One of the three Jane Austen related adaptations that came out in 1995 (the BBC’s iconic ‘Pride and Prejudice’ TV series, ‘Clueless’ which was ‘Emma’ in a modern setting), ‘Sense and Sensibility’ was yet another adapted Jane Austen story for the screen that year and was met with a lot of praise from both audiences and critics. Actress Emma Thompson also got awards for Best Screenplay which she had written and also starred in.
The story starts off when the Dashwood sister’s father dies, his eldest son from his first marriage inherits the state of Norland Park of which he is the owner of. Much to Elinor (Emma Thompson), Marianne (Kate Winslet) and Margaret’s (Emilie Francios) dismay, they are only left with £500 a year…all at the insistence of John’s greedy wife Fanny.
Fanny eventually invites her brother Edward Ferras (Hugh Grant) over to visit them. Edward and Elinor quickly fall in love with each other, much to the unexpected shock of Fanny. She tries- and fails- to prevent it from developing.
It isn’t before long when Sir John Middleton- a cousin of the Dashwood’s sister’s mother- offers them one of his cottages on the Barton Park estate in Devonshire. Elinor is sad to leave Edward but refuses to admit it to anyone although she does drop hints to Marianne in private.
When the Dashwoods arrive at their new home, they’re unsure what to think of it at first but are surprised when company in the form of a jolly old lady Mrs Jennings- Sir Middleton’s mother-in-law- and her equally jolly husband arrive to great them. With their only daughter married, Mrs Jennings is “Constantly trying to marry off everyone else’s daughters” with her successful matchmaking skills. She now eyes Elinor and Marianne as her next targets in her matchmaking schemes.
Will Elinor and Marianne find true love in their new settings? And will Elinor reunite with Edward? These answers are found if you watch the film.
I do actually like ‘Sense and Sensibility’ very much, including the very nice Patrick Doyle score. There are some good moments in the film including the joke about Mrs Jennings trying to marry everyone else off and a moment with Edward playing with the younger sister Margaret early on in the film.
Between this version of ‘Sense and Sensibility’ and the 2005 version of ‘Pride and Prejudice’, I much prefer the 2005 version of ‘Pride and Prejudice’. I’m not saying that the film was bad- very far from it- but I personally didn’t find it as memorable as the other one even though I like both films.
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