Sense and Sensibility (2008)
The PBS Complete Jane Austen finished Sunday with the second part of a new, 3-hour adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. Much stronger than the other new adaptations of Persuasion, Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey, SS08 benefited from its extra 90 minutes of screen time. It was able to do justice to the story and to characters that the other, shorter adaptations simply couldn’t manage. It does, though, have the tough circumstance of comparison to both the popular book and Ang Lee’s popular 1995 film adaptation.
SS08 opens shockingly, with a steamy love scene. Outraged, I thought, “That’s not in the book; they’re sexing this up on purpose!” A few seconds later I recalled who the couple must be, and that this scene WAS part of the book, though not told in present-tense detail. Interesting, I thought, but pointless to all who have read the story, and even all who are somewhat familiar with Austen’s books, which all include an initially charming guy who turns out to be a cad; in SS it’s Willoughby. And Willoughby, in this new adaptation, is so obviously oily and up to no good that it’s a mystery why Marianne falls for him, and why no one else suspects him.
I’ll skip to what I liked first. Hattie Morahan was absolutely wonderful as Elinor. Sympathetic, believable, vulnerable, and strong. David Morrissey as Colonel Brandon was likewise quite good. He ably captured the quiet, steadfast, tormented older man who’s had his heart broken, and has no pretty illusions.
I’d forgotten why SS was my least favorite Austen novel, and in a well-drawn but painful sequence SS08 reminded me why. Marianne, while often foolish and trying, is talented and spirited. After she is dumped by Willoughby and rescued by Brandon, she slowly grows to love the latter. For all his upright nice-guy-ness, though, Brandon is nearly twenty years her senior, and he’ll have a muffling effect on her exuberance. SS08 captured this in a scene where Marianne enters his dark library, sits down at the pianoforte, wipes a hand across the top–affection, or dusting?–and proceeds to play a slow, dark tune in minor key. The interior scene is interpolated with one of her going outside to see Brandon, who has unhooded his hawk, set it “free” to fly, then called it back and snared its feet. In the book, Austen attempts to gloss over their differences by saying that they will be good for one another, but I think some of bright, dynamic Marianne will be lost forever in that safe, stable marriage. That may have been Austen’s point, but it doesn’t endear the story to me.
My other reservations about SS08 are minor, but they accumulated. The mother’s character is muddy–instead of foolish like Marianne she comes off as merely stupid. Dan Stevens as Edward Ferrars seems to be doing an impression of Hugh Grant from the ‘96 film. Likewise Claire Skinner as Fanny Ferrars Dashwood seems to be doing a Miranda Richardson impression. There’s far too little of Mr. Palmer, and I missed his snarky comments. There were far too many moody shots of water crashing on rocky shores. And, as with the other new adaptations, WHY OH WHY the shaky, hand-held camera? That’s gotten tired in action movies; there’s absolutely no call for it in Victorian England!
At the end, I found it a mixed bag. Some excellent things, some good things, several bad things. Worth watching on television, but I would not buy the DVD. For more commentary, see Austenblog, and Maureen Ryan’s The Watcher.
April 8th, 2008 at 8:31 am
I have to say, I really enjoyed this adaptation. I fell asleep during Emma the other night (which may have nothing to do with the movie and more to do with general lack of sleep), but I stayed awake during both episodes this time.
Usually Marianne’s character grates on me, but I didn’t mind her this time. I also loved Elinor, but thought they did a nice job of showing how she is different from Marianne in her expressions, though not necessarily better. Maybe it’s my own birth order, but I’m usually overly sympathetic to Elinor and overly critical of Marianne–this time, however, I saw different aspects to each character.
However, I have to agree about that whole scene with the hawk which was over done, heavy handed, and annoying. It’s bad enough to accept Marianne has learned her lesson and will go with the much older, much more reserved Brandon–but do we have to equate her with an animal? It was particularly annoying because I was touched by her conversation with Elinor where she asked if men knew women were people too–or do they think women are just playthings. I thought it was a nice moment between the two sisters, and then they undercut it by saying, “actually, yes, you are a plaything like a hawk.”
But, still, on the whole, I’ve enjoyed my Sunday evenings with Austen.
April 8th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Some other bloggers have disliked Charity Wakefield’s Marianne, but I thought she was good, and I especially liked the scene where she accused Elinor of being lucky that she hadn’t been hurt much and then E set her straight.
As with all the others except for the MP (have I mentioned that I hated it–ha!) I enjoyed them all, and they made me re-engage with Austen’s stories and themes. There were things that bugged, but I’m with you–I’m a happier Austen fan for having watched them.