Sense & Sensibility / Miss Austen Regrets
by John Alexander
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Charity Wakefield, Dan Stevens, Hattie Morahan, Janet McTeer, Mark WilliamsDirector: John Alexander
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 174 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-04-08
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Worldwide
Product features:
- From acclaimed writer Andrew Davies (BBC?s Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth) comes this enchanting new adaptation of Jane Austen'sic novel about love and marriage. Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve when she falls in love with the charming but unsuitable John Willoughby, ignoring her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behavior leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. El
Movie Reviews of Sense & Sensibility / Miss Austen Regrets
Movie Review: A wonderful adaptation of Sense and Sensibility and a compelling insight into Austen's life
Summary: 5 Stars
SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
This latest adaptation of Sense and Sensibility [2007] is a fine version indeed, with lush cinematography, a beguiling score, and credible, above average performances by the cast in general. I find that each adaptation of Austen's novel has something special to offer, and this latest is no different. Adapted by Andrew Davies, this is a first rate adaptation that is bound to be a beloved adaptation, up there with Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility [for which Emma Thompson received an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay].
For those unfamiliar with the story - Sense and Sensibility revolves around two sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who find themselves together with their mother and younger sister cast out of their family home, Norland, upon the death of Mr Henry Dashwood. As is the custom of the times, the estate passes on to his only son, John who is married to a real sly, snobbish, malicious woman, Fanny [ Claire Skinner in a truly wicked role].
Fanny's brother Edward Ferrars [Dan Stevens] comes to visit and forms a close friendship with Elinor [Hattie Morahan] to the chagrin of his sister who makes it plain to Mrs Dashwood that such an alliance would be beneath Edward's station.
The widow Dashwood and her daughters move to a little cottage let by a relative, Sir John Middleton, a kind yet gossipy man. Here, Marianne [Charity Wakefield] finds herself pursued by two men, the staid and noble Colonel Brandon [David Morissey] and the charming Romeo, Willoughby [Dominic Cooper]. Elinor and Marianne are two very different people, with Elinor being more in control of her emotions whereas Marianne is impulsive, utterly transparent in her emotions and wilful. The rest of the story deals with how these two sisters' romances play out.
This adaptation is beautifully filmed, and there are some highlight performances. Hattie Morahan's Elinor is not only credible in her role age-wise, but also very nuanced as the quiet sister who feels just as much but is not as revealing in her emotions as her younger sister Marianne. As for Marianne, Charity Wakefield makes for a sweet, and wilful Marianne, but I found her performance less compelling than Kate Winslet's luminous and passionate portrayal of Marianne.
David Morissey's Colonel Brandon is well done indeed, and though Alan Rickman's portrayal of the same role in the earlier version was wonderful, David Morissey's Brandon is no less compelling. Willoughby as played by Dominic Cooper didn't do anything for me - he just wasn't very credible, and at times came across as plain unpalatable, appearance-wise.
Dan Steven's Edward Ferrars is very charming [though in the book he is not really outstanding in appearance] and I liked his portrayal better than Hugh Grant's in the 1995 version - Dan Steven's makes an amiable Edward and his chemistry with Hattie Morahan's Elinor is more credible than the Thompson-Grant pairing. Another character that I though was very well-done was Lucy Boyd's Margaret Dashwood - she is so adorable and her comments are always spot on "Women just sit around and wait for things to happen...". I love her performance in this adaptation, and understand that she is also in Ballet Shoes a British production that also stars Emma Watson.
All in all, this is a well-made adaptation that stays as faithful as it can to Austen's novel, and is sure to attract fans of Jane Austen's novels as well as those who love period dramas. It is a quality show that is sure to please most Janeites.
MS AUSTEN REGRETS
This perceptive and insightful new biopic focuses on the latter years of the famous author's life, and it makes for riveting viewing, though it is quite sad. Ms Austen's works continue to garner generations of new fans, yet she died at the age of 41 in 1817, unmarried and relatively poor [despite the positive reviews her works garnered].
I had often wondered if Mr Darcy of P&P had been modeled on a real-life character - here, that thought is put to rest as Ms Austen [played by a well-cast Olivia Williams] tells her niece Fanny Austen Knight "The only way to get a Mr Darcy is to make him up."
I much preferred this biopic to the movie "Becoming Jane" as in that movie, we are led to assume that Tom LeFroy was the great love of Jane's life and it all seems a bit melodramatic - here, the portrayal of Ms Austen's private life and thoughts on love is given a more realistic treatment. Tom LeFroy is viewed here as someone she was attracted to but once out of her life 'she didn't spend more than five minutes thinking about."
This has a ring of truth to it in my opinion as so little is really known about Jane Austen's love life - due in part to the fact that much of her personal letters were destroyed by her sister Cassandra after Jane's death. What is portrayed in this biopic [by screenwriter Gwyneth Hughes] is based on the surviving personal correspondence and family recollections.
The greatest mystery about Jane Austen is the question of how a writer who remained single all her life, with no known love affair, could write with such depth of insight about human relationships, in particular love affairs? I felt this biopic with Ms Austen ruminating in asides, managed to answer some of those puzzlements to a degree of credibility. It does not rely on some fantastical theory of a great love, but is based on careful research and a very stark level of frankness.
In the biopic, Jane advises her niece Fanny never to marry without affection - lending credence to the theme in her novels, where her heroines marry for love.
The casting for this biopic was well-done: Olivia Williams is credible in a difficult role. She portrays Jane with a level of honesty, acerbic wit,and moments of humorous insights that prove revelatory in understanding Ms Austen. I felt this did justice to painting a realistic picture of the author as opposed to the idea of a quiet, unassuming spinster author. Imogen Poots is lovely as Jane's niece Fanny, reflecting a young girl on the cusp of adulthood with a certain naivete in matters of love, still relying on her famous aunt for advice in matters of love, though ultimately following her own heart. Greta Sacchi as Jane's sister Cassandra did not really make an impression on me. Among the male actors, I felt Hugh Bonneville [as Rev Bridges] portrayed the part of one of Jane's ex-suitors [who still seems to hold a torch for her] with a great level of depth and poignancy.
In all, I felt this biopic did justice to portraying the latter life of Jane Austen - an author who is pictured here as having given up a comfortable life that she would have had if she had married the wealthy Harris Bigg-Wither [the only known proposal] 15 yrs prior to her death, and instead chose freedom, to write and find her own bearings, to be her 'own husband' so to speak. Frank and poignant, this biopic has a ring of truth to it.
Summary of Sense & Sensibility / Miss Austen Regrets
From acclaimed writer Andrew Davies (BBC?s Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth) comes this enchanting new adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel about love and marriage. Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve when she falls in love with the charming but unsuitable John Willoughby, ignoring her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behavior leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Elinor, sensitive to social convention, struggles to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Will the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love?DVD Features:
Audio Commentary
Interviews
Outtakes
Photo gallery
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