Sense and Sensibility [DVD] [1996]

How can a romantic comedy about seeking marriage mates win the Berlinale, one of the most prestigious film festivals? Well, this splendid adaptation of a classic Jane Austen novel did just that in 1996, combining fabulous writing (and acting) of Emma Thompson and great directing of Ang Lee ("The Wedding Banquet", "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"). Other performances are also first-class. Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant shine (personally, I've never seen a role to be so fitting for Grant, although "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "About a Boy" came close). The whole cast is flawless. When the film came out, even the self-proclaimed film saviour Quentin Tarantino could not help himself but quip: "Who the F... is Jane Austen?" Yes, this English author who lived 200 years ago wrote only romantic novels about girls (and men) who are in want of a spouse. But she achieved perfection in this very limited space (the novel "Pride and Prejudice" is probably the best). In this movie, the very human side -- the desire not to be alone, to spend a lifetime with the One -- is described with power. Finding the true love was the prime thing for the two Dashwood sisters. But, is it still not true for most of us, even in this cold, material world? Emma Thompson, already an Oscar winner for her leading role in "Howards End" (1992), won the Oscar for this film's adapted screenplay, becoming the first artist ever to achieve such a feat -- winning the Academy Awards for both acting and writing. Apart from saving all important aspects of the story, Thompson included very poignant and sharp moments in the script. When her character Elinor and Edward Ferrars (played by Grant) are on a cruise ride, she says, 'you inherit your money. We cannot even earn ours,' hinting at the situation of middle class women two centuries ago, when their fortunes depended heavily either on inheritance from father or property of husband -- and it was not imaginable they should go to work. A great social commentary. Beautifully shot, with delicate music score by Patrick Doyle, "Sense and Sensibility" is predominantly an entertaining film. But its social and human undertones are undeniable. It did win Berlin festival and the Golden Globe, but lost the Oscar race to "Braveheart". Maybe for the lack of great human topic that would rank it along "Schindler's List" or "The English Patient". Yet I feel that there was not the film in 1995 to deserve the big Oscar more than this one. If you have sense and sensibility, you will laugh and you will cry. This is a film to love.

Great film

Charm, sensibility, peppered with sense and marvellous acting, a starry cast topped by Emma Thompson simply wonderful as Eleanor, so well supported by a pretty, light-hearted Kate Winslet as Marianne and a lovely turn as their mother from Gemma Jones. Hugh Grant is suitably clever and witty beneath a shy demeanour - a turn out of his usual romantic style! - and Alan Rickman is also clever and shy but totally different, as Marianne's suitor, competing with Greg Wise who captures and breaks Marianne's heart. This is the best version of Austen's novel and a simply super film. Every scene captivates whether it is waspish Harriet Walter, married to the girls' stepbrother (James Fleet) pontificating, or Robert Hardy and Elizabeth Spriggs as the jovial cousin and his stepmother, who offer the almost destitute Dashwoods a home in Devon, who bring fun and games and humour to the playing out of the story. I love this film and Emma Thompson's witty, lively script well won its Oscar. Recommended highly.

This is a charming and delightful film with rich characters and story. The cast including Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, and Hugh Grant is great. Thompson's Oscar-winning screenplay is a masterful adaptation of Jane Austen's novel, and Ang Lee's understated direction is superb. The picture quality of this disc is solid. The transfer looks like an older scan to my eyes and displays good sharpness and strong colors. Some mild filtering and ringing is present, but nowhere near excessive. Grain and finer detail aren't reproduced as well as they would be on a newer remaster, but this a very satisfying presentation and a notable improvement over the ancient DVD nevertheless. Audio is presented in DTS-HD MA 5.0 and sounds good to my ears (though I'm not much of an audiophile). Moving on to the extras, this Blu-ray includes the following (I'm listing them since they're not listed on the back cover): "Adapting Austen" (11 min) "A Sense of Character" (8 min) "A Very Quiet Man" (12 min) "Locating the World of Sense & Sensibility" (5 min) "Elegance & Simplicity: The Wardrobe of Sense & Sensibility" (4 min) 2 Deleted Scenes The 5 featurettes were produced in 2009 for Sony and to my knowledge have not appeared on any DVD release. These featurettes do not include new interviews with the film's talent. Instead, comments are culled from old on set interviews with the cast & crew. These have been upconverted & cropped to 16x9 and intercut with behind the scenes footage, stills, and film clips. The subject of each is mostly self explanatory, although "A Very Quiet Man" focuses on Ang Lee. Overall, these are well-produced featurettes that offer a good overview of the production, but I would've liked to hear new comments from Thompson, Winslet, Lee, and others. 2 deleted scenes from the DVD releases round out the extras and are presented in letterboxed widescreen and run for a total of 2 minutes and 44 seconds. Fans of the film will want to hold onto their DVD copies which include several significant extras not ported over for this Blu-ray edition. These include 2 commentaries (the first by writer/star Emma Thompson and producer Lindsay Doran, and the second by director Ang Lee and co-producer James Schamus), Emma Thompson's Golden Globe acceptance speech, and the film's theatrical trailer. Overall, I definitely recommend this release. As an American who was tired of waiting for Sony to release this in the States, this disc is completely region free and well worth importing!

We enjoy interleaving our repeated viewing of this version of the book, with the slightly earlier BBC production (with Irene Richard and Tracey Childs). Each has its strengths, and its weaknesses (such as which subset of characters has been left out by the screen writer). Viewed one after the other, we get a feel for the original story; but each viewed indiviually is still worthy of a five-star individual performance.

It's got romance, heartbreak and top class acting from a top class cast of British actors. Emma Thompson deserves every praise for bringing this adaptation of Jane Austen's novel alive. Having read the book, it's not that different, it just misses out a lot of fancy words and simplifies it somewhat. Emma plays Eleanor Dashwood, who along with her mother (Gemma Jones) and two other sisters, Marianne and Margaret are somewhat forced to leave the family home following the death of their father and the home passing from their father to his eldest son, John (James Fleet) from a previous marriage. To cut a long story short...Both Eleanor and Marianne fall in love and deal with it in very separate ways, Eleanor being the 'sense' whilst Marianne is the 'sensibility'! Both sisters finally emerge triumphant but not before they endure their own personal heartaches. Beautifully filmed with fantastic locations and a gorgeous soundtrack. If you like Pride and Predjudice and the Catherine Cookson adaptations, you will love this film. And if you haven't snivelled even a little by the end of it, you must have a heart made of stone!!

Excellent!

Classic film made even more enjoyable by having the wonderful Mr Alan Rickman playing my favourite character. Never tire of this film.