Over & Overs: Sense & Sensibility (1995)
Thursday, December 5, 2019 at 11:00AM 
by Cláudio Alves
Films don't change. It's the viewer who is changed by the passage of time. When you watch the same film over and over again, it's easy to imagine that a transformation has occurred. What one day were negligible details, suddenly become the crux of a drama. Sentimental reactions change and so do the feelings each character brings out in the heart. To watch and rewatch across the years is to become starkly aware of how much you've changed as a person and as a cinephile.
At least, that's the experience I've had with those films that have stayed with me over time, cyclically revisited, especially in times of personal strife, as if they were the sweetest of comfort foods. Ang Lee's masterful Sense & Sensibility is one of those special films…
Jane Austen has been dear to my heart since I was a teenager. I couldn't tell you how many times I've read Pride & Prejudice, for instance. From the first time I dove into its romantic reveries and banquets of biting humor, I've been drawn to return to it and doing so is something of a summer tradition. I adore losing myself in the story of Darcy and Elizabeth and their literary love affair has introduced me to Austen's other great works. From Pride & Prejudice to the unfinished novels, I've read almost everything she wrote. Being the passionate cinephile I am, these literary infatuations ended up affecting my movie-watching habits.
I quickly dove into the vast pool of Jane Austen adaptations, whether they were Greer Garson-starring melodramas or BBC retellings. Many of these works are close to my heart, but few are able to capture in film form that most elusive of feelings, the elation of reading one the novels they are based upon. It's not a matter of books being better than cinema or any of that nonsense. In fact, the film that best captures Austen's magic is one that conspicuously alters the original text, throwing crucial moments out the window and creating new characters along the way.
Emma Thompson's Oscar-winning adaptation of Sense & Sensibility is quite a work of cinematic transfiguration. Its humor is broader than that of the novel, but the spirit of the original author runs all through it. Despite some obvious concessions for a contemporary audience's attention span, one never feels that Thompson dumbed down the comedy. She simply reworked it into the language of cinema rather than the idiom of printed books. It's a matter of translation across art forms more than a case of undue modernization. The heart of the matter is still there, precisely presented with explosive feeling and romantic storms, spiky showers of cold reality and an everlasting tenderness that blooms from familiar intimacy.
It's not just a case of a good screenplay either. Ang Lee's first foray into the world of literary adaptations is a masterclass of subtle directing choices. The way he blocks actors and sets the precise rhythm of gesture and speech is amazing, simultaneously able to spun absurdity from heartfelt romance and powerful melancholy from the cheeriest of passages. Almost as spellbinding is Tim Squyres cutting of the scenes, dividing the audience's attention across the sprawling cast with deft ability, neither shortchanging or overindulging any of the colorful personalities onscreen.
The characters are what have most transformed over the years. When I was younger, Kate Winslet's Marianne Dashwood was loveable, but always a great source of annoyance. Thompson's Elinor, on the other hand, was the character I most related to and empathized with. Bizarrely, my sentimental connections to each character were flipped when it came to the appreciation of their actress's work. It was easy to recognize Winslet's mercurial distillation of romantic folly even at a young age, but I underestimated Thompson's more reactive work for many years. Nowadays, I see such control in her performance that I'm ashamed of my teenaged self's views on what constitutes good acting.
That's what going to Theatre school and working alongside actors does to you, I guess. More surprisingly, however, was the way my sympathies flipped when it came to the characters themselves. Today, I brisk at Elinor's harshness and just want to hug Marianne during her more tearful conundrums. As time goes by, I have lived through more of the emotional situations both sisters find themselves in, both happy and sad, and my perception of their life choices has incontrovertibly changed. I can say with joyful certainty that I'm looking forward to seeing how the next few years further transform my perception of their story and Ang Lee's splendid film.
It might sound hyperbolic, but these cinematic experiences help me understand who I am. More than a photo comparison posted on twitter, looking back at how I saw a film in the past and contrasting it with how I see it now tells me precious truths about my personal transformation. I'm not necessarily a different person, but the eyes that watch these films, the heart through which its emotions reverberate, aren't the same. It's true Sense & Sensibility hasn't changed since its premiere all those years ago, but that doesn't stop it from being a radically different experience every time I rewatch it. Such is the power of great cinema and I am eternally grateful for it.
Previously in Over & Overs...
- Moonstruck (1987) by Deborah
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) by Lynn
- Sister Act (1992) by Kyndall
- The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) by Mark
- To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar (1995) by Chris
- Sugar & Spice (2001) by Spencer
- Marie Antoinette (2006) by Claudio
- Julie & Julia (2009) by Ginny
- Moonrise Kingdom (2012) by Ginny
Reader Comments (24)
This film single-handedly got me through so many lonely nights! Emma Thompson and a box of Twinkies? YES PLEASE
I personally LOVE that Ang Lee does not settle on one type of genre... He can direct anything and anyone.
Emma Thompson earned her Screenplay Oscar that year. She did not, however, deserve a Best Actress nomination for this. Fight me.
I loved reading this!
Beautiful write-up Claudio! Now THIS is the type of content we need more of!
Films don’t change.
Speak for yourself. Ma Klounkee!
— Greedo, 2019
Peggy Sue -- I suffer from insomnia and I've spent many of those terrible nights watching Sense & Sensibility. It's comforting and helps me relax even when sleep refuses to occur. I also love the commentary tracks on my DVD. Emma Thompson's comments are always sweet and funny.
Volvagia -- I have no interest in fights, but I confess she probably wouldn't end up in my final ballot. Between her, Julianne Moore, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Meryl Streep, Elisabeth Shue, Susan Sarandon, Nicole Kidman, Toni Collette, Mare Winningham, Sharon Stone and Gong Li, it's really difficult to narrow it down to five.
To all the others, thanks for the positive feedback. It's much appreciated.
The real star of the movie is Elizabeth Spriggs - easily my choice for Best Supporting Actress of 1995.
Cláudio-
I recall having several discussions here at TFE about that 1995 Best Actress year!... Talk about a year when even 10-15 women deserved a nomination... I mean, WOW what a year for leading lady roles!
Heck, even Alicia Silverstone in Clueless deserved a mention :-)
1995 is the Gold Standard for Best Actress as far as I'm concerned
Volvagia - I'll fight you. She's probably my favorite lead performance that year. Very subtle, which makes her emotion all the more affecting. And yes, I would have nominated Silverstone, too.
Ang Lee deserved a Best Director nomination, too.
A splendid choice for an "Over & Overs", whenever I re-watch this film I feel as if I have sunk into a very deep comfy chair. I love all the details that reward an attentive viewer.
I cannot stop laughing and wincing as Harriet Walker tries to influence how much (or how little) the annuity should be. It's easy to fall in love with Hugh Grant who is in peak form.
This formidable cast is so much fun to watch. My sympathies have always shaded towards Elinor but time has made me more sympathetic towards Marianne. Thanks Claudio!
This film single-handedly got me through so many lonely nights! Emma Thompson and a box of Twinkies? YES PLEASE
FAKE PEGGY SUE. I got an amazing sex life.
Thanks Claudio, great choice. Emma Thompson's version of "Sense & Sensibility" is a real cosy armchair of a film. Everytime I re-watch it I just sink right in and I'm caught up in the visual sumptuous world that delights me completely.
Kudos to Harriet Walker who manages to make me laugh and wince as she negotiates that annuity downward during a carriage ride. This is an impeccable cast, and I must admit that I still fall for Hugh Grant, Greg Wise, and Alan Rickman. Time to go off to my tree house and leaf through my atlas...
Very sorry for the double post, but after waiting 15 minutes I wrote another. Usually there's no lag time.
Tell it to your therapist Peggy Sue. We really don't care.
Go fuck yourself /3rtful
We all know you're the one behind all this mess.
Get over it! Nathaniel doesn't care. He doesn't even write in his site anymore.
GIVE ME DISQUS OR DEATH
I agree with Suzanne. Cláudio is your real name Stella? Because you just got your groove back.
It’s death then Joan Castleman. It was nice knowing/being you but good riddance.
One of the finest Jane Austen adaptations ever. Whatever happened to Ang Lee? He used to be such a great director but has now gone ga-ga over HFR 3D bullshit.
I just watched this for the first time on Netflix. Emma was treating herself into those repressed spinster types a lot in the 90s huh?
One of my favorites as well. Thank you for this.
I've always been Team Elinor, but I loved Winslet's performance as Marianne.
Also, Emma Thompson's diaries for S&S are an utter delight - a must read if you're a fan of the movie. Even if she coyly omits any hint that she was probably boinking Greg Wise (Willoughby) throughout filming.
What a delightful film! I was blown away by Emma Thompson's speech when she accepted the Golden Globe for Best Adapted Screenplay. If you haven't seen it, don't miss it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHUgsDIOoNQ