SENSE AND SENSIBILITY Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Georgia Oakley
Stars: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Esme Creed-Miles, George MacKay, Frank Dillane, Catriona Balfe, Herbert Nordrum, Fiona Shaw, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, Tom Brooke, Stacy Martin, Ceara Coveney.
This is the latest adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel of social mores and romance, which was first published in 1811. Austen wrote the novel at the age of 18 and the novel offered a critique of the strictures of eighteenth-century English society where women were expected to marry for status or wealth. Ang Lee’s sumptuous Oscar winning 1995 version (which was scripted by Emma Thompson) remains, arguably, the definitive adaptation, but this new film from director Georgia Oakley (Little Bird, etc) is visually stunning and gorgeous to look at. Oakley also imbues the material with a more modern sensibility that will appeal to audiences unfamiliar with Lee’s film.
The script from writer Diana Reid remains reasonably faithful to the source material as it tells the familiar story from the perspective of two strong willed women. Sense And Sensibility follows the trials and tribulations of the Dashwood sisters and their search for love.
After their father dies suddenly, the Dashwood family find themselves fallen on hard times. Their well being is left in the hands of their haughty half-brother John (Tom Brooke, from the tv series Slow Horses, etc) and his cold wife Fanny (Stacy Martin, from The Brutalist, etc), who have inherited the estate. The Dashwoods are forced to move to a rural cottage in the Devon countryside which they rent from Mrs Jennings (Fiona Shaw, best known as Mrs Dursley from the Harry Potter movies), a family friend.
Elinor (Daisy Edgar-Jones, from Where The Crawdads Sing, etc) is the more serious, intelligent, practical and sensible sister, while younger sister Marianne (Esme Creed-Miles, from The Chronology Of Water, etc) is given over to her emotions and is more idealistic and impetuous. Elinor falls for the debonair and handsome Edward Ferrars (former child star George MacKay, from 1917, etc), while Marianne rejects the obvious advances of the heroic colonel Brandin (Swedish actor Herbert Nordrum, from The Worst Person In The World, etc), who has recently returned from military service in the East Indies and instead pines for the dashing, charismatic but shallow Mr Willoughby (Frank Dillane, best known for playing the teenage Tom Riddle in one of the Harry Potter movies).
Mrs Jennings takes Elinor and Marianne to London where they will mingle in society and hopefully find a suitable partner. While dealing with their financial difficulties, the sisters attend lavish balls and experience misunderstandings and mixed signals from their prospective suitors.
The performances of the cast are all fine. Edgar-Jones brings intelligence and spark to her role as Elinor, while Creed-Miles has a boisterous quality and is excellent as the feisty Marianne. Catriona Balfe (from Ford V Ferrari, etc) registers strongly as their long-suffering mother. Shaw is great as the matchmaking Mrs Jennings and brings some much need touches of humour to brighten up the material, and she steals nearly every scene in which she appears. MacKay brings warmth and a sense of integrity to his performance as the conflicted Edward.
This is a handsomely mounted production, and the settings and costumes all reek of authenticity. Francesca Di Mottola’s production design and period detail is superb. The film has been beautifully shot by cinematographer Arnaud Potier (who recently shot Gus Van Sant’s true crime drama Dead Man’s Wire), who captures the bucolic charm of the Devonshire settings. Roger Goula’s evocative score complements the visuals. But this is occasionally somewhat dull as it lacks the wit and sense of irony of Austen’s wry observations.
★★★
