Sense and Sensibility: The Masterpiece Classics Film

[ConnieAnnKirk]

Let's post our reactions to the PBS Masterpiece Classic adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility in this thread.  This film is an encore presentation and airs on Feb. 1 and 8 in most markets in the U.S.

[Viola25]

I thought that it was amazing! I thought it was the closest adaptatin of the book I have seen yet. I also like the actors, they made the character come to life for me. I love Jane Austen so it was amazing to see her books come in life  in film! I own all the Masterpiece Jane Austen movies. =) I know I am obsessed.

[Everyman]

Is this the version with Irene Richard and Tracey Childs?

[ConnieAnnKirk]

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Viola25 wrote:
I thought that it was amazing! I thought it was the closest adaptatin of the book I have seen yet. I also like the actors, they made the character come to life for me. I love Jane Austen so it was amazing to see her books come in life  in film! I own all the Masterpiece Jane Austen movies. =) I know I am obsessed.

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Welcome, Viola!  Have you seen it already in a previous season, or do you live somewhere where it has aired in this season?  It is an "encore" presentation, so people may have seen it before it begins airing in most markets in the U.S. on Sunday.

[dulcinea3]

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ConnieK wrote:

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Viola25 wrote:
I thought that it was amazing! I thought it was the closest adaptatin of the book I have seen yet. I also like the actors, they made the character come to life for me. I love Jane Austen so it was amazing to see her books come in life  in film! I own all the Masterpiece Jane Austen movies. =) I know I am obsessed.

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Welcome, Viola!  Have you seen it already in a previous season, or do you live somewhere where it has aired in this season?  It is an "encore" presentation, so people may have seen it before it begins airing in most markets in the U.S. on Sunday.

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I saw it when it aired last year as part of "The Complete Jane Austen" on PBS.  I don't remember many particulars of it, though.  I imagine I will eventually own it, as I kind of collect Austen DVDs.

The presentation of Persuasion that this Masterpiece Classics run will end with was also part of the same series last year.

Message Edited by dulcinea3 on 01-27-2009 12:11 PM

[Melissa_W Moderator]

Nope, it's this one, with Hattie Morahan and Charity Wakefield.  It premiered on PBS last year during the Complete Jane Austen; I've watched it many times since then because my Dad recorded the presentation on his DVR then burned me a copy (he actually did that for me with the whole season).

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Everyman wrote:
Is this the version with Irene Richard and Tracey Childs?

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[Everyman]

It doesn't look as though Connie has had a chance to start this thread yet.  But I need to ask:

What on earth was that sex scene at the start of the film doing there?????

I couldn't even figure out who it was (how could we, we'd never seen any of the characters or relationships yet), so it just looked like purely gratuitous sex designed to suck viewers into thinking they'd stumbled across a hot sex movie. 

It certainly wasn't even remotely true to the book.

Did this disturb anybody else?  

[Everyman]

So far I find the casting excellent.  Fanny is deliciously manipulative and self-centered.  The scene on the portico where she warns Mrs. Dashwood against the Edward-Elinor attachment is shiveringly good.  I think Margaret looks and acts a bit younger than thirteen, but that's just me;all three girls fit their roles very well.  Edward is a delight, of course, as he is supposed to be.  And little Harry -- while he isn't given nearly that much play in the book, he shows perfectly the way a boy raised by those parents might very well turn out. 

All in all, I definitely approve, at least so far, of the casting and presentation of the characters.

As for the adaptations of the plot, however ...

[Everyman]

EEEK, Help!  It looks as though PBS isn't allowing the viewing of S&S episodes on line.  I had counted on that when I went to bed about half way through the first night's episode, since my wife was not feeling well and I don't like to come in to bed late and disturb her. 

I'll keep checking and hope they are just late putting the episodes up, but since it's a rerun maybe they aren't going to offer it. 

[dulcinea3]

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Everyman wrote:

It doesn't look as though Connie has had a chance to start this thread yet.  But I need to ask:

What on earth was that sex scene at the start of the film doing there?????

I couldn't even figure out who it was (how could we, we'd never seen any of the characters or relationships yet), so it just looked like purely gratuitous sex designed to suck viewers into thinking they'd stumbled across a hot sex movie. 

It certainly wasn't even remotely true to the book.

Did this disturb anybody else?  

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I think I can elucidate.  I'm assuming spoilers are ok.

I remember wondering about this the first time I saw this production.  Once someone else explained it to me, it made sense, but I don't know how you are supposed to figure it out.  It's Willoughby's seduction of Colonel Brandon's ward Eliza.  Of course, this occurred prior to the start of the novel.  We don't know who the man is in the scene, but it sets us up to expect that someone is not honorable.

[dulcinea3]

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Everyman wrote:

EEEK, Help!  It looks as though PBS isn't allowing the viewing of S&S episodes on line.  I had counted on that when I went to bed about half way through the first night's episode, since my wife was not feeling well and I don't like to come in to bed late and disturb her. 

I'll keep checking and hope they are just late putting the episodes up, but since it's a rerun maybe they aren't going to offer it. 

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You don't have a cable or satellite service that offers On Demand?  They have been available through that source, as well.  I haven't checked for S&S.  On Demand is usually about a day behind the broadcast, I think.

[Laurel]

Gratuitous indeed. It did serve to warn me of the level of viewer the film was aiming at. I know what it was--it was W seducing B's ward. Chronologically it does fit at the beginning, but I really do not want to know about it until the other characters in the book know about it. Poor Jane! Poor Jane! To answer your question: yes, it disturbed me.

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Everyman wrote:

It doesn't look as though Connie has had a chance to start this thread yet.  But I need to ask:

What on earth was that sex scene at the start of the film doing there?????

I couldn't even figure out who it was (how could we, we'd never seen any of the characters or relationships yet), so it just looked like purely gratuitous sex designed to suck viewers into thinking they'd stumbled across a hot sex movie. 

It certainly wasn't even remotely true to the book.

Did this disturb anybody else?  

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[Laurel]

Much of the cast is right. Edward is not. Also, I wonder why the directors of both films think they have to give Margaret such a big part when in the book she is mostly seen and not heard?

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Everyman wrote:

So far I find the casting excellent.  Fanny is deliciously manipulative and self-centered.  The scene on the portico where she warns Mrs. Dashwood against the Edward-Elinor attachment is shiveringly good.  I think Margaret looks and acts a bit younger than thirteen, but that's just me;all three girls fit their roles very well.  Edward is a delight, of course, as he is supposed to be.  And little Harry -- while he isn't given nearly that much play in the book, he shows perfectly the way a boy raised by those parents might very well turn out. 

All in all, I definitely approve, at least so far, of the casting and presentation of the characters.

As for the adaptations of the plot, however ...

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[Everyman]

We have satellite, but I don't know anything about on demand. 

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dulcinea3 wrote:

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Everyman wrote:

EEEK, Help!  It looks as though PBS isn't allowing the viewing of S&S episodes on line.  I had counted on that when I went to bed about half way through the first night's episode, since my wife was not feeling well and I don't like to come in to bed late and disturb her. 

I'll keep checking and hope they are just late putting the episodes up, but since it's a rerun maybe they aren't going to offer it. 

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You don't have a cable or satellite service that offers On Demand?  They have been available through that source, as well.  I haven't checked for S&S.  On Demand is usually about a day behind the broadcast, I think.

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[dulcinea3]

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Laurel wrote:
Much of the cast is right. Edward is not. Also, I wonder why the directors of both films think they have to give Margaret such a big part when in the book she is mostly seen and not heard?

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Everyman wrote:

So far I find the casting excellent.  Fanny is deliciously manipulative and self-centered.  The scene on the portico where she warns Mrs. Dashwood against the Edward-Elinor attachment is shiveringly good.  I think Margaret looks and acts a bit younger than thirteen, but that's just me;all three girls fit their roles very well.  Edward is a delight, of course, as he is supposed to be.  And little Harry -- while he isn't given nearly that much play in the book, he shows perfectly the way a boy raised by those parents might very well turn out. 

All in all, I definitely approve, at least so far, of the casting and presentation of the characters.

As for the adaptations of the plot, however ...

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I was wondering about Margaret, too.  She appears so little in the novel that I tended to forget that there even was a third sister!  Yet she is practically omnipresent in the film.

[dulcinea3]

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Everyman wrote:

We have satellite, but I don't know anything about on demand. 

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dulcinea3 wrote:

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Everyman wrote:

EEEK, Help!  It looks as though PBS isn't allowing the viewing of S&S episodes on line.  I had counted on that when I went to bed about half way through the first night's episode, since my wife was not feeling well and I don't like to come in to bed late and disturb her. 

I'll keep checking and hope they are just late putting the episodes up, but since it's a rerun maybe they aren't going to offer it. 

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You don't have a cable or satellite service that offers On Demand?  They have been available through that source, as well.  I haven't checked for S&S.  On Demand is usually about a day behind the broadcast, I think.

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I might be mistaken; I thought I had heard that satellite also had it.

[Everyman]

On revisiting the text, I have to agree with you about Edward.  Here's how Austen describes him:

Edward Ferrars was not recommended to their good opinion by any peculiar graces of person or address. He was not handsome, and his manners required intimacy to make them pleasing. He was too diffident to do justice to himself; but when his natural shyness was overcome, his behaviour gave every indication of an open, affectionate heart. 

He is certailny not diffident in his first approach to Elinor as she is beating rugs.  Nor is he unhandsome,  and his manners seemed perfect from the start.  I didn't see any indication of natural shyness.

I also agree with several posts that Margaret is given a much larger role in the film than in the book.   I do wonder why.  Perhaps because she's a cute and engaging actress?  Sort of like a kitten who's always in the middle of things?  

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Laurel wrote:
Much of the cast is right. Edward is not. Also, I wonder why the directors of both films think they have to give Margaret such a big part when in the book she is mostly seen and not heard?

[Joan_Klingel_R…]

Hi Everyman,

When I first saw this version of S&S on Masterpiece last spring, I, too, was puzzled by the flames and then the seduction scene. But then I realized it was supposed to be the dastardly Willoughby seducing young Eliza Williams, who we later learn is Colonel Brandon's ward. Recall that later in last night's  Masterpiece Theatre Classics version, Brandon unexpectedly gets a mysterious note while at Barton and has to leave suddenly: Mrs. Jennings speculates about it. Willoughby, ironically, makes fun of Brandon for leaving--having no idea that Brandon is Eliza's guardian. The note, of course, turns about to be from Eliza months after Willoughby has seduced and abandoned her--pregnant, it turns out. So although we do not see Willoughby's face in the seduction scene at the beginning of the TV version, the flames of passion have been turned up high, literally, as a foreshadowing. DO NOT READ FURTHER BECAUSE IT HAS A SPOILER : You will get to see Bandon visit Eliza and the baby next week and hear all about this! This is not in the novel as a scene: in the novel, his visit to Eliza and the  baby occurs off-stage, so to speak.

Thanks for your question,

Joan Ray

[Joan_Klingel_R…]

Hello Everyman, again,

FYI, this new S&S is on DVD, and probably at your local library in its media collection.

Cheers,

Joan Ray

[Laurel]

I think perhaps the magnification of Margaret as a character and all the nature shots show that the producers simply did not know what to do with the subtleties of the novel. They're simply fillers. Lovely, but not Austen.