Anne Elliot is the youngest daughter in an aristocratic family (the living members of which are incredibly, hilariously snobby) what must rent out their large estate and move to Bath because of financial strain. But they send Anne off to nurse her ill, married sister Mary "since no one will want [Anne] in Bath". There, she is thrown into the company of Captain Frederick Wentworth. It is painful and uncomfortable for her because she had broken off her engagement to him eight years earlier on the advice of a neighbor (his family connections were less than desirable).
One of the unique things about this adaptation is that absolutely nothing looks polished (except for maybe some of the ornate doors in the Elliot's Bath home). I wonder if this is perhaps one of the most realistic (if not the most realistic) filmed adaptations of a period piece in that way. No one is a matinee idol or great beauty. Hair is often dull or messy or imperfect in some way, makeup is undetectable, clothes are visibly hand-sown and worn. The ordinariness of it is so refreshing. Many aspects of the story are told through the smallest of gestures--a boost into a carriage, the offering of an umbrella, a glance here or a pointed look there. Just watching the direction of the eyes of Anne and Captain Wentworth is enough to make my heart flutter.
Also, if you can catch all the dialogue--there's plenty Austenian wit. (one of my favorites: "You may have observed that one handsome face will be followed by thirty or five and thirty frights. Once I was standing in a shop in Bond St I counted eight-seven women go by, one after the other without there being a tolerable one among them.")
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