Sense and Sensibility (1995)
It’s remarkable that Sense and Sensibility is one of my favorite movies when I can’t stand one of the leads and wish it ended differently. However, since everything else in the movie is positively wonderful, I can’t help but love it and often reserve it as a special treat enjoyed on my birthday.
In my favorite Jane Austen story, three sisters and their widowed mother are turned out of their home when the patriarch dies and is legally forced to leave everything to his son from his first marriage. Poor and with no dowry, the girls struggle along love’s rocky road amidst a society that matches people within their financial levels. If you’ve ever read a Jane Austen novel, you know it takes all your concentration to weed through her wordiness and see the bigger picture. Emma Thompson won a well-deserved Oscar for writing the screenplay and adding wonderful tidbits that weren’t in the novel but make the characters more intense and lifelike. Combined with Ang Lee’s thoughtful directing, the scenes flow with perfect pace. It was a slower time, but when women are shown sipping tea or embroidering, it’s part of their way of life, not the focus of the entire scene and therefore boring the audience. There’s a very natural feeling to the film as if we’re eavesdropping, and the sound is crisp and clear even as it realistically bounces off high walls, or grows softer as the camera moves further away from the actors. There’s a wonderful scene when the main family arrives at their new, much smaller house for the first time. Emma Thompson and Gemma Jones walk leisurely up the hill with Elizabeth Spriggs, but Kate Winslet races up to the house and explores its rooms. The camera follows Kate, but if you listen very closely, or watch the movie many times, you can hear every word of the other group’s conversation, which includes important dialogue.
Equal to the impeccable filmmaking is the acting. Emma Thompson is a fantastic emotional heroine forced to hide her emotions from others, but thankfully, not the camera. Since she was the screenwriter, her performance could have felt over rehearsed, but every scene is fresh and vibrant. Her thoughts and feelings are so full and clear, she communicates with the camera even when her back is turned. Alan Rickman easily commands the audience’s attention from his first scene. Very often he’s shown in the background of someone else’s closeup, and he’s always contributing to his character, making your heart ache for him even more. It’s so wonderful to see him in a romantic role, and if this is your first movie of his, as was the case with me, you’ll find it impossible to believe he made a career playing villains.
In my favorite Jane Austen story, three sisters and their widowed mother are turned out of their home when the patriarch dies and is legally forced to leave everything to his son from his first marriage. Poor and with no dowry, the girls struggle along love’s rocky road amidst a society that matches people within their financial levels. If you’ve ever read a Jane Austen novel, you know it takes all your concentration to weed through her wordiness and see the bigger picture. Emma Thompson won a well-deserved Oscar for writing the screenplay and adding wonderful tidbits that weren’t in the novel but make the characters more intense and lifelike. Combined with Ang Lee’s thoughtful directing, the scenes flow with perfect pace. It was a slower time, but when women are shown sipping tea or embroidering, it’s part of their way of life, not the focus of the entire scene and therefore boring the audience. There’s a very natural feeling to the film as if we’re eavesdropping, and the sound is crisp and clear even as it realistically bounces off high walls, or grows softer as the camera moves further away from the actors. There’s a wonderful scene when the main family arrives at their new, much smaller house for the first time. Emma Thompson and Gemma Jones walk leisurely up the hill with Elizabeth Spriggs, but Kate Winslet races up to the house and explores its rooms. The camera follows Kate, but if you listen very closely, or watch the movie many times, you can hear every word of the other group’s conversation, which includes important dialogue.
Equal to the impeccable filmmaking is the acting. Emma Thompson is a fantastic emotional heroine forced to hide her emotions from others, but thankfully, not the camera. Since she was the screenwriter, her performance could have felt over rehearsed, but every scene is fresh and vibrant. Her thoughts and feelings are so full and clear, she communicates with the camera even when her back is turned. Alan Rickman easily commands the audience’s attention from his first scene. Very often he’s shown in the background of someone else’s closeup, and he’s always contributing to his character, making your heart ache for him even more. It’s so wonderful to see him in a romantic role, and if this is your first movie of his, as was the case with me, you’ll find it impossible to believe he made a career playing villains.
Kate Winslet plays the young romantic lead and the object of Alan’s undying devotion, but hers is the only performance in the film that makes me cringe. Fans of hers will probably find her cute and endearing, but the only compliment I can give her is that she acted very young as her character needed to do. She was only twenty at the time, and for that, I do cut her a lot of slack. Kate’s love interest, Greg Wise, may seem to be just a pretty face, but during your second and subsequent viewings, you’ll notice the different layers he puts into his performance. Hugh Grant is Emma’s love interest, and he’s sufficiently bumbling yet charming enough to make the audience understand why she carries a torch for him. Emilie Francois is the youngest daughter, and she’s so beautiful and full of spunk, you can’t help but wish she had more screen time. The matriarch, Gemma Jones, is delightful as she shows where her younger daughters copied their silly, flirtatious behavior. Elizabeth Spriggs is fantastic. She’s warm, hilarious, loyal, kind, and careful. She’s simultaneously someone you wish you knew and someone you really believe lived in the 1800s. Harriet Walter, Imelda Staunton, Hugh Laurie, James Fleet, Robert Hardy, Imogen Stubbs, and Tom Wilkinson don’t have much screen time, but they make the most of their roles and cause such impressions that wherever you seen them next, you’ll probably say to yourself, “That’s the guy/girl from Sense and Sensibility!”
Full of quotable lines, like “Fondant!” “Does she care for olives?” and “The air is full of spices,” beautiful cinematography, memorable moments, and classic romantic scenes that are often shown in film montages, it’s easy to make this version of Sense and Sensibility a favorite.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. When Kate Winslet leaves the dance, the camera is in her POV for a few seconds and it will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
More Alan Rickman movies here!
More Kate Winslet movies here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of Jane Austen's original novel here!
Full of quotable lines, like “Fondant!” “Does she care for olives?” and “The air is full of spices,” beautiful cinematography, memorable moments, and classic romantic scenes that are often shown in film montages, it’s easy to make this version of Sense and Sensibility a favorite.
DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. When Kate Winslet leaves the dance, the camera is in her POV for a few seconds and it will make you sick. In other words, “Don’t Look, Mom!”
More Alan Rickman movies here!
More Kate Winslet movies here!
Be sure to check out Hot Toasty Rag's review of Jane Austen's original novel here!