Sense and Sensibility (1995)

“Sense and Sensibility” (1995) is one of the best film adaptations of Jane Austen, well scripted, well directed and well acted. But superficially at least, it had all the makings of a potential disaster. It was the idea of producer Lindsay Doran, who had developed a love for Austen and particularly this novel when she lived in England in the early 1970s. An Austen adaptation had not been filmed since 1940’s “Pride and Prejudice” and there was no current vogue for the author. I suspect her just being hired as a new producer at Sidney Pollack’s independent production company, Mirage Enterprises enabled its greenlighting. The screenplay was entrusted to an actress who had never written a screenplay. The chosen director had never heard of Jane Austen and his three films had been about Chinese and Chinese-American life and filmed mostly in the Chinese language.Fortunately the screenwriter was Emma Thompson, who was able to bridge the actor-screenwriter divide and create a script true to Austen’s world while making the usual adjustments that translation to the time limit of films demands. It took over four years to write it. She remains the only person ever to win an Academy Award in both writing and acting categories, the acting award being for “Howard’s End”. Choosing Ang Lee was taking a bigger chance, but Doran and Thompson saw understanding of family life and both warmth and humor in his films and hired him. Austen had a great sense of humor about her society and I think it was important that both the producer and screenwriter had begun in comedy and would not have allowed a stiff, humorless adaptation.The film has the usual demands that any Austen film makes. There are many characters, often related to each other and these relationships need to be understood to understand fully, what’s going on. Fortunately here, there are but five primary characters with the rest more peripheral but still affecting the plot in important ways. The two Dashwood sisters, Elinor (Emma Thompson) and Marianne (Kate Winslet), represent sense and sensibility. Though seemingly interchangeable now, the latter term meant a prizing of emotion and feelings over rationality. In this way it was the early stirrings of Romanticism, which would become full blown by the 1820s. Austen was suspicious of sensibility and here illustrates how it often leads to problems. Thompson had to be convinced to play Elinor, who is only nineteen in the novel, but I think the wisdom of her character would have seemed odd coming from an appropriately aged actress and suits Thomson perfectly. This was only Winslet’s second film, but her Marianne is just right. Thompson and Winslet play the Dashwoods similarly enough to be sisters and their differences in temperament enough to be unalike, but not so much as to become characures. At a certain moment, Elinore shows Marianne that she feels things as deeply as she, but understands the need for rules of conduct. (The third sister, a child, appears only rarely).The three male leads each woo the sisters to one degree or another. Hugh Grant had recently broken out internationally in “Four Weddings and a Funeral” and further developed his handsome and charming but reticent and occasionally stammering character here as Edward Ferrars. Edward instantly understands the seriousness of the Dashwood’s situation and is compassionate. He makes a good impression despite being absent from the screen for long stretches. Alan Rickman had been wanting to break away from the villainous roles in which he had been typecast since “Die Hard” and succeeded in creating a devoted, honorable man in Colonel Brandon. Greg Wise plays John Willoughby, an uncommonly handsome fellow who drives a fast carriage and carries a pocket volume of Shakespeare’s Sonnets on him at all times, the very portrait of a Romantic hero. Actor Greg Wise is perfect for the part (and also began a relationship with Thompson that resulted in their long marriage). Most of the supporting characters are done for comic effect, especially Mrs. Jennings (Elizabeth Spriggs) who with her son in law, Sir John Middleton (Robert Hardy) are the gossips and matchmakers of Devonshire. Harriet Walter is absolutely wicked in her snobbishness as Fanny Dashwood but hilarious when she receives a sudden shock. If you’re at all inclined, Jane Austen’s characters can be looked up online and I’m certain it would help sort them out and make it a more valuable experience, but be careful, some of them delve into the plot too much.The second problem is in understanding the intricacies of the Regency Period legal system. Austen wasn’t writing just comedies of manners but had a serious purpose in describing the effects of the legal system, especially on women. It’s virtually the theme of “Sense and Sensibility” where everyone is very subject to it. I can’t do justice to it here so here are the briefest points. Inheritance law generally bestowed a large estate on the eldest male heir. Even his younger brothers had to do with minor sums of money and often went into the military or clergy. This was a strong custom but could be overruled (think of Lady Catherine de Bourgh in “Pride and Prejudice”) but that was a rare thing. Women could inherit money as Emma Woodhouse had, making her much more independent than the usual Austen heroine. This is what makes Austen so serious. At any given time a chasm could open up under anyone due to the laws of inheritance. Such a situation happens here where the female Dashwoods lose Norland Park, the very epitome of an English Estate and are fortunate to get use of a cottage from a distant relation. Mrs. Dashwood (Gemma Jones) was his second wife and his father had made his will to keep the estate in the male line by allowing Mr. Dashwood the use but not the ownership of the estate; he died before he could make much of this. (This is the first scene in the film so I’m not really giving anything away). It could almost be as bad on the men. Both Edward Ferrars and John Willoughby find themselves unable to do as they would really wish due to these laws and customs. Having an “Understanding” is also an important thing here. In this case it means an actual proposal of marriage, not an assumption. A proposal had legal standing and the force of law and breaking it could lead to scandal and a breach of promise lawsuit.Back to the film, at last. The film is shot in cool colors, often soft greens and grays, which help ground it in reality. A temptation would be to make it too pretty with storybook colors - which actually worked in Emma (1996) but that was done purely as a light comedy. Here the cool tones make everything very real looking, emphasizing that the consequences at stake here are serious. The clothing is perfect for the period, even the country dresses at the London ball. It has always perplexed me that women were so wise to throw away all those confining eighteenth century hairstyles and dresses and were finally comfortable, only to throw it away not long after for corsets and framework. The music is by Patrick Doyle, who had scored some of Kenneth Branagh’s films and is a good and never overwhelming accompaniment to the film. He wrote his own music entirely for the film, even the songs and dance music, where most film composers would have used actual music of the day, perhaps from “The Apollonian Harmony” or John Playford’s “The English Dancing Master”. But, likely as a challenge, he wrote convincing period music. This fills the first part of the film, but from Elinor and Marianne’s serious discussion onward, the music becomes Romantic influenced film score music.Overall this film wins on every count and ends just as Austen’s did (though it seems a bit tacked on here because there simply wasn’t time to add more development). Even if you are not an Austen fan the film is easy enough to understand and dramatically paced enough to make its two hours move quickly. The DVD is rather deluxe with audio commentary by director Ang Lee and Emma Thompson, deleted scenes and trailers.

This film is a favorite. Emma Thompson shines from start to finish. Alan Rickman is tragically underrated. Hugh Grant is Hugh Grant. It’s witty and endearing. Well worth the watch if you’re in to Jane Austen and can appreciate a smattering of the best of Britain’s screen actors.

After father’s death, wife and girls must leave leave their home by law. They’re forced to face love and poverty, but a better outcome with the love and promise they deserve.

I suppose it makes perfect sense that if you want to make a 19th-century English romance novel into a superb film you hire an actress almost twice the age of the main character to not only play the role but also adapt the screenplay into a book and then hire a Taiwanese director to direct the film. You might say, yes, such things happen in Hollywood, but the success of "Sense and Sensibility" is due to what transpired in England, not Southern California. Having read the novel and the original screenplay, the largest share of credit goes to Emma Thompson, who deservedly received the Oscar for Best Screenplay Adaptation. Thompson began by dramatizing every scene in the novel, which resulted in 300 hand written pages to be followed by 14 drafts as the 1811 novel was crafted into the final script. The result was a script that manages to be not only romantic and funny, but also romantic and funny in the best Austen sense of both.After watching the film again I focus on three particular points, which I think best reveal the strength of Thompson's script. First, the entire introductory sequence, which induces us to like the Dashwood sisters because we are introduced first to their step-brother and his shrewish wife (credit for this particular sequence also goes to Film Editor Tim Squyres, who recut the scene so that we get all of one side and then the other instead of alternating back and forth as in the original script). Our sympathies cannot help but be with the plight of Elinor and Marianne. Second, the use of Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 ("Let me not the marriage of true minds"), which Marianne and Willoughby share to their great mutual delight (except he gets a word wrong, in an elegant little bit of foreshadowing) and which Marianne repeats standing in the rain looking at Willoughby's new estate. Third, Austen has Elinor bolt from the room to cry outside during the happy ending but Thompson creates a wonderful moment by having her stay in the room and having the rest of her family flee. There are not too many scenes where you are crying and laughing at the same time, but Thompson certainly created one (and has the added virtue of relying on herself as an actress to nail the performance as well). All of these are marvelous examples of playing to the strength of the cinema to bring Austen's novel to the screen.The performances are first-rate, especially Kate Winslet as the passionate Marianne, Gemma Jones as Mrs. Dashwood and Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon (the look on his face when Marianne thanks him for rescuing her is so wondrously touching). Hugh Grant does find a way of slowing the delivery of his dialogue more than usual, but it does fit the overall pace of the film. The supporting cast is exactly what you come to expect from a British production with Elizabeth Spriggs stealing every scene she is in as Mrs. Jennings, Robert Hardy as Sir John Middleton, Hugh Laurie as Mr. Palmer, Oliver Ford Davies as Doctor Harris, and the enchanting young Emilie Francois as Margaret Dashwood ("They always kneel down"). On the darker side of the ledger we have Greg Wise as the less than honorable John Willoughby, and Imogene Stubbs as Lucy Steele and Harriet Walter as Fanny Dashwood vying for the main villainess role in the proceedings. No wonder Emma Thompson's performance as Elinor is almost lost in the proceedings, but she is the center around which everything resolves who has to keep it together when everybody around her is losing it (even when she first confesses her broken heart, she ends up consoling Marianne instead of the other way around).Ang Lee had already proven he could handle a tale of sisters in love when he directed "Eat Drink Man Woman." In "Sense and Sensibility" he has the script, the actors and the set design all working in his favor to create a sense of 19th century England. But there are a few moments when he uses the camera to great advantage; in particular the overhead shot of Marianne on her sick bed achieves a painting like quality and the tracking shot of Mrs. Jennings running down the street bearing the latest gossip.I first saw this film when visiting England and I was so caught up in the story that I had no idea who was going to end up with who. Actually, I was sort of rooting for Elinor to end up with Colonel Brandon since they were obviously the two finest members of their respective sexes in the proceedings. So the ending was as much of a surprise to me as it was to the Dashwoods, which is certainly something to be cherished. Obviously if you love this film it will lead you to other Austen adaptations (the film versions of "Emma" and "Persuasion" along with the BBC mini-series "Pride & Prejudice" immediately leap to mind), but hopefully it will also lead you to the original novels as well. Finally, Thompson published "The Sense and Sensibility: Screenplay & Diaries," which I would highly recommend after you have done both the film and the novel.

Good movie

good acting

Wonderful! Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and Hugh Grant are terrific

I love Jane Austin, so this is one of my favorites. Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, does it get any better?

We didnt know that Emma Thompson was such an amazing script writer.She *translated* Jane Austen's book so very well , creating a great movie, with much humor and intelligence.Loved it!

Great movie for all generations

I like this version(it was written by Emma Thompson, hence a decent script). I only have one complaint hugh grant(so disappointing, he always plays the same part). A decent cast, bar 1, the wonderful Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet too many to name, but I definitely recommend

mlifeat rG .dition nocood G

My mum loves this film and bought it for her as a gift.She was over the moon with it and something to watch on cold, dark days when weather bad and can’t garden!Great gift.