Sense and Sensibility

For a woman who died a century and three quarters earlier, the mid-1990s were a strangely fertile period in the career of English novelist Jane Austen. Specifically, 1995 saw a surge in film adaptations of her works, launched first by the BBC with a TV movie of 'Persuasion' (which played theatrically in the United States) and a miniseries version of 'Pride and Prejudice'. Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon with 'Clueless' (an uncredited, modern-day take on 'Emma') and finally, to close out the year, the high-profile, prestige picture production of 'Sense and Sensibility'. Exactly how and why all this simultaneous interest in her came to pass is still a bit of a mystery, but as unlikely as it may have seemed, Jane Austen was suddenly all the rage again.

This was hardly the first time anyone had tried to bring Austen's writing to live action, of course. Although the author only completed six novels during her lifetime, all of them had been adapted for television multiple times over the years. However, only the 1940 version of 'Pride and Prejudice' starring Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson managed to score a theatrical release, and it was a box office disappointment in its day. Columbia Pictures actually took a risk in producing 'Sense and Sensibility' as an awards contender in '95. The material was potentially both too familiar to the literary crowd (a TV movie of it had aired as recently as 1990) and generally unappealing to the mainstream theatrical audience. Jane Austen was perceived as being the stuff of PBS 'Masterpiece Theatre', not multiplex screens.

One major factor in the film's favor was star Emma Thompson, who'd recently come off an Oscar win for the somewhat similar period piece adaptation of 'Howard's End' plus another nomination for 'The Remains of the Day'. Jane Austen seemed to be right in her wheelhouse, enough so that producer Lindsay Doran asked her to write the screenplay in addition to acting, despite the fact that Thompson's only previous writing credits were for TV comedy sketches. The actress claimed to be a major fan of Jane Austen and spent five years working on the script before cameras were ready to roll.

Directing duties eventually fell to a Taiwanese filmmaker named Ang Lee. Today, we recognize that he'd later win two Academy Awards of his own ('Brokeback Mountain' and 'Life of Pi'), but at the time, Lee was only known for a trio of low-key character dramas he'd made in his home country: 'Pushing Hands', 'The Wedding Banquet' and 'Eat Drink Man Woman'. All three were respected and acclaimed when imported West, and the last of them even scored an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, but none had exactly made huge waves. Hiring an Asian director to helm such exceedingly English source material must have seemed a risky proposition regardless of his credentials. Fortunately, Lee's skill at working with actors and handling delicate nuances in tone proved a good fit.

As in the novel, the film is a romantic comedy of manners set in late 18th Century England. The story follows the recently widowed mother and three daughters of the Dashwood family. When the family's husband and father passes away, English law of the time requires that his entire estate be passed to his son from a previous marriage, leaving the girls destitute save for a small pittance that the well-meaning heir, under the influence of his own shrewish wife, is able to gift to them. With employment a fanciful and absurd notion, their only hope of bettering their lives is for the daughters to marry well.

The main thrust of the narrative concerns the differences in temperament and romantic prospects between Elinor (Thompson), the eldest and most pragmatic sister, and Marianne (Kate Winslet), the willful and impulsive middle child. Marianne's attentions are divided between two suitors: the much older and (as she considers him) rather dull Col. Brandon (Alan Rickman) and the dashing young Mr. Willoughby (Greg Wise). Naturally, she falls head-over-heels (literally, in fact) for the latter. However, as she discovers, he may not be the most practical or suitable match.

Elinor, meanwhile, draws the attention of the sensitive, introverted Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant), but his family disapproves of the penniless Dashwoods and another woman already has her sights set on him. Among these and several other characters, affections ebb and flow, and romantic complications ensue.

Like all of Austen's works, 'Sense and Sensibility' is a portrait of a culture at a very specific moment in time. The author's concerns regarding women's place in the social order, the propriety and decorum of polite society, and the unrequited passions of people trapped by their lives are all capably reflected in the screenplay adaptation. Thompson maintains much of the wit from the book while simplifying the arcane language and modernizing a few aspects to make the story more appealing to a contemporary audience. Austen scholars and purists may take issue with some of this, but the changes are all smartly handled.

The acting is quite fine across the board. Thompson had already perfected her mastery of conveying repressed emotions in 'The Remains of the Day' and carries that work over here. Alan Rickman, still mostly known for the over-the-top villains he'd played in 'Die Hard' and 'Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves', is heartbreaking as the hopelessly besotted Brandon. The real standout of the film is Kate Winslet, appearing in her first major Hollywood production after her breakout role in Peter Jackson's 'Heavenly Creatures'. By turns idealistic, naïve, strong-willed and adorable, she's captivating to watch. Her role as Marianne would land the actress her first of several Oscar nominations.

As director, Lee mostly tries to stay out of the way of the material. He balances the multitude of characters and storylines well, and the film's period production values are handsomely mounted (though Thompson's dresses are weirdly unflattering; for years, I assumed that the actress must have been pregnant during filming, but the timeline doesn't match up with the birth of her first child). Beyond that, Lee doesn't bring anything particularly distinctive of his own personality or authorial voice to the movie. This was clearly a for-hire assignment to get his foot in the Hollywood studio door, not an auteurist work. While there isn't necessarily anything wrong with that, the movie often feels coldly impersonal, like it's going through all the required motions without ever fully springing to life. It's pretty but sedate.

The source novel also brings its own limitations. For as much as Austen tries to make the Dashwood girls clever and independent, all of the story's conflicts ultimately hinge on (and are resolved by) Elinor and Marianne each finding the right man to marry. After they do, all of their problems are solved. The book was of course a product of its day, but any proto-feminist leanings feel undermined by the triviality of the plot.

My own objections aside, the film was a big success. It made a sizable profit at the box office, was widely acclaimed, and earned seven Oscar nominations – of which Thompson won for her screenplay. Numerous other Jane Austen adaptations have followed in its wake, including another TV miniseries remake of 'Sense and Sensibility' itself, but Lee and Thompson's film remains the standard by which all others are judged.

Sony Pictures had rumored a Blu-ray release for 'Sense and Sensibility' back in the early days of the format, but the disc never materialized. After a long delay, the studio has now licensed the title to Twilight Time as a limited edition with a pressing run of only 3,000 copies. Like most Twilight Time releases, the Blu-ray has a simple static menu. A booklet inside the keepcase contains an essay by Twilight Time employee Julie Kirgo. The artwork on the cover of that booklet would have made for a much nicer choice of main case art than the weirdly washed-out copy of the theatrical poster image that was used instead.