Sense and Sensibility (film)



In 1995, Ang Lee directed a film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. It starred Emma Thompson (also the head screenwriter) as Elinor, Hugh Grant as Edward, Kate Winslet as Marianne, and Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon.


 * Adaptation Expansion: The movie adds scenes where Edward interacts with Elinor in ways not shown in the book, such as helping her to coax youngest sister Margaret out of hiding and discussing their respective future prospects. Not only are many of the scenes hilarious ("What is swabbing, anyway?"), they help give a reason for Elinor falling for Edward where the book never did. The film also gives Margaret some personality traits, notably being a tomboy. She has almost no characterization in the book.
 * Age Lift: Emma Thompson is thirty-six, playing a character who was nineteen in the novel. It is implied that the character is perhaps in her mid to late 20's due to the Values Dissonance of a 19-year-old worrying about becoming a spinster. Because it's Emma Thompson, nobody cares.
 * Ascended Extra: The youngest Dashwood sister Margaret, who is barely present for most of the novel, is given a considerably larger role in the film, as well as a more fleshed-out personality (she's a tomboy and something of a geography whiz).
 * Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Lady Middleton was written out of the screenplay; Sir John is introduced to the audience as being a widower.
 * Composite Character: Lucy Steele is a combination of the novel's Lucy and her older sister Anne. Anne would fit under Chuck Cunningham Syndrome, except that Lucy picks up her Idiot Ball task of confiding her secret engagement to Mrs. Dashwood.
 * The Ghost: Unlike in the novel, Mrs. Ferrars never actually appears, though she gets mentioned frequently by other characters.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Colonel Brandon.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Mr. Palmer is not shy with a snarky comment for every situation, which makes his sincere offer to stay by Elinor's side and offer any and all help he can when her sister may be dying all the more heartwarming.
 * Love At First Note: Colonel Brandon first sees Marianne while she's playing a harpsichord and singing. He visibly falls in love with her in an instant.
 * Meet Cute: Marianne meets Willoughby when she slips and falls in the rain. He rescues her, rides her back to her home and carries her inside, like something right out of one of Marianne's stories.
 * Spot of Tea: Elinor, to an even more ridiculous extent than in the novel. At one point, Mr. and Mrs. Palmer offer her two successive cups of tea within a period of three minutes. In another scene, Elinor drinks the tea she had ordered for Marianne (without Marianne's ever asking for it).
 * True Love's Kiss: Elinor and Edward get theirs in a deleted scene.