Released December 13, 1995, the film “Sense and Sensibility” is an adaptation of Jane Austen’s bestselling novel that was published in 1811. The movie follows the coming of age story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor, Marianne, and their youngest sister Margaret. When their father Mr. Dashwood passes, the estate in which they live in, Norland Park, is passed down to John, the half-brother from Mr. Dashwood’s first marriage. The three girls and their widowed mother are forced to leave their home, but the opportunity arises to rent a modest home, deemed Barton Cottage, on the property of their distant relative, Sir John Middleton. Once there, the girls realize they must marry for financial security. This sets the story up to be full of love, romance, and heartbreak.
While many of us were forced to read this book in high school, some got to forgo the “dreaded” read. I enjoyed this book during high school but found the film to be slightly off in some places. The movie was produced by Lindsay Doran, but the screenplay was written by Emma Thompson, who also played the lead role of Elinor Dashwood. The first thing I noticed was that their wealth was exaggerated. Within the book, the Dashwood family would be considered “middle class” in the 21st century. Yes, they lived on an estate, wore nice clothes, and rode in carriages, but they were nowhere near the wealthiest family during the 1700s. Thompson exaggerated their wealth to make their scenes of poverty more apparent to modern audiences. Thompson also altered traits within the male leads, as well as, Elinor and Marianne. The male roles were altered to make them slightly more appealing. This is due to men in the 1700’s being gruffer towards women, which wouldn’t have been as acceptable in the 90s. Elinor and Marianne were supposedly polar opposites, which is depicted and emphasized through imagery and invented scenes.
Ang Lee was chosen to direct the film, which was given a budget of $16 million. The crew took the seemingly small budget and blew it up into a box office revenue of $135 million worldwide. The film started out being a commercial success. This turned into it receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews, along with several accolades. These accolades included, three awards and eleven nominations at the 1995 British Academy Film Awards. It then earned seven Academy Award Nominations. Thompson received the Best Adapted Screenplay award and the Best Actress award, becoming the only person to have won awards for both acting and screenwriting.
While the adaptation of the book to film misses some parts and exaggerates others, this has been one film that does well in avoiding that. It depicts life for four women without a male leader, well in the late 1700s. These women are trying to find a way back into what was considered their normal lives after being thrown out of it. There is romance, lies, love that is frowned upon. It truly is the perfect mix of a love story mashed in with important parts of history. Jane Austen created accidental feminists and has been celebrated for it ever since. Even if you were not “forced” to read the book in high school, give the movie a try, you may find that you enjoy it.
Citations:
Ebert, Roger. “Sense
And Sensibility Movie Review (1995) | Roger Ebert.” RogerEbert.com, Brian Grazer, 13 Dec. 1995, www.rogerebert.com/reviews/sense-and-sensibility-1995.
Looser, Devoney.
“'Sense and Sensibility' and Jane Austen's Accidental Feminists.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media
Company, 21 Feb. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/02/sense-and-sensibility-jane-austen-emma-thompson/434007/.
“Sense and Sensibility
(1995).” Safe Haven (2013) - Rotten Tomatoes, www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1068832_sense_and_sensibility.
After reading this I wonder the film have been as popular if the details weren't exaggerated? As a multimedia major, I have learned that you must produce films for the public to judge. Often times we act out of their best interest. Similar to your statement about the men being illustrated slightly different because in the 1700's the were "gruff". If the film had been equal to the book in detail really revealing things like how men treated women, would it have been seen in the same light?
ReplyDeleteMarley and Cat--I'm not sure the film depicts the 1700s? And I'm not sure which students were "forced" to read the book! My experience is that very few female authors are read in high school, still continuing to laud The Old Man and the Sea! If they were to read Sense and Sensibility, I think they would learn a lot--so I'm all for it. As for the comments on accuracy--in a history class, addressing film representation, we are always concerned when things stray. I'm not sure that issue is a very grave one though--of more concern, does Thompson and the film capture the essence of Austen and the problems inherent in being a woman? That she does quite well. Fun fact: Emma Thompson is one of the only directors to have the film receive an oscar nomination but not the director; many saw this as direct gender bias.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your analysis of why certain things were altered in the movie. When you mentioned how she exaggerated their wealth in order to represent the poverty scenes more intensely, it one hundred percent made sense. But, it also makes me question whether or not the scenes of poverty were amplified as well to get the point across.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what viewer response would be if the characters had not been altered. I know that behavior towards women would not be accepted nowadays, but it would be interesting to see how male and female interactions would have actually been like. To know that men were not very nice to women. Also the wealth gap is an interesting thought; would the movie had much of an impact if the classes were shown to not be that different or would it have mattered?
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you compared the book to the movie, since often times the movie can be very different from the book. I definitely think it made the movie more interesting if they exaggerated the wealth in order to show how poverty affected some people in this time. I also like how you mentioned that this film shows how these women could live life, even without a male character and head of the household. Surprisingly after reading this analysis, this seems like a movie I would actually enjoy and might have to get to that.
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