Sense and Sensibility (1995)

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⭐ 9/10

I didn't even realize when we booted this one up that a new version was coming out just a few days later! Well, who needs it. This is essentially a perfect movie, with great writing, fantastic performances across the board, and some legitamite moments of humour. My only exposure to Austen has been Pride & Prejudice, and I think I like this story a lot more. I mean, its kind of the exact same thing, but what this movie lacks in visual splendour it makes up for in a tighter script and runtime.

I love the way Hugh Grant is in this movie for just a couple moments, but his aura lingers in every single scene. I love the way Kate Winslet pants for breath and says "he picked me up and carried me as if I were no more than a feather" after her romantic first encounter with Willoughby. Honestly that first encounter is one of the best romance scenes I have ever seen, and I think it's all Kate. Eat your heart out Mr. Darcy, that's how you come striding across the moors! Its made even better in a moment where Alan Rickman is forced to carry her in a charged parallel moment.

I think what this movie does best is show these cooped of lives of women of this time, surviving on gossip alone as the men go out and do whatever they want. It's pure Austen, from the little I have seen, but the powerlessness felt so pronounced here. It helps that the framing of it all, while beautiful, is a bit more plain, where and the Pride & Prejudice movie I have seen so much makes everything looks so golden and beautiful. King of like the P&P miniseries, I think a more sterile lens is actually more effective when it comes to the story telling. It's also clear that that P&P movie took a ton of inspiration from this, so many parallel scenes with similar staging and blocking, and I think that's cool.

I haven't said the name Emma Thompson yet, but she's clearly the MVP here as the star and writer, whew boy what a feat! Lots of subtlety in the performance, and I think her and Kate play off each other perfectly. I think every role here is cast really well, but when Alan Rickman ends up with Kate Winslet I had to roll my eyes, that must be at least a 30 year age gap.

A glaring hole in my watchlist has been filled, and I wish I had checked it out sooner.

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