Margarette Connor

Opposite sisters∣Early productions∣Glorious Version∣Fine Acting Talent

Although Sense and Sensibility was not the first novel Austen wrote, it was the first published, in 1811.  It is the story of two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, one of whom has a bit too much sense while the other has a bit too much sensibility. One of the main themes of the story is finding the balance between sense and sensibility.

To tell the truth, when reading the novel or even watching the films, I often want to give both sisters a good shake!  I want to shake Elinor into being a little more open, and I really want to shake some sense into Marianne.  She is the far more annoying sister, and Austen found more room for satire in Marianne's over-abundant Romanticism than in Elinor's reticence.

Early productions

Two TV productions, one in 1971 directed by David Giles and starring Joanna David and Isabel Dean as Elinor and Marianne Dashwood.  The second was made in 1981 and was directed by Rodney Bennett and starred Irene Richard (who played Charlotte Lucas in the 1980 production of Pride and Prejudice) and Tracey Childs as Elinor and Marianne.  Neither of these productions are available today, and I mention them just to be thorough.

The Dashwood girls as played by Kate Winslet, Emile Francois, and Emma Thompson. Source: Homevideos.com, http://www.homevideos.com/revdate/28b.htm

The most famous version of Sense and Sensibility is the 1995 film directed by Ang Lee with an Academy Award-winning screenplay by Emma Thompson, who also played Elinor Dashwood.  According to Thompson, she worked on the screenplay for four years, finally going through 20 drafts in order to do Jane Austen proud.

And the film is quite funny, as well as moving.  It has consistently brought audiences to laughter and to tears.  Many don't expect humor from an Austen adaptation, but as Thompson has said, "People forget Austen is a comedian, she's a satirist and an ironist of the first order, and her wit is biting and it cuts very deep." (Emma Thompson Sanctuary)

Personally, I will never forget a line from Thompson's acceptance speech at the 1995 Academy Awards: she “noted that, before returning to Los Angeles for the ceremony, "I went to Jane Austen's grave in Winchester Cathedral to pay my respects and tell her about the grosses. I don't know how she would react to an evening like this, but I do hope she knows how big she is in Uruguay." (Bart)  To me, this quote showed how much love Thompson has for Austen.

Elizabeth Spriggs as Mrs. Jennings and Imelda Staunton as Mrs. Palmer. Source: Homevideos.com, http://www.homevideos.com/revdate/28b.htm

In the film Thompson was surrounded with some of England's best talent, many of whom she'd worked with before.  Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, and Hugh Grant rounded out the two lead couples. 

The supporting actors included long-time Thompson collaborators Imelda Staunton and Hugh Laurie as Mrs. and Mrs. Palmer (Laurie's part is small, but he is note-worthy as the husband just longing for some sense on the part of his wife and mother-in-law).

Also on hand are the wonderfully talented Imogen Stubbs as the nasty Lucy Steele, and Gemma Jones as Mrs. Dashwood.  Greg Wise played Willoughby, the man who steals Marianne's heart then casts her aside. 

Alan Rickman as Col. Brandon and Kate Winslet as Marianne Dashwood reading The Fairie Queene. Source: The Rickmanista Review. http://members.tripod.com/ ~emma_on_line/sense.html

As fine as these actors all are, and as fine as Thompson's screenplay is, Ang Lee's direction adds much to the finished product.  As Janet Maslin notes in her New York Timesreview:"Mr. Lee is after something more broadly accessible, a sparkling, colorful and utterly contemporary comedy of manners. He achieves this so pleasantly that "Sense and Sensibility" matches the Austen-based "Clueless" for sheer fun. Not bad, considering that these characters respond to any awkward social circumstance by talking about the weather.

"But Mr. Lee and Ms. Thompson are not above winking at their audience over such musty, Regency-era conventions. Nor are they overly reverential about the text itself, which has been artfully pruned and sometimes modified to suit broader comic tastes. While it's not necessary to have John Dashwood (James Fleet) twitching so nervously at his father's deathbed, wincing over a promise to take financial care of his stepmother and half sisters, Mr. Lee often indulges in such bold strokes. In this case, it's as helpful a way as any of setting the story in motion."

In review"Sense, Sensibility And Eternal Entrapment", Lizzie Francke sees Lee as the perfect choice for Thompson's screenplay:"Lee, who directed such successes as The Wedding Banquet and Eat Drink, Man Woman, was an inspired choice. His films offer astute observations on cultures bound by stifling social conventions and etiquette. In particular Eat Drink, Man Woman, which was about a widowed father who could express his love for his four daughters only by cooking them elaborate meals that they could not eat, seems like a rehearsal for Austen, which is full of characters who either fill up their world with empty patter or cannot explain themselves at all."

And it seems Lee pushed his actors.  Kate Winslet always did her own stunts, including falling down the hill and standing out in the cold English rain.  Here's a passage from Emma Thompson's production diary:

"10.20 pm. In bed with a herbal cushion from Kate. She fainted at 6 p.m. - so cold, so wet for so long. Alan [Rickman] found Ang [Lee] sitting on a box, his head low, his fists clenched.

Greg Wise as Willoughby. Source: Homevideos.com http://www.homevideos.com/revdate/28b.htm

“'I tortured her,' he moaned. 'Don't worry,' said Alan. 'You'll have the opportunity to do it to me soon.'

"Kate was sent flowers by the production and four bottles of Newcastle Ale [a very tasty type of English beer] from the ADs [assistant directors].  We warmed her up slowly in her caravan, her feet thrust into Greg's armpits. According to Paul (our paramedic) this is the best way of warming feet and she made a very good recovery. The hotel had built an enormous fire which we sat around with a glass."

One thing that rings true in the film is the relationship between Elinor and Marianne.  Here's a story from Thompson's production diary that illustrates the real life bond between the two actors:

"Kate and I in right old state doing 'Dearest Papa' - frightening and too emotional, at least for this old bag. Too much motion slopping about anyway, never mind playing scenes about dead fathers and dying sisters. Kate was calling up some tears and I whispered, 'This will be over soon and we'll be parted.' We immediately both burst into loud sobs."

Interesting and fun excerpts

Emma Thompson as Elinor Dashwood. Source: Homevideos.com, http://www.homevideos.com/revdate/28b.htm

From Emma Thompson's diary about the shoot, as published in People Magazine:

·       Thompson's impression of costar Hugh Grant (Edward) at first rehearsal: "Repellently gorgeous, why did we cast him? He's much prettier than I am."

·       Director Ang Lee's comment to Thompson on the first day of shooting: "Don't look so old." Thompson, 36, was playing a woman in her mid-20s.

Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant. Source: Emma Thompson Sanctuary, http://www.muldermedia.com/emma/gallery/ stills/sense1.html

·       Subtlest special effect: In this pastoral romance, sheep seen in the background had wool permed to look fluffier.

·       Subtlest special effect scrapped as impractical: Thompson hoped to find trained trout for Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman) to tickle and catch to impress Marianne (Kate Winslet).

·       Actor for whom craggy-faced, 40ish Alan Rickman was mistaken by daft tourist in Somerset: Tom Cruise

·       Taiwanese director Ang's comment during shoot: "The acting in England is much better than the food."

·       Thompson's diary entry on necking with costar: "Kissing Hugh very lovely. Glad I invented it."

·       Thompson on her appearance in ball scene: "Pulled boobs up as far as they'd go, but they are still disappointing." (Thompson, People)

The poems quoted in the film are William Cowper's"The Castaway," William Shakespeare's"Sonnet 116," Edmund Spenser's The Fairie Queene, Book V, Canto 2, verse 39 and Hartley Coleridge's sonnet. The specific poems have been added by Emma Thompson when writing the screenplay.  In the book, Austen mentions that Willoughby enjoys William Cowper and Sir Walter Scott.  You can find the poems:

http://hermes.hrc.ntu.edu.tw/lctd/asp/works/350/poems.htm

Sources:

Bart, Peter."Kudos need oral surgery" Variety.com.  Posted 23 Jan. 2005.  18 Feb 2005. http://www.variety.com/ac2005_article/VR1117916739?nav=news&categoryid=1778&cs=1&s=h&p=0

 “Biography," Emma Thompson Sanctuary: 18 Feb 2005. http://www.muldermedia.com/emma/background/biography4.html

Francke, Lizzie."Sense, Sensibility And Eternal Entrapment", New Statesman & Society, 23 Feb 96, Vol. 9:391, p 43.

Maslin, Janet. "In Mannerly Search of Marriageable Men," Film Review of Sense and Sensibility (13 Dec 1995).  New York Times On-line. 18 Feb 2005. http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?title1=&title2=SENSE%20AND%20SENSIBILITY%20%28MOVIE%29&reviewer=Janet%20Maslin&pdate=19951213&v_id=135551&reviewer=Janet%20Maslin

Thompson, Emma, Production Diary Quotes, qtd in Admiring Kate Winslet.  18 Feb. 2005. http://www.admiringkate.com/SenseAndSensibility.htm

-----."The Sense And Sensibility Screenplay & Diaries," Excerpts.  People Magazine, 12 Feb 96, Vol. 45:6, pp38-40.