Learning some Sense & Sensibility this Autumn in August

Welcome back to another look at Autumn in August , where a good film can take us right to sweater weather even during a heat wave.

Our next selection is the 1995 adaptation of Sense & Sensibility , elegantly directed by Ang Lee with a screenplay written by one of the movie’s co-stars Emma Thompson (who won an Oscar for this bit of double duty).

What makes this film suitably seasonal here? Well, for one thing, the setting off point for the plot is the death of the Dashwood patriarch, which leaves his estate to his son from his first marriage and very little to the wife and daughters from his second one.

Unfortunately, the current Mr. Dashwood (James Fleet) has little inclination to honor his deathbed promise to his father yet doesn’t want to look stingy either. Lucky for him, his wife Fanny(wickedly played by Harriet Walter) is swift to slowly yet surely talk him out of it there:

That leaves the newly widowed Mrs. Dashwood (Gemma Jones) and her trio of daughters, Elinor(Thompson), Marianne (Kate Winslet) and young Margaret (Miriam Francois) in search of a new home as well as new futures to plan.

Much of the practical planning falls to Elinor, who gently but firmly tries to steer the limited family finances in the best direction. She also tries to do this with her own emotions but with difficult results which we’ll get to in a moment.

My main talking point for this look at S&S is to focus on Elinor and why the way her quiet character is portrayed in this film should be an example for other adaptations to follow.

No doubt, a good portion of any Austen fan’s conversation this summer has been about the recent Persuasion movie, particularly in turning the introverted Anne Eliot into a most talkative and at times awkward leading lady. 

This issue isn’t just about that story, it’s more about film makers not knowing how to make any Austen heroine who isn’t Lizzie Bennet or Emma Woodhouse interesting to their audience. The few adaptations of Mansfield Park have had to deal with this too.

Since S&S was Austen’s first published novel and Persuasion her last, we can draw a fair comparison between Elinor and Anne. Both are sisters in a single parent household dealing with new circumstances that require guidance being given to their family.

Elinor is much more fortunate than Anne in this regard with a family that respects and loves her than the Eliots do Anne. One other thing they both have in common is dealing with personal sorrow privately.

The romance between Elinor and her brother in law Edward(Hugh Grant) begins with this scene as he comes across her quietly weeping as Marianne plays one of their departed father’s musical favorites. 

 His considerate approach and thoughtful way of encouraging Elinor to get some fresh air with him blossoms into a deep friendship that bodes a deeper connection to come. His polite affections suit her perfectly indeed:

Elinor is well aware that any such love match would be troublesome given the financial gulf between them, even before Lucy Steele(Imogen Stubbs) is on the scene.

 Plus, it’s easier to hide her despair when Marianne’s love life is so dramatic, especially when the seemingly made for her Willoughby(Greg Wise) surprisingly breaks up with Marianne. Look at this whole scene where Marianne’s distress causes the entire household to go into an uproar. 

While Elinor strives to keep her composure and try to figure out what went down, her mother launches into her own set of hysterics and even Margaret had a crying session  Elinor is alone in the hallway by the end of it, with a cup of tea in hand, not at the center of the storm but rather the calm eye of the emotional chaos that is suffering just as much as the others are:

Even when Elinor’s true heartbreak is known, she does her best to see some good in the situation, hard as that is. When Marianne accuse her of being without a heart, it’s then that Elinor displays her inner anger and anguish in a speech that is all the more impactful for having been allowed to slowly build over the course of the story:

Of course, you might say “Emma Thompson did write the script, of course she made HER character interesting!”  Thompson happens to be a Jane Austen reader which aided greatly when adapting the book to film and like many a good actor, didn’t upstage or undercut the other performers for her benefit.

In fact, she enhances several minor characters such as Margaret with her treehouses and comments about “we never talk about things!”and piracy being a viable option. Even the eternally grumpy Mr. Palmer(Hugh Laurie) gets a few moments of showing a nicer side to his character!

By giving the actor opportunities to use body language and writing their character into an arch that lets them showcase their inner strength in visible ways, it is possible to make such quiet leads like Elinor Dashwood,as well as Anne Eliot and yes, even Fanny Price from MP, be as compelling as their more lively counterparts can be.

It also helps a great deal to not only have read the source material but to also like it as well. Many of these productions seem determined to remake the leads to their own tastes rather than showcase the values of that character already beloved by readers. 

Emma Thompson was a key factor in making this film work for both Austen fans and new viewers alike and others really should run where she walked artistically:

Speaking of Emma Thompson, she is also a co-star in our next Autumn in August film that has her being the sensible sister to a much more impulsive sibling.

Howards End was released in 1992 and set a century or so later than S&S, yet themes of class and romance do arise in both.

Her love interest here is not a youthful Edward Ferrars but more of a grimmer Colonel Brandon type in Henry Wilcox(Anthony Hopkins). Of course, Col. Brandon is a much better person than Henry Wilcox but that’s a discussion for another time.

As to whether or not Elinor Dashwood and Col. Brandon would have made a good couple, my hunch is yes but they both needed an opposite to complete them truly in the best sense. Meanwhile, we have Margaret Schlegel and her Henry to look forward to: