Sense and Sensibility
Academy Award × 1
Rent/Purchase
The Dashwood sisters, sensible Elinor and passionate Marianne, learn that their prospects of marriage seem doomed by their family's sudden loss of fortune. After Henry Dashwood dies unexpectedly, his estate must pass on by law to his son. These circumstances leave Mr. Dashwood's wife and daughters without a home and with barely enough money to live on. As Elinor and Marianne struggle to find romantic fulfillment in a society obsessed with financial and social status, they must learn to mix sense with sensibility in their dealings with both money and men.
What critics thought
One of the most warmly received Austen adaptations, the film earned near-universal praise for Ang Lee's restrained, un-fussy direction and Emma Thompson's dual achievement as writer and lead performer. The main point of critical contention was Hugh Grant — John Simon found him far too bumbling and mannered, while most other major critics argued he rises to the film's quieter emotional demands.
“Although [Lee's] previously revealed talents for dramatizing conflicting social and generational traditions will no doubt be noted, Lee's achievement here with such foreign material is simply well beyond what anyone could have expected and may well be posited as the cinematic equivalent of Kazuo Ishiguro writing The Remains of the Day.”
Todd McCarthy·Variety
“right balance of irony and warmth. The result is a film of great understanding and emotional clarity, filmed with an elegance that never calls attention to itself.”
Mick LaSalle·San Francisco Chronicle
“avoid[s] the chocolate-box visuals that cheapen so many British costume dramas”
David Parkinson·Radio Times
“Although somewhat older than one might expect Elinor to be, Emma Thompson invests the character with a touching vulnerability, while Kate Winslet, who made such an eye catching debut in Heavenly Creatures last year, perfectly catches the confusions within the idealistically romantic but betrayed Marianne.”
Michael Dwyer·The Irish Times
Genres
Drama, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorAng Lee
StarringEmma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Gemma Jones
ComposerPatrick Doyle
Sense and Sensibility
Academy Award × 1
The Dashwood sisters, sensible Elinor and passionate Marianne, learn that their prospects of marriage seem doomed by their family's sudden loss of fortune. After Henry Dashwood dies unexpectedly, his estate must pass on by law to his son. These circumstances leave Mr. Dashwood's wife and daughters without a home and with barely enough money to live on. As Elinor and Marianne struggle to find romantic fulfillment in a society obsessed with financial and social status, they must learn to mix sense with sensibility in their dealings with both money and men.
What critics thought
One of the most warmly received Austen adaptations, the film earned near-universal praise for Ang Lee's restrained, un-fussy direction and Emma Thompson's dual achievement as writer and lead performer. The main point of critical contention was Hugh Grant — John Simon found him far too bumbling and mannered, while most other major critics argued he rises to the film's quieter emotional demands.
“Although [Lee's] previously revealed talents for dramatizing conflicting social and generational traditions will no doubt be noted, Lee's achievement here with such foreign material is simply well beyond what anyone could have expected and may well be posited as the cinematic equivalent of Kazuo Ishiguro writing The Remains of the Day.”
Todd McCarthy·Variety
“right balance of irony and warmth. The result is a film of great understanding and emotional clarity, filmed with an elegance that never calls attention to itself.”
Mick LaSalle·San Francisco Chronicle
“avoid[s] the chocolate-box visuals that cheapen so many British costume dramas”
David Parkinson·Radio Times
“Although somewhat older than one might expect Elinor to be, Emma Thompson invests the character with a touching vulnerability, while Kate Winslet, who made such an eye catching debut in Heavenly Creatures last year, perfectly catches the confusions within the idealistically romantic but betrayed Marianne.”
Michael Dwyer·The Irish Times
Genres
Drama, Romance
Cast & Crew
DirectorAng Lee
StarringEmma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Gemma Jones
ComposerPatrick Doyle
Rent/Purchase