Sense & Sensibility

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.

Was a great movie, kind of strange to see Nanny McPhee as a love interest instead of a warty, grumpy woman!

I just got finished watching this film. Great acting, marvelous direction, wonderful settings and scenery. And of course based on a fantastic novel. So plenty of superlatives here. I broke down in tears four or five times as I viewed the movie, and, well, I'm a guy. I don't generally cry during a movie, but perhaps that has to do with the kind of movie it is. Anyway, this movie was very fine and I'm so glad I added it to my collection.

Great movie! Great story! Great actors!

Decided to watch this movie after reading the book and it is really good. A little too slow for my s.o but I enjoyed it a lot. Kate Winslets performance was amazing, 10/10 would watch again!

This is one of my all time favorite movies.

I can't tell you how many times I have watched Sense & Sensibility. It must be dozens of times. I love the overall feel of this movie, from a time gone by. I love the gentle music, so soothing and reminiscent of a simpler time. The family is wonderfully devoted to each other and each girl brings her own character and personality to the film. Emma Thompson is a genius for writing the script for this movie and her portrayal of Miss Eleanor Dashwood is perfection. Hugh Grant was a pleasant surprise in this movie, as his previous films were all romantic comedies, so his performance was sweet and unexpected. Alan Rickman is a gem, and if you are an Alan Rickman fan, you will thoroughly enjoy his kindness and compassion for the Dashwood family. This is definitely a Saturday afternoon film, to while away the hours living in a simpler time, where life was more difficult, but people were always intriguing and compelling. If you like British dramas, you will love this movie. I can't wait to watch it again and again.

Love the movie and worth the rental!

I remember this film when it was originally released, because I went to see it with my family. Something of a rare experience considering the advances in technology, what with streaming and all. It follows the fortunes of the Dashwood family,(three daughters and their mother), who find their lives turned upside down when their father passes away, and their home is inherited by his son from a previous marriage, by law. Before they move to a cottage in Devonshire, owned by a relative, Eleanor Dashwood (Emma Thompson) meets Edward, and it is clear that they are getting along like a house on fire, but Fanny (Edward's sister) disapproves of the match. The younger Dashwood sister, Marianne (Kate Winslet) meets the dashing Willoughby (Greg Wise), and immediately falls head over heels in love with him, but she also catches the eye of Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman). Through a series of trials, tribulations, and crossed wires, in the old Jane Austen tradition, the two sisters eventually find their happy ever after. I agree with another reviewer that I think some of the cast were indeed too old for the parts they were playing, but it's a very good film in spite of that. At the end of the film, when we were in the cinema, the audience booed the 'bad guy.' Like we were at a pantomime! I won't say who! But it's definitely worth a look!

Charm, sensibility, peppered with sense and marvellous acting, a starry cast topped by Emma Thompson simply wonderful as Eleanor, so well supported by a pretty, light-hearted Kate Winslet as Marianne and a lovely turn as their mother from Gemma Jones. Hugh Grant is suitably clever and witty beneath a shy demeanour - a turn out of his usual romantic style! - and Alan Rickman is also clever and shy but totally different, as Marianne's suitor, competing with Greg Wise who captures and breaks Marianne's heart.This is the best version of Austen's novel and a simply super film. Every scene captivates whether it is waspish Harriet Walter, married to the girls' stepbrother (James Fleet) pontificating, or Robert Hardy and Elizabeth Spriggs as the jovial cousin and his stepmother, who offer the almost destitute Dashwoods a home in Devon, who bring fun and games and humour to the playing out of the story.I love this film and Emma Thompson's witty, lively script well won its Oscar. Recommended highly.

If you like Jane Austen but are happy to see her work modernised, then this would be for you, If you are a bit of a 'stickler' for authenticity then perhaps go for the slightly older version by the BBC. The actors are all on top form and it is especially nice to see Alan Rickman at close to his best. Packaging was in ?Polish but no problem with disc which was set in English.

It's got romance, heartbreak and top class acting from a top class cast of British actors. Emma Thompson deserves every praise for bringing this adaptation of Jane Austen's novel alive. Having read the book, it's not that different, it just misses out a lot of fancy words and simplifies it somewhat. Emma plays Eleanor Dashwood, who along with her mother (Gemma Jones) and two other sisters, Marianne and Margaret are somewhat forced to leave the family home following the death of their father and the home passing from their father to his eldest son, John (James Fleet) from a previous marriage. To cut a long story short...Both Eleanor and Marianne fall in love and deal with it in very separate ways, Eleanor being the 'sense' whilst Marianne is the 'sensibility'! Both sisters finally emerge triumphant but not before they endure their own personal heartaches.Beautifully filmed with fantastic locations and a gorgeous soundtrack. If you like Pride and Predjudice and the Catherine Cookson adaptations, you will love this film. And if you haven't snivelled even a little by the end of it, you must have a heart made of stone!!

Brilliant adaption if sense and sensibility in fact the best. Not a great fan of Hugh Grant I could have picked someone a little more dashing but all the actors were brill especially Alan Rickman as col Brandon wonderful film