olde_fashioned | Sense & Sensibilty 2008 -- My Thoughts (part two)

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Sense & Sensibilty 2008 -- My Thoughts (part two)

Well, I've finally seen it! I've finally seen the duel!! 8-D *lol* And I must say, that the clever editing with the red sealing wax as "blood" was ingenious. I liked that very much.

I'm afraid I haven't much else to say, since this was pretty much what I expected, and I did like it, so I'll try to keep my snark to a minimum. *pause* Oh who am I kidding?? ;-P

This story always makes me cry. I can't help it! Be it the novel, Emma Thompson's version, or now this new adaptation, just something about the heart-rending poignancy of two sisters crossed in love, each with a seemingly hopeless love story, and yet they both get such beautifully happy endings. Marianne's illness and Elinor's fear of losing her beloved sister (Elinor's momentary panic at Marianne's apparent lack of breathing was gut-wrenching) and then the whole Brandon/Marianne/Willoughby love triangle. We are (or at least I am) left wishing for "the good guy" to get his reward and the woman he loves, and yet who wants to see the poor girl get her heart broken, which surely must happen in order for her to marry anyone but Willougby? And then Elinor and Edward!! Once we learn of the existence of Lucy Steele, my my. I couldn't have dreamed up Jane Austen's ending if I tried for a hundred years. :-D

I couldn't help but see the ghost of S&S 1995 lurking in every corner. Certain dialogue, yes, I know it's from the book, but the delivery either reeked of S&S '95 or it went in the entirely opposite direction to "avoid" being similar. (I think P&P 2005 fell into a similar trap, but I suppose it's hard for a new adaptation to compete with such a well-loved predecessor.)

I do not like Mrs. Jennings at all. Why didn't the Palmers leave when Marianne got sick? Then we could have had Mrs. Jennings nurse Marianne and then Marianne would have yet another person she had misjudged turn out to be entirely different from what she had previously believed, proving her judgment flawed. I do think that Marianne's lack of perception is part of the theme of the novel.

Hooray for Edward vs. Monster Mommy! (I wonder if Jane Austen fashioned Mrs. Ferrars after Grendel's mother? *hmmm* There's an idea.) But what a witch! I felt like cheering for Edward when he stood by his obligation to Lucy, even though I can't stand her. To quote the 1995 Mrs. Jennings, "he stood by her, good man!" I still can't get excited about Edward Ferrars (he's my second to least favourite, trumped only by the uber-masculine and heroic Edmund Bertram of Mansfield Park) but I do applaud his steadfastness in regard to honouring a decision that he no longer desires to uphold. Both Edward and Elinor exhibit admirable amounts of self-control and selflessness. (*coughMarianneareyoulistening?cough*)

That hideous Dashwood child was there again! This time playing with what looked like ceramic figurines...if he treats his toys anything like he treated Margaret's poor pony, then I pity his poor porcelain victims!

Did anyone else notice the back of Elinor's striped dress, the one she wears when she's sitting on the bed after she's learned of Edward standing by Lucy, and then later again when he proposes at Barton Cottage?? Helloooooo it's Lizzy's from the 2005 P&P!! ~~It's her Pemberley sculpture gallery dress! It has the same embroidery on the back bodice seams, and I swear they just dyed it a purpley-pink.~~ [Edit: Upon closer examination, it appears to be a mere knock-off, not the exact dress used in P&P.] [News flash! New Sense & Sensibilty to be released under alternate title: Raiding Elizabeth Bennet's Closet!] If it's not the same exact dress, then it's a pretty doggone close copy. HERE is a pic of Lizzy's dress on display at Chatsworth, IIRC, but I don't have one of Elinor. Sorry! (if anyone else has one I'd be very much obliged if you'd let me know about it!)

I was very disappointed that we STILL did not get a "declaration of love" from Colonel Brandon. Here so much effort has gone into establishing what a "true romantic" the Colonel is, and yet we don't even get to hear him propose??? GAH!! *sigh* Oh well. I can hope for S&S4.

Okay, enough negativism. I loved that Colonel Brandon has hawks!! Okay, so far only one hawk, but I still like that. Hawks are so intrinsically romantic, and calling Marianne over so she can pet it was cute. :-) (and prettyprettypretty music during that scene!!) I want his library. I want his horse. (such a pretty tail...) And I want to know what that piece of music is that he gave to Marianne to learn!! *stomps foot* Hopefully it's a classical piece so I can iTunes it. ;-D

I really, really liked this Elinor. She's probably pretty close to how I imagine her in my mind while reading the novel. Suitably elegant, with a very pretty radiance of complexion that would do any Austen heroine proud. ;-) I did like her hair, except for those stupid bangs. They were distracting.

Speaking of bangs, WHAT was wrong with Eliza's hair???? :-/ It was a nice touch to have Colonel Brandon (henceforth CB, since I'm getting sick of typing out his name each time) come and visit his fallen ward. I like it when they have the heroes interact with babies and children. (It's like having a big flashing arrow over his head that says "GOOD GUY! GOOD GUY!" Quite unlike Willoughby, who's dark hair, squinty eyes, and caddish manner of carrying himself just shrieks "villain".) And he actually smiled!! Whaddaya know! You know, costume-drama-makers, it actually *is* okay to let the hero smile for more than a millisecond. We won't hate him for it, really. I promise.

CB catching Marianne when she faints was not in the book, but I liked it anyway. ;-D Very nice touch! (as was the "white knight in shining armor" riding to save damsel-in-distress in the rain...)

Since when is CB an expert on hypothermia?? (and boy was I relieved when he relinquished the task of getting her wet things off to Elinor!! *whew* I thought we were in for yet another Davies surprise...)

I think that's it, but I've probably forgotten something since it's so late. One closing remark: I agree with Elinor! We need more Colonels!! ;-P

(my review for part one may be viewed HERE)

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After searching a bunch, I'm not sure that Hattie's stripey pink dress in this Sense and Sensibility is the same as Keira's stripey pink dress in Pride and Prejudice. Here are my screencaps:

I think the P&P dress has a slightly differnt pattern (alternating thick and thin darker stripes) than the S&S dress (uniformly thick darker stripes with thin stripes on each side as borders). Also, there seems to be a different front seam - the P&P dress has one from the center of the neckline to the left side of the waistline, while the S&S dress seems to be a much more vertical line.

yes i think you right ibmiller,
though they have resemblances they are not exactaly they same and Kira's dress has a ruffle on the top of the neck line

Yes, I think she is right.

Kiera's dress did not have that ruffle in the movie, as you can see in my icon. ^-^ I don't know what's up with that stupid thing, but it wouldn't be the first time that a display wasn't set up properly.

Oh, and by the way, I'm not a girl.

Whoops!! My sincerest apologies -- your enthusiasm for Jane Austen and the absence of a first name in your profile led me to mistakenly believe you were female. I am very sorry!!

I hope I haven't offended. 8-/

Nope - just making sure. Plus, I just posted that I have a crush and Fanny Price, and that would be slightly odd (at least, in my circle) if I were a girl.

Haha, that's true. I confess I'm not a regular visitor to your blog, so I didn't see that. :-)

I agree with you. I guess I'll have to amend my previous statement, eh? ;-) Elinor's dress is nowhere near as well-made as Lizzy's.

I still think the S&S costumer ripped off the P&P one.

It may be more well-made, but I think Elinor looks much better in it. :-)

I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say that Michele Clapton ripped Jacqueline Durran off. I think it's more likely that they both responded to the spirit of our decade's idea of Jane Austen. Additionally, I'm never quite sure what to think of the P&P costumes, since my costume-savvy friends strongly disagree about them - some of them hate the costumes because they say they're a confused mishmash of periods, some of them think they're okay, and I am just confused what the whole deal Joe Wright was making about the high waistline was, since I thought the waistlines in the final film ended up being really high anyway.

I agree with you there!!

I strongly dislike it when one movie "borrows" costuming ideas from another for the main characters. I am fine with the secondary characters and extras wearing dresses from old productions, but the stars?? Come on. Let's have a little creativity, here.

P&P's costumes are indeed a riddle. It's a well known fact that Joe Wright dislikes the period-correct Empire waistlines, but the presence of both the earlier lower-waistlines and the later high-waistlines in the same film is highly confusing. If you'll notice it's mostly the Bennet family who are out dated, with Mrs. Bennet wearing costumes that are as old as the 1770s or '80s. When they attend the Netherfield ball they "dress up" and wear more current fashions, which is reasonable, since they do live in the country and would probably have to make do and wear older, less trendy clothes. I'm willing to make allowances for things like that, a conscious but careful decision on the part of the costumer to further develop the characters via fashion or the lack of it.

And now I will shut up since that's probably way more than you wanted to hear anyway. ;-)

No, no, I love talking about it - I'd love to be a costume expert, but since I'm not, I love learning about them.

I agree with you about creativity, though I also know that budget is often an issue with the Beeb. I actually have heard that it was Marianne's dresses that were borrowed from Knightley. But I don't know if it's true, or if so, what they are.

As for P&P's costumes, I've also noticed that Mrs. Bennet tends to have the lowest waistlines, while the younger girls have much higher ones. Thus, it seems like a generational thing. However, though one of my costumey friends has said that sleeveless dresses are indeed period accurate for a very brief span, I still think Caroline's Netherfield Ball dress is really jarring.

I'd love to be a costume expert

So would I!!

Marianne's brown velvet dress that she wears in the promo photo (in your icon) and when she plays the library piano at Delaford is Lizzy's Pemberley dress in P&P. There has been talk that her white sheer dress with the blue sash that she wears sitting on the grass with Elinor is Marianne Dashwood's from the '95 S&S, and this website HERE (http://www.costumersguide.com/reused_regency.shtml) might be of some interest to you. :-)

Lady Catherine also has the 1770s/1780s-ish costumes, which I took to be an attempt to show how unyielding and stubborn she was. Older people are commonly portrayed as wearing "the fashions of their youth" in films. ;-)

sleeveless dresses are indeed period accurate for a very brief span

Not in England they weren't. As far as I am aware, the only surviving historical proof of "sleeveless" outergarments is a Russian example, and Russia (as well as several other countries) had very different ideas of fashion than England and France. They're not always interchangeable. This was a big subject of discussion over at The Republic of Pemberley (http://www.pemberley.com/) when the movie came out.

Huh. My friend said she found a fashion plate with sleeveless dresses - I'll have to ask her about that. However, even if they were period, I think the jarring factor remains - it just doesn't feel like they cared enough about the period (especially when it comes to manners - such as Lizzy and Darcy walking about in their nightclothes, or Bingley walking into Jane's room while she's in bed).

Thanks for the website!

Well if she did then that's something I'd love to see!! I could be wrong, if she's found a plate, but it's still an unconventional trend that is rather "out there" even for Caroline Bingley. ;-)

Don't even get me started about the running around half-dressed and the men popping into the heroines' bedrooms. *facepalm*

My pleasure!

Hee, parallel icons. :-)

And do start on half-dressed antics - I was really torn on the film because of that. On one hand, it had very nice acting, decent writing, and beautiful music and photography. On the other hand, it seemed to completely ignore the time period. So frustrating.

;-D I do that all the time.

Alright then -- you asked for it!! haha.

I too, was kind of torn, because aesthetically, it's fantastic. Gorgeous scenery (makes for fantastic icons) wonderful music, pretty costumes when they're accurate (!), and decent casting except for Donald Sutherland who I cannot stand. I loved Rosamund Pike and Tom Hollander, and Judi Dench is great in everything. I can even tolerate Kiera, if she didn't run around with that funny half-gape half-smirk expression on her face. But I'm being picky now. ;-)

The ending almost works, because the very idea of a daybreak jaunt is inherently romantic, but the lack of clothing?? Please. Darcy was staying at Netherfield, right? And that's three miles away. So I'm supposed to believe that he walked half undressed in the dark for three miles, to meet Lizzy who's also conveniently half undressed. Historical issues aside, wouldn't they be cold??

Bingley in Jane's bedroom. *grimace* In the book he sent a servant up to inquire after her health, so that's a totally stupid scene to add in. I think Joe Wright just wanted to show off his expensive Japanese wallpaper.

I know I tend to be overly critical of this version, because I do like it, but I'm not sure I want to buy it, because (as I heard someone put it so well) it's a wonderful love story, just not Pride & Prejudice. I'm too much of a purist I guess.

Re: Stripey Dresses

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Finally heard back from my friend, and she concurred that it was Russian with a possibility of moving to France. Another friend noted that it's highly unlikely that even someone as trendy as Caroline would wear it, as that much skin exposed would be tacky. So I think my initial reaction that the sleeveless dress is anachronistically modern was spot-on.

See, that's what I heard on Pemberley, and I agree. Her "gown" looks like a chemise. *facepalm*

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i agree with you too olde_fashioned.
they definitely ripped off Lizzy's dress and then tryed to make it a little so it wasn't exactly the same.

but i think they both look great in each of there dresses.

and i wonder why the ruffle wass on that display of the dress i thought it was strange that the ruffle was there cuz i didn't see it in the movie.

I have no idea why they would add a ruffle. Perhaps the dressform's torso wasn't long enough, and the deep neckline of the dress went past it, so they decided to cover it up?? I have no idea.

who knows maybe they just put it there becuase they wanted to...
but in my opinion it look better without the ruffle there

I think it looks stupid. ;-)

yes i tottaly agree with you.

Hahahahaaa...;-P

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