Sense and Sensibility Part 3
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January 14th, 2008 at 5:19 am
I can’t believe I’m the first! Thought I was late… Will keep it short this time.
Andrew Davies tried to hard to make something extraordinary, while all he had to do was ‘just’ adapt the novel, which is brilliant in itself, and stick close to it, perhaps adding a little bit to make it suitable for the medium TV. We know he can do that, judging from some of his adaptations in the past!
This S&S was indeed darker than the novel, or any of the previous adaptations, and lacked humour. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it. It was very good, though not perfect.
January 14th, 2008 at 6:03 am
I couldn’t DISagree more. Edward smirked as he proposed to Elinor and seemed in no doubt of her acceptance, despite all that had gone before. Marianne looked down on Willoughby at Cleveland (in her nightie) and I’m sure I saw her mouth ‘Willoughby…whatever’ because after all Colonel Brandon IS the true romantic. She just moved on I guess.
I re-read the novel this week (clutching it to my bosom in deepest sympathy with Jane) and searched each page for shell-strings and crashing dark waves, for a Miss Steele with a Farmer Giles accent - but lo, none were to be found. Oh Jane, oh Andrew, what have you done?
January 14th, 2008 at 7:23 am
I liked the third part better than the other two. This adaptation is growing on me. There are things I didn’t like (the change in timing of the engagement of Marianne and Brandon, for example), but I did enjoy seeing Mrs. Ferrars and liked Anne Steele. Lucy was more obviously evil in this episode, which was a relief. Oh, and I liked seeing Co. Brandon with his ward. It’s taken me a while to get the ‘95 movie out of my mind (particularly with this adaptation having so many unnecessary similarities!) but I think I will enjoy it even more on future viewings. I do think it’s the best of the new adaptations.
January 14th, 2008 at 7:26 am
BRANDON MINISERIES NOW PLZ. *swoon*
Alan Rickman who? (<– this comment will get me expelled from the Rickmanista club. ;))
I lovedlovedloved Brandon in this, and I loved that he got a few extra scenes (although, didn’t know they hunted with birds in the Regency. Huh.). The bit with Eliza was heart-wrenching, especially when you consider that basically Brandon’s adopted grandchild (… sorta) is also Willougby’s kid. I hope for Brandon’s sake that the kid doesn’t resemble his father!
Marianne was more tolerable than in previous episodes (especially as she matured near the end) although there was much eye-rolling everytime she had a crying fit. WTH. Also loved that they showed her falling in love much earlier. It might not be true to the book but it makes the ending not come out of left field.
For the rest… meh. Where was the humour??? It just wasn’t *funny*. The only funny bits were unintended. ‘
95 film: amusing, in-character Edward, good showing of the plot in the time they got.
08 series: more book-scenes, more active Brandon.
It’s a toss-up on which I like more. :p
January 14th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Marianne slowly falling in love with the Colonel was very lovely. I liked this part best too but I still think the whole was over dramatic. Won’t buy the DVD but was rather happy to watch.
January 14th, 2008 at 9:49 am
Wow maybe this offended me more than most…this is what I noted down just after it finished yesterday:
Andrew Davies has done the impossible…. he’s made a 3-hour Sense & Sensibility adaptation with not a SINGLE comedic moment…
Charity Wakefield has also done the impossible…. her acting got WORSE!
During tonight’s one hour instalment of Davies-Gone-Wild, only two thoughts passed my mind over and over and over, ‘Poor Jane! Poor, Poor Jane’, and ‘What The Frank Churchill?’
The ‘Where is your heart, Elinor?’ scene, from Ang Lee’s adaptation was poorly paraphrased (though it’s been a while since I’ve read the book so perhaps it was just using Austen’s words, I’m not entirely sure) and badly acted, even by Hattie Morahan, who up till then had truly impressed me. Though in her defence, I believe she was doing the best with a bad script and appalling direction.
Anne Steele was ridiculous, as she should be (though her accent was truly painful), and Lucy Steele got more bareable, though not quite evil enough for my liking, but thats a small point.
Where was Brandon reading to Marianne?? I loved the idea of how they slowly fell in love as she got to know him better, whereas here it seemed quite rushed.
Good Points: The scenary and landscape (so pretty, even if not quite fitting to the novel). The soundtrack. Colonel Brandon. Mr and Mrs John Dashwood and Henry, of course (I just LOVE that kid!)
Bad Points: Everything else! Particularly, the lack of humour, Charity Wakefield, and the melodrama that was most of the script. And personally, I don’t think the duel scene fit. Rather it seemed to have just been thrown in there. And Dan Stevens portrayal of Edward was pretty flawed.
All in all, although it was barely watchable, there were some redeeming features, mainly Brandon, and for the most part Elinor.
January 14th, 2008 at 10:42 am
I agree with everything you’ve just said : the best parts are I think the landscape ( really gorgeous, I want to live there ! ), the score, Colonel Brandon and Henry. I thought I was the only one who disliked Charity’s acting : at some parts she was good but most of the time I thought her Marianne unconvincing. Some lines were the exact same ones as the 95 version and that didn’t help because it was inferior to it in everything except for these four things. I really think I would have bought it if it hadn’t been so humourless. It’s a shame because I really thought Northanger Abbey extremely funny ( and not at all because I thought it ludicrous, I absolutely loved it ).
January 14th, 2008 at 10:43 am
* not Henry but Harry Dashwood, sorry. It’s a shame he isn’t even credited.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I ended up watching it twice last night and I feel the series has improved over the 3 episodes. I agree that it wasn’t at all funny enough but I did feel this episode had more humour in it. The scene where Edward visits Lucy and Elinor and then arrives at his mother’s was hilarious. I also loved Anne Steele who comes over exactly as she did to me in the novel.
Also approve the way Marianne fell in love with the Colonel earlier. That is, not approve exactly, but considering it has to end with their marriage, it was the only way to convey the change of heart in a non WTF way.
I grew more impressed with Hattie as Elinor and really rather like her now. There were, over all, moments when I was convinced that AD was back on form, after his terrible Room with a View and the slight dodginess in NA (though I stick to my guns in loving that film). On the other hand, these were after all, only moments.
I didn’t like Margaret’s feminist comments about the role of women- I know it was only a small moment in the film but it stuck out very much as AD addition. Not helpful.
Having seen the whole adaptation now, I also wonder what in the world the point of the opening soft porn scene was now. It was never made clear that the girl in that scene was Eliza, it was never referenced again and it is clear that whatever the soft porn alert people try to say, AD didn’t *really* turn the series into a “Willoughby has sex” show. The seduction wasn’t the beginning or end of the story so really, what on EARTH was the point? How could it be justified?
Like Sybille, I think my overall reaction is that I won’t buy the DVD but quite enjoyed watching.
In related news, did anyone see Lark Rise to Candleford, on just before it? I thought that was much better done and very enjoyable!
January 14th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
I really liked S&S3 (S&S2 has never been a particular favorite with me although it’s not horrible. It’s too short, cuts out too many characters and neither of the heroes does much for me. Mr. Palmer is good though.)
If I want a little more of the book as a whole I would go with S&S1, but I never liked the Brandon/Marianne relationship in that one. Marianne was good by herself, but Brandon didn’t do a thing for me with or without her. Elinor and Edward were good in that one though. These S&S3 Brandon/Marianne and the Elinor/Edward relationships are wonderful and fullfilling. You really feel like there’s a happy ending all the way around the way Jane would have wanted it to be.
Of course there are some things that I don’t think are quite perfect like Marianne overhearing Willoughby’s talk with Elinor, but it didn’t totally bother me. I do think they could have added more scenes to the story if they would have left out some of those sea and shell scenes. They kind of took up time that could have been used for something else. At times they added to the story, but sometimes there was a little too much. Kind of like Keira Knightly swinging around and around on that swing in P&P3. I kept thinking, “You could have added a whole scene where you took all that time.”
The only main thing I think should have been different is the Palmer scenes and the comparison of Harry Dashwood and William Middleton’s heights. That would have been a great scene.
January 14th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Well, at first, I thought this would turn into another P&P 2005, with Col. Brandon going into Marianne’s bedroom. Funny, though, this one didn’t offend my sense of historicity nearly as much - perhaps because it captured more of the moral center of the book than the other film.
While I still love the 1995 film, this film’s Elinor and Edward made me fall more in love with the characters, prompting me to reread the book once again (something very hard to do - S&S is probably my least reread of the six). Though the music is kinda jarring occasionally, the acting is excellent, the writing strong, and the adherence to the book much more fulfilling. Marianne’s character matures so much more in this version, and Elinor provides a model of sense while still retaining all the sensibility of proper feeling.
In short, I loved it.
January 14th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I hate to ask this, but anyone know if someone may have *cough* posted it online? I would rather see it online in its ‘entirety’ than chance it via PBS Masterpiece.
I will forever be in your debt! =D
January 14th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
If you hate seeing men in ladies’ bedrooms (even though there’s a scene in the book where he enters her dressing room), you’ll REALLY hate S&S71. In addition to having Brandon alone in a bedroom with a recovering Marianne, that version has a scene where Elinor goes alone to Edward’s lodgings to tell him about Brandon’s offer of the parish living. And Edward is sitting there with his frilly shirt opened at the neck. This is the version with Robin Ellis as Edward and Joanna David as Elinor. It’s my new favorite S&S, frilly shirts and all. I never thought I could find Edward Ferrars sexy, but Mr. Ellis succeeds.
January 14th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Anyone know if tudou.com has the final episode up yet? Really hoping to see it today!
January 14th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I second that! I would like to see the final episode…
January 14th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Episode Three of S&S Online: http://becomingjane.blogspot.com/2008/01/sense-sensibility-2008-episode-3-on.html
January 14th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
I don’t know if it’s up yet but the BBC site has an iPlayer…I used it to watch the first 5 minutes of the second episode because I turned over too late last last Sunday. It does have a time limit though…I think it stays up a week or so.
January 14th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
YouTube has all three parts.
January 14th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Really? I don’t remember it - though since I’m on my way through it again, I might hit that scene and say “Oh, there it is.” Where is it? Also, what’s the difference between dressing room and bedroom - and would a proper gentleman ever walk in on a lady in her bed? At least, unmarried?
As for online, it’s coughonyoutubecough.
January 14th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Anyone want to explore the falcon scene? Was it important because Marianne realized she would be kept safe, yet free, with Brandon? Not quite sure how I feel about this scene yet
I really, really loved DM’s portrayal of Brandon, especially how he could utter barely two words, but it was so packed with emotion and feeling.
Over on C19 some were wondering how to interpret the scene where Brandon helps Marianne out of the carriage at Cleveland, and then he sighs…is it out of contentment that she acknowledged him? Out of hope?
January 15th, 2008 at 12:17 am
I wondered if Brandon’s sigh was because of Marianne or from seeing the Palmer’s baby that made him think of Eliza’s baby.
OT. I wonder (from the book) who the country people were that kept Eliza and her baby. They must have been very kind. Let’s hope it wasn’t someone like Aunt Norris and Maria Bertram Rushworth! Can you imagine?
January 15th, 2008 at 2:21 am
Sibylle (#8),
The little boy playing Harry Dashwood is named Morgan Overton. He was credited as “Little Henry.”
January 15th, 2008 at 3:14 am
I realize this may go against the tide of popular opinion, considering the Davies hatred that seems to fill the latest posts and comments on the Austen Blog, but I have to say that I infinitely preferred this adaptation to Ang Lee’s in 1995 - a preference that even puzzles me a little, as Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman are my favourite actors working today. I felt that all of the acting was wonderful, and the visuals were lovely. Particularly those of Brandon.
Of course, I did also enjoy P&P 2005, so my tastes may just inherently be opposed to normal Austen lovers. And, truth be told, I never really enjoyed Sense and Sensibility as a novel, especially when compared to what I consider to be Austen’s best works, Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion.
I am glad that the speech from Willoughby was kept in, and very, very glad that the way everyone leapt to forgive him and wish him happiness was left out. I always found it very confusing that Elenor, of all people, would feel pity for him and make excuses for him in any way. She’s the one that’s supposed to have the sense, right? I’m very glad Davies kept her simply angry in this.
The “soft porn” scene (god I feel ridiculous calling it that) at the beginning even worked for me. I think it gave much more of an impact to the revelation that Willoughby participated in such a seduction, as did the (absolutely wonderful) addition of the scene between Brandon, Eliza and her baby.
The thing that surprised me the most, though, was that I was actually laughing out loud several times during this adaptation, something that rarely happens when I’m watching a film. Middleton, Fanny, Lucy, and especially Anne Steele alternately made me laugh and want to punch something. Even Palmer’s first line made me snort.
Finally, the best thing of all, the fleshing out of the romance between Brandon and Marianne. That was one thing that ruined the novel for me, the lack of development between them. Brandon is just such a wonderful character that he deserves to have SOMEONE make him look like less of a scumbag (considering Austen’s novel implies that he marries Marianne when all she feels for him is “lively friendship”, something I find hard to understand him doing, being a thoroughly romantic man and all).
January 15th, 2008 at 3:33 am
Having now seen the full series, I still wonder why AD is copying so much from the Thompson/Lee film instead of making his own version or even better Jane Austens. I cannot see that this version brings any new insight or original takes on the story. The Lee film showed us that there is great filmic material in the book that can be brough out and it is a work of mostly very inspired casting. The new version is casted either as the poor mans Ang Lee or to scematic. Yes he keeps in all the caracters but he do not use them. The Palmers are neither the telling tale of a bad marriage, nor funny nor are the used as JAs uses them when Mrs. Jennings choses to stay with Marianne rather than fleeing with her daughter. That is the scene where opinions re. Mrs. Jennings changes and shows the everlasting truth in Austen, apperance and substance can be two very different things. Yes he keeps the Willoughby/Elinor scene, but he cuts its to short and make Elinor to angry. And he simply do not get Marianne. Save Elizabeth Bennet she is the most intelligent of the Austen girls but we do not get that, neither her love of poetry and her truly romatisimn. Instead we get a average angry teenager. Marianne is a star and must be played by such and by an actress with star potential.
January 15th, 2008 at 5:54 am
Kathleen, you angel, thank you ! Wasn’t he wonderful ?
I just wanted more humour in this because I most certainly didn’t laugh, I’m a huge fan of the 95 version and it’s by far my favourite because it showed so much in so little time and I think captured what’s essential in the book.
RL, I like Andrew Davies too : I adored Bleak House and Northanger Abbey and I too loved the 05 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice ( more the work of a director than of a screenwriter as opposed to the 95 version ) you’re not alone, in the minority but definitely not alone
You all make me want to watch it again, I appreciated the fact that we saw so many things.
January 15th, 2008 at 6:21 am
@RL
>considering the Davies hatred that seems to fill the latest posts and comments on the Austen Blog,
Oh, at least I don’t hate *him*. Nothing personal.
But I do *more than hate* what he has done to one of my favourite novels, Northanger Abbey and one of my favourite heroines, Catherine Morland. And I am no purist because I absolutely love the earlier adaptation.
I love his P&P95, Wives and daughters, Bleak House and have pre ordered Cranford, which I believe is very good too.
General comment.
I like this Sense and sensibility, though I have to say it’s not exceptional, absolutely adore this Brandon, as much as Alan Rickman’s, and this Elinor and Edward.
The third episode was better than the other two, according to me. Perhaps it grew on me.
The reason for the duel though not talked about, but I thought it was clear when he tells the story about Eliza, though I wonder if the intention was to mislead the viewer into imagining it to be for Mariann because they kept showing her.
Even the part where he begins to undress Mariann after bringing her to her bed drenched, is sort of done in a frenzy of worry and concern, and I thought it was OK.
So in spite of there being shades of S&S95, even P&P95 towards the end with similar dialogue spoken by the two sisters, inspite of a terrible lack of humour and wittiness, I quite liked this S&S and have already pre ordered the DVD.
January 15th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Cranford wasn’t done by Andrew Davies. Sue Birtwistle who worked with him on P&P, E3 and W&D produced it though. I really wish she would have helped him at least on NA. The projects she helps on all seem to be very good.
I really liked this S&S3. So my affections are split between this version and the 1980 version. The 1995 one is all right, but I have never been a major fan of it.
January 15th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Cinematically, this S&S was up there with the ‘95 Persuasion as one of the best adaptations ever made. I am thrilled to have gotten such satisfying scenes with Elinor and Edward as they are my favorites. And the former film student in me was like a happy little girl with all those fabulous production details and killer mise-en-scene. Kudos all around!
January 15th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Overall, I enjoyed this version. It got better as it went along. I wasn’t sure about Charity Wakefield and David Morrissey at first. I wish Col. Brandon was a little more ‘animated’ but eventually he and Ms. Wakefield grew on me. Love Hattie Morahan and Dan Stevens as Elinor and Edward. I thought they were perfect. As for Willoughby, Dominic Cooper just doesn’t compare to Greg Wise. In fact, I thought Dominic was miscast. For a second there I thought - “Henry Crawford in ‘Sense & Sensibility’? Surely not!”
I also loved the locations, cinematography and score. Very well done. I’m glad to see that the scenes involving Mrs. Ferrars and Willoughby’s visit to Cleveland were included. I missed those from the 1995 version.
“Northanger Abbey” is still my favorite, but this comes as a close second. “Persuasion” is third, and “MP” last……
January 16th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
He would be a good Henry Crawford wouldn’t he? I never thought of that. He’s plain and black, short looking, but still manages to sweep these people off their feet. Can’t you just see him trying to get Fanny to fall for him?
January 16th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I agree Sylvia M. He would definitely make an excellent Henry Crawford. In fact I think he resembles the one in the earlier version of MP very much. I can’t remember the year MP80 something.
January 19th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I confess, I was greatly disappointed with this version. I felt as though AD had taken the 1995 version of S&S and re-adapted it, which is particularly strange because it really isn’t that true to the book.
I detested the opening and the characters seemed somehow seemed rushed or incomplete. There was plenty of time to understand them, but had I not read the book, I think I would have been lost.
I also have to admit that I found myself rather bored and felt like laughing at the overly dramatic quality of the whole production. (Edward’s visit to the Dashwood’s was very interesting; I thought it seemed more Rochester than Edward. )
The music was lovely and the opening credits, though perhaps more Bronte than Jane, were lovely too. The scenery was very pretty, the crashing waves, again more Bronte than Jane, and the green grass, it was all very picturesque.
The apology scene bothered me; it seemed rushed and poorly done. I didn’t like the fact that Elinor did not forgive Willoughby. I never quite understood that scene, but it demonstrated Elinor’s character, her amazing ability to forgive. (Another thing that seemed strange was the fact that only a few hours after Marianne was sick unto death she was suddenly well enough to get up and walk around the house! I thought it would have taken her longer to recover.)
I missed the zest and life and wit and humor and marvelous palette of colors that Jane Austen used. I felt as though her beautiful, colorful, vibrant book had been bleached and only the faint resemblance of life remained. But perhaps I am too picky. I shall keep waiting for the perfect adaptation of S&S.