It’s
hard to find a perfect Jane Austen
movie/miniseries; that careful balance of topnotch acting, adapting, directing,
and cinematic entertainment doesn’t come along as often as it should. As such, every adaptation has some quibbles, but that doesn’t stop me
from liking virtually all of them and loving most of them. Although there’s a lot to love about the
various Sense and Sensibilities, this
one, for me, is the quintessential version.
Assuming
I’ll get around to reviewing lots of Austen adaptations eventually, I think I
may reuse this paragraph later as standard Sense
and Sensibility summary. After the
death of their father, estate law forces the Dashwood sisters Elinor and Marianne
(along with their mother and younger sister) into severely reduced means. Elinor is steady, practical, and
self-denying, while Marianne is passionate and impulsive with a lust for the
romantic. As they adjust to their new
circumstances, the sisters approach life and love through the particular views
of their wildly different temperaments.
The
adaptation is penned by Emma Thompson, doing double duty as Elinor, and even
though it takes some dramatic license, it feels
Austen throughout, so much so that I’ve seen other adaptations of this story do
their own variations of scenes that Thompson invented wholesale. Indeed, some of her revisions are very
welcome, like giving youngest sister Margaret a separate personality distinct
from Marianne’s and adding in some nice exchanges that really show why Elinor
would fall for Edward. Ang Lee’s
direction maintains that fine Austenian tug between arch satire and earnest
romantic drama, and the period backdrop never feels staid or stuffy.
There
are some similarly fabulous casting knockouts.
First off, I know that
Thompson is too old for Elinor here, and the steep age difference between Kate
Winslet and Alan Rickman makes it hard to consider Col. Brandon as a serious
contender for Marianne’s heart. That
said, all of them are so wonderful in their roles that I wilfully ignore these
logistical issues. Thompson in
particular is just stunning – her big something’s-gotta-give moment in the
second half of the film is gorgeous. Winslet’s
Marianne is an immature but ardent firecracker, and Rickman brings such gentle
care to Brandon. Meanwhile, Hugh Grant
is reliably awkward-in-a-cute-way as Edward, and Greg Wise might be my favorite
onscreen Willoughby ever. The supporting
cast sparkles with humor. Particularly
noteworthy are Harriet Walter as greedy, snobbish stepsister-in-law Fanny and
the hilarious one-two punch of Imelda
Staunton and Hugh Laurie as the Palmers.
Some
especially well-realized scenes include, as already mentioned, Elinor’s
confrontation with Marianne, along with Fanny and John’s discussion about
“helping” his stepsisters, Col. Brandon’s first sight of Marianne at the piano,
and Willoughby’s entrance and introduction to the Dashwoods. Despite some departures from the source
material and some technicality problems in the casting, this movie is just Sense and Sensibility all the way, and
every time I watch it, I wonder why that book isn’t higher on my list of
favorite Austen novels (the answer is that there’s simply too many good ones,
and in this case, even being fourth of six is still incredibly good.)
Warnings
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