a shocking thing to be (rubbish). I have never heard of the real Anne Lister before, I had read about her life on Wikipedia and it was even more grimly in real life then the movie. Her life was full of people talking absolute nonsense about the way she was dressed and how she was harassed many times by dirty men who needed to mind their own business. It must've been scary for Anne even as a landowner! It was too bad during those times about who you should really love and not go for the one you don't love!Anyways back to the film, Maxine Peake did such an amazing performance on Anne Lister. She really did make a great effort being in character and she would just blow you away!I think this movie is definitely something you should give to your partner on Christmas or valentines day!

Red-125 "I love and only love the fairer sex, and thus beloved by them in turn, my heart revolts from any love but theirs." - Anne Lister, Journals, Oct 29, 1820The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister (2010) (TV) was written by Jane English and directed by James Kent. This film is a biography, because Anne Lister [1791 - 1840] was, indeed, a historical figure who managed to live her life as a happy and fulfilled lesbian. Moreover, Ms. Lister did keep voluminous diaries. Only a small portion of the diaries were actual secret--i.e. written in code. Anne Lister was so intelligent that the code she devised wasn't deciphered for almost 100 years. The encoded part of the diary described Anne Lister's romantic and sexual experiences.By a combination of enormous intelligence, class privilege, and unbreakable will, Anne Lister was able to maintain a lesbian life style in a society where such behavior was rarely tolerated.This is an excellent film, with strong performances from all the actors, and an absolutely stellar performance from Maxine Peake as Anne. Because it's a BBC production, the production values are high and the costumes and location shots are entrancing. Obviously, this movie was made for TV, so it will work well on the small screen. However, it is really glorious on the large screen, which is how we saw it. The film was shown at the Dryden Theatre, as the closing night offering of the terrific ImageOut: Rochester Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. Don't miss this movie!

Karien Van Der Westhuizen Melodramatic, heteroed-down version of the life of a predatory, hairy, self-assured, male- identified 19th century woman of means. I knew nothing of Anne Lister's life, but found this movie patronising from the word go. Watching the nervous though more honest documentary included on the BBC DVD afterwards, confirmed why. The film portrays Lister as a femme, melodramatic woman whose only quirk is to wear black and no makeup. The sex scenes are unconvincing, and great liberty is taken to no doubt make the main character a bit more palatable for mainstream audiences. In the documentary it emerges that Lister was rather arrogant, very butch, shrewd in love and business, and also sported a grey stubble. The film fails to examine what it really must've been like for a lesbian in Lister's position ~ instead we are treated to a flaky tragic love story which might titillate hetero men and women. It feels like the film says 'lesbians are people too, and look they are all hairless and have heteronormative female traits such as big dresses, high-heel shoes and emotional theatrics". What a pity ~ let's hope someone will at some point make a serious film about this fascinating character!

jegpad This true story had me glued. To see how the women in Austen's time could pursue gay relationships and benefit financially just blew me away. Miss Anne Lister would be considered a 'groomer' in modern society. But the fact she did what she did back in the early 19th century is a gutsy delight. With the luxury of being rich she was able to move within society with a liberty untethered by convention. It just shows how financial independence for women is the true liberation from the tyranny of conventional society. Big high five to women doing it for themselves!