As far as I know, the newest BBC version of
Sense and Sensibility is yet to be screened in Australia so I have been watching batches of icons and screencaps come through for a year now, biding my time until I could see it. Very thoughtfully, my husband bought me my own copy on DVD for Christmas this year so the wait is over. I watched the whole series yesterday, and I loved it!
I'm not really a huge fan of
Sense and Sensibility. I mean, Jane Austen is Jane Austen and I enjoy reading every scrawl of her writing, but Sense and Sensibility isn't at the top of the list. Despite this, I really enjoyed Ang Lee's film with Emma Thompson. It was so beautiful and bright, and it pulled out all the most hilarious bits of the book: Margaret and her atlas, Charlotte and Mr Palmer, Fanny's vileness...
This new one was just as good, but for a completely different reason. Whereas Ang Lee drew out the best bits of the story to make an amazing movie, this new BBC series somehow breathed new life into the whole story and made me appreciate it in its entirety. Charlotte and Mr Palmer were barely present and Margaret didn't have an atlas to hide away with, but that was OK, because somehow the normal characters were so engrossing that I didn't mind.
Here are just some of the things that struck me as I watched:
- I think this adaptation struck the perfect balance between Elinor and Marianne's love for each other and frequent misunderstanding of each other.
- Edward felt like a real person: really in love and really struggling to make his decisions. When I read the book or watch Ang Lee's film, he feels too absent and aloof to be real.
- Including footage of Eliza, Colonel Brandon's ward, made Willoughby much nastier and much much harder to forgive! It was so sad but so clever to have scenes of both Marianne and Eliza being heartbroken over Willoughby's engagement running so close together.
- I actually understand a little bit more now how Marianne falls in love with the Colonel. That always felt a little bit too convenient for me, but BBC made it work so beautifully. How could I have ever doubted?
- There were so many shots of the ocean. They were very nice.
- The soundtrack was very noticeable, and I have a forboding feeling that this is a bad thing. I predict that if anything will make this movie date quickly it won't be the hair, the costuming, the set designs or even the filming techniques - it will be the soundtrack!
Agreements? Disagreements?
Did anyone else think this adaptation was fantastic?
Did anyone think it was fantastically bad?
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