Sense and Sensibility (Ang Lee, 1995) wr. Emma Thompson, dp Michael Coulter, prod. design Luciana Arrighi, costume Jenny Beavan; Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, James Fleet, Tom Wilkinson, Harriet Walter, Gemma Jones, Emilie François, Elizabeth Spriggs, Robert Hardy, Ian Brimble, Isabelle Amyes, Alan Rickman, Greg Wise, Alexander John, Imelda Staunton, Imogen Stubbs, Hugh Laurie; from the 1811 novel by Jane Austen - her first to be published.
Not much to not like about this – in fact I'm struggling to think of anything to take points off so that it's not 10/10 for me. This was Emma Thompson's first screenplay, and it's as good as Julian Fellowes' latest – and that's saying something. Despite what Roger Ebert says below about 'picture postcards', I think this does a perfect job of cramming an Austen novel into two hours (and a bit). And it has so many of our favourite actors: it's a pretty good cast that has Hugh Laurie batting at 18 (he does only have about three lines, but he makes them his own!) It's not too much a risk to suggest that this is Kate Winslet at her best ever – though she was only 19 years old when it was shot. It was probably at least the second time that I watched it last night, but I enjoyed every moment.
Roger Ebert:
What gives Sense and Sensibility its tension and mystery is that the characters rarely say what they mean. There is great gossip within the women's sphere, but with men, the conversation loops back upon itself in excruciating euphemisms, leaving the women to puzzle for weeks over what was or was not said. ...
Sense and Sensibility is an enjoyable film, and yet it left me somehow unsatisfied. I liked the wit, I liked the charm of the actors, I enjoyed the way that Rickman chewed his role as if he wanted to make it last, and the tension when Grant's Edward is made to suffer - particularly since he appears to be a cad only because he has tried to do the right thing. And I appreciated the way Thompson's Elinor kept her character's face carefully expressionless as she negotiated scenes in which some knew her secrets and others did not. ...
Austen was not yet a great novelist when she wrote this story, and there is too much contrivance in the way she dispatches her men to London when she is done with them. Edward is off-screen so long that instead of growing concerned about his absence, we forget him. ...
... seems a little too idealized; we want notepaper, not picture postcards.
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Garry Gillard | reviews | New: 19 November, 2021 | Now: 2 July, 2023