Date: Fri 12-Jan-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Illustration: C

Location: A-8

Quick Words:

Sense-and-Sensibility-Playing

Full Text:

("Sense & Sensibility" for Now Playing, 1/12/96)

Now Playing-

Austen's Story Is A Revelation

By Trey Paul Alexander III

On a drab, grey night, as I entered the theatre to see Sense and Sensibility ,

I met a lovely, elderly couple who asked me if I was a fan of Jane Austen, the

esteemed, late Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Century writer whose novel had

been adapted for this film. I sheepishly admitted I could not say one way or

the other, because I had only read one of Austen's six books ( Emma ).

After I viewed Sense and Sensibility , which is playing at both the Crown

Cinema in Danbury and the Bethel Cinema, the couple's query stayed with me, so

I leafed through some old school notes on Emma . What I found was an amusing

statement which claimed all of Austen's novels deal with the subject of young

ladies finding proper husbands. Indeed, that phrase could be used as a

simplistic distillation of the plot for Sense and Sensibility . However, that

terse description does not do justice to the intricacies of this engaging

tale.

Set in the 1800s, Sense and Sensibility , directed by Ang Lee ( The Wedding

Banquet and Eat Drink Man Woman ), follows the story of two sisters, Elinor

(Emma Thompson) and Marianne Dashwood (Kate Winslet), whose financial future

is put in question when their father dies and they are left with none of his

estate. Along with their mother and younger sister, the Dashwood women must

adjust to a new, lower social stratum.

That economic standing is vitally important, for the Dashwoods live in an age

when a woman's dowry was the deciding factor in her ability to woo or be wooed

by a dashing suitor. Therefore, there are complications galore when Elinor and

Marianne begin to fall for two young men. Elinor, the sensible one, develops

feelings for Edward Ferris (Hugh Grant), the polite brother of her snobbish

sister-in-law. Marianne, the passionate one, captures the eye of John

Willoughby (Greg Wise), a darkly handsome rogue who shares her love of poetry.

Sense and Sensibility , whose screenplay was written by star Thompson, lends

itself to a number of comparisons with other current films, particularly such

melodramas of sisterhood as Waiting to Exhale . But a recent issue of

Entertainment Weekly made an even more apt maneuver when it reviewed Sense and

Sensibility alongside Sabrina . Not only do both films share a tame PG rating

and a lush sense of romanticism, but also a similar modus operandi in telling

their stories by remaining faithful to their source material.

Thompson's adaptation has a lyrical quality that exhibits the same canny

ability to interpret a cherished literary classic as her former husband,

Kenneth Branaugh, displayed in his film versions of Shakespeare. While holding

onto the mannered language of the novel and its estimation of the importance

of social decorum, Thompson does a fine job of drawing out the universal humor

and drama of an age which some might want to dismiss as archaic.

In fact, there is such liveliness bestowed upon these characters by the cast

and the firm hand of director Lee, viewers may find themselves wanting to be

in such "simpler" times when a gentleman came calling to win a woman's favor.

Sense and Sensibility is a well-acted, accessible romance in which the story,

or the eventual outcomes of the couplings in question, is not necessarily the

main gist of the film. Rather, it is the journey of the narrative, which

observes the manners of men and women and examines their frailties, weaknesses

and triumphs, that sets this movie apart and makes the whole tale appear to be

a revelation.