A quick note about this conversation: We watched the movie at the same time and wrote about things that stood out to us or that we felt were interesting choices. It might be helpful to watch the movie just before reading this or read it while watching the movie.
S: I’m so excited to watch this! It is one of my favourite movies. I remember that one year in high school I watched it four or five times in a row for a few weekends. It was awesome.
R: Oh, wow! That’s impressive! I think I was introduced to this movie in high school or the beginning of college, after my first encounter with the Pride and Prejudice mini-series. I don’t think I’d even read the book yet. The movie made me want to read the rest of the books.
S: One of the reasons I was excited about doing this conversational blog with you is because I have seen a few of the movies but have never wanted to read Austen’s books, so this has been a fun way to foray into her works.
At the beginning of the movie, Fanny’s dismayed, ‘Help them! What do you mean, help them?’ makes me laugh every time. No lie, I tried my hardest to not envision this actress’s face while reading the book, but was unsuccessful; she did such a good job!
R: The first time we see Elinor and Marianne is when Marianne is playing a very sad tune on the pianoforte and Elinor asks her to play something different. She does so, but it is an equally sad song. Elinor says, ‘I meant something less mournful, dearest.’ – One of my favorite lines, even though it’s not in the book.
S: Agreed! A family favourite line of ours is Elinor’s ‘It is the law’ when she’s telling Margaret about needing to move because the house and everything their father had went to their brother. We say it regarding almost anything that we need to do or have to do.
R: That’s hilarious!
I forgot how much Fanny’s voice annoys me.
So many good lines in this that weren’t in the book! But they made it just work so seamlessly with what Austen did write.
S: Yes. I think there is a great understanding of the characters so that all the extra stuff added in doesn’t detract. It is a little more solemn than the book, I feel – not as much wit, perhaps.
R: I agree. This beginning is a little longer, I think, than it was in the book.
S: I do, though, enjoy the imaginings of the conversations Edward and Elinor have when they first meet, and the development of Margaret’s character is fun. That was something in the book I was a little surprised by, that there was so little mention of her.
R: I just looked up the actress, Emilie Francois, and I feel old now. She’s a year older than I am! Only has three acting credits. I thought I recognized her from something else, but I was wrong.
S: That surprises me!
I’m so glad they left in part of Edward’s exposition on what his family wants him to do. It’s almost as funny in the movie as it is in the book.
One thing that is strange to me is that Mrs. Dashwood doesn’t seem as much like Marianne as she does in the book. I don’t mind how she is portrayed in the movie, but it is different and I like that Elinor is the completely level-headed one in the book.
R: I think there’s still an element there, with her trying to put Elinor and Edward together right from the start.
The exchange between Marianne and Elinor about Elinor’s feelings about Edward always gave me a giggle, but I don’t think it’s in the book at all, is it?
S: It’s one of the most easily quotable! You know, I don’t think it’s in the book, although it does seem like a conglomeration of a few exchanges. I’ll get my copy.
R: To the Kindle! Oh, it is there! Kate Winslet did an amazing job with her mimicry, which isn’t in the book.
S: You’re right! Ah, the wit.
The casting in this for everyone was EXCELLENT. (Also, the book is now remaining open next to me for the duration of the film.)
R: Oh! I never realized that Sir John was the same actor that played Sigfried in All Creatures Great and Small, wonderful British adaptation of the book series by James Herriot.
S: It has been added to my ‘To Read’ list.
COLONEL BRANDON!!!
R: Eeeeee! I can’t wait!
S: Ooh, foreshadowing from Mrs. Jennings regarding Edward! I never noticed that before.
R: Ah, little sisters.
S: Margaret is so cute!
R: I was thinking more about the murdering aspect when they tell your secrets! Ha! When Margaret hints that Elinor might have a beau whose name starts with an ‘F’. As an older sibling, I can completely understand Elinor’s exasperation with her, and then we learn that it was Marianne who told Margaret in the first place. Definitely grounds for murder.
I feel like they made Sir John more complicit in the teasing than he was in the book.
S: I would agree with that. We know of his ‘boisterous mirth’, but it doesn’t seem like he teases a lot.
It’s fun to see the way the movie moves some of the information around but still makes it make sense. The story of Colonel Brandon’s heartache moved from the middle of the story to the beginning of the movie.
R: Yes, I was just thinking that that was quite a bit more exposition than we had at this point in the book.
S: The addition of the atlas and explanation of Edward not visiting them after they’ve moved to Barton Cottage – I don’t mind it because it helps us see the differences in the characters, but I don’t know if it was necessary. What do you think?
R: It was a little more visual than just a letter, but I agree, not truly necessary.
Here comes Willoughby.
S: Meh.
R: Same!
But that exchange between the women is hilarious.
‘You will care when your nose swells.’
‘You are right. Help me, Elinor.’ Just almost deadpan.
Weird seeing Alan Rickman with light hair. Much more used to him as Snape.
S: That’s really funny, because I’m more used to seeing him as Colonel Brandon, so when I first saw him as Snape I kept thinking, ‘Wait, but he’s Colonel Brandon!’
R: I guess I was more into Harry Potter for a long time, or at least saw those movies more often, and there are eight of them.
Ugh, gag me with a spoon. Willoughby is SO fake!
S: I suppose he is, although in the book he wasn’t quite so charming to me because he and Marianne constantly made fun of others, so I never saw him as fake, only rude.
R: Fair point. They piled on the charm in the movie to the point that it feels insincere, or maybe it only seems that way because we already know his nature. It’s difficult to differentiate.
S: Truth!
R: Oh, my gosh! I love Colonel Brandon’s horse! Gorgeous! I suppose Willoughby’s are pretty, too.
Oh, so hard to like Charlotte at all considering the actress. Hiss! Umbridge!
S: I just don’t like the character’s giggliness in either the book or movie.
I said earlier that in high school I would watch Sense and Sensibility over and over. The other movie I would watch over and over was Much Ado About Nothing, so I always see the actress who played Charlotte as the character of Margaret from Much Ado About Nothing.
R: I’m not familiar with Much Ado About Nothing. It’s funny how we tend to always think of actors in the first thing we saw them in, or what we have seen them in most often, but I agree about Charlotte in general. She was just less unlikable in the book.
So when Lucy joined the party, I remembered one huge change from book to movie – it’s just Lucy, no sister. I don’t think the character even exists.
S: I don’t think she does, which is a disappointment to me because even though I didn’t like the Steele sisters’ characters I did like that Lucy had a sister.
R: Oh, I forgot how quickly the movie jumps from the party going to Colonel Brandon’s estate being interrupted to Willoughby leaving. I feel like the book took a little more time in between, but maybe not.
S: There is a bit more time and it feels like a lot more happens in the book. Willoughby is introduced in Chapter 9 and leaves in Chapter 15 – so much has happened in and between those chapters!
Ugh. Lucy. The only thing that makes the scene when Lucy is explaining to Elinor about her relationship with Edward bearable is Mr. Palmer’s dry humour and Mrs. Palmer’s amazement and excitement at all things. Also, Hugh Laurie will forever be Mr. Palmer in my mind.
R: Indeed!
Hmm, they added a year to Edward and Lucy’s engagement; five years instead of four. I wonder why.
Ooh, never caught that before. Elinor has one of Edward’s handkerchiefs, which did not happen in the book, and Lucy shows that she has one as well, staking her claim.
S: I guess it makes sense that they replaced Edward’s picture he’d given to Lucy with a handkerchief, but the changing of the amount of time of engagement is odd.
R: Oh, Lucy gives Elinor such a scathing look when Mrs. Jennings teases her about Edward when they’re on their way to John and Fanny’s for a ball.
I don’t think I realized that the Dashwoods were quite that rich. The house is massive!
S: Robert is a snob but more so, I think, in the movie than in the book. I do like the foreshadowing between him and Lucy.
R: I feel like book Robert is more snobby. Movie Robert is…slimy.
This part feels really accelerated, too. When they arrive in London, Marianne immediately writes to Willoughby, and there are several days of waiting and checking for an answer, and then suddenly we’re at the ball and Willoughby is snubbing Marianne, a major plot point. But cramming everything into a movie that’s just over two hours is nearly impossible. That’s one reason the A&E Pride and Prejudice mini-series is my most favoritist. It gave them the time to get nearly everything in.
S: It’s interesting that the gossip that was so prevalent in the book between Marianne and Willoughby moved to Lucy and Robert.
R: Maybe they were trying to expand their parts a little.
S: I don’t mind it, and it does make sense that Lucy and Robert would act like that.
R: I agree. It was a good way to show Lucy and Robert’s characters with the sort of reduced role for Lucy, but a bigger role for Robert.
S: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Mrs. Jennings rocks! Despite her gossipy nature, she really is a good friend and this is seen well when she rushes home to see how Marianne is doing after the news of Willoughby’s engagement is made public.
The scene between Colonel Brandon and Elinor when he tells her about Beth and Willoughby is so moving and really makes me love both characters even more.
R: Such a good scene between two phenomenal actors. I don’t remember if Colonel Brandon gave Willoughby that much credit in the book, that he thought Willoughby would have married Marianne if he hadn’t been disowned. They all seem to try to think a little better of him than I think he deserves.
S: I was trying to find if he had in the book, but I think the idea of Willoughby intending to marry Marianne was actually from the discourse between Elinor and Willoughby in Chapter 44.
R: I think you’re right.
Oh, and now for the most awkward scene in the entire story! Lucy, Edward and Elinor in the same room. ‘Engaged elsewhere!’ Ah, the double entendres. So, so awkward! Random aside – I do like Lucy’s coat. Has pretty edging and tassels.
S: And poor Marianne just keeps talking. It is reminiscent of earlier in the book when Margaret reveals to the Jennings family what Marianne had said about Edward and Elinor.
R: I’m glad we get to see the scene of Fanny finding out about Lucy and Edward. I’m dying laughing!
S: It is rather amusing.
R: Another amazing emotional scene between Elinor and Marianne when Mrs. Jennings tells them about the engagement between Edward and Lucy.
S: Excellent. I love the scene better in the book, but the movie version was really well done.
I like Colonel Brandon’s ‘I think not’ when Elinor suggests he tell Edward about his offer. There’s just so much in that statement. You know he doesn’t have an ulterior motive and by this time in the book we know that only Marianne truly knows of what Elinor is suffering, but it’s still amusing.
R: Oh, me too! I like his earlier line, ‘No doubt,’ as well.
S: I like the finding of Marianne by Colonel Brandon when she’s sick better in the movie. There’s so much there. The book didn’t really build up the tension as much.
R: Agreed! Very emotional, but also bookends how Willougby found her at the beginning.
S: Oh, I don’t think I’d noticed that before! (As an aside, the good Colonel doesn’t care about ‘leaving a watermark’.)
The removal scene of the Palmers’ baby and Mrs. Palmer’s freakout is a little much; it’s not nearly as troubling in the book. Also, I do wish they had retained Mrs. Jennings in the following scenes, but I understand why they didn’t.
R: I’d forgotten that she wasn’t, but it let the focus be more on Colonel Brandon, it seems.
We got some really nice sincere scenes from Mr. Palmer, though, before they left.
I always loved Elinor’s ‘She is out of danger’ line as their mother arrives. The relief is there, but it’s not overdone like Mrs. Palmer getting the baby away was.
S: Another favourite scene of mine is when Colonel Brandon reads to Marianne. The birds twittering, the sunshine, the way he responds when she asks that he not stay away long – so beautiful. The only thing that always weirded me out was that when he tells her he’s leaving he says it almost as one would say it to a child (or maybe that’s just how I hear it, but I’ve always heard it that way).
R: I suppose it could be taken that way. I saw it more like his being overly solicitous because of her continuing recovery. But it is such a lovely scene. They had to accelerate Marianne beginning to appreciate the colonel, I think, but it worked well for the medium. I do love Marianne’s straw bonnet! So simple and pretty.
S: Their clothes are great. They are so complimentary in not only shape but colours.
IT’S EDWARD!!! Out of all the scenes, the one when he visits the Dashwoods at Barton Cottage is my top favourite.
R: It is. I do enjoy the call back to Mrs. Dashwood telling Margaret to talk about the weather if she had nothing better to say.
S: That is hilarious.
R: This whole scene is the best in the entire movie. Elinor’s eyes going wide when Edward reveals that it’s Robert who married, not himself. And everyone else giving each other the eye and leaving!
S: Elinor’s reaction and letting all her emotion show is beautiful! Also, I like Marianne sending Margaret up to spy on them.
R: I love the final scene, but I wish they’d made it clearer that some time had passed. The first time I saw it, I thought both couples had gotten married at the same time.
And I can’t decide whether I like or not that they left out Willoughby’s exposition and just gave us that one glimpse of his regret.
S: I always thought it was a double wedding, too and was so confused as to why Elinor’s dress was not as pretty as Marianne’s.
I think I would have liked the added scene of Willoughby talking with Elinor. I don’t think it would have disrupted the flow of the movie. Also, in the book it makes it clear that Willoughby went on to enjoy his life of ease and he had ‘no inconsiderable degree of domestic felicity’, so his regret shot at the end of the movie doesn’t really seem to fit with the book’s ending.
R: I think other than just leaving us dangling, it was the only way to give us some closure about Willoughby without the scene from the book where he actually explains things to Elinor.
It’s such a good movie, great adaptation, beautiful costumes and scenery. All in all, one of my favorite movies! One I like to watch over and over, though it has been a few years. I can’t wait until we go on to Jane Austen’s other books and more movie adaptations! This was a lot of fun to write.
S: I love the music for the movie! It’s so beautiful. I also like that it was a bright movie. The vibrancy of colours no matter where the characters were gives the feeling of hope throughout, even when you weren’t sure if anything would be resolved. Overall, I think this is one of the best adaptations of a book in cinematic history.
If you want to join us in January for a new conversation, we’ll be going through Praying with Jane: 31 Days Through the Prayers of Jane Austen, by Rachel Dodge. I reviewed this book here if you want to read a bit about it and am excited to read through it again.
All the Writings 