Guys, step aside
Last year, a slew of Jane Austen adaptations were announced, among them my favorite book, Pride and Prejudice, coming to Netflix, and Sense and Sensibility, Austen’s first novel that debuted in 1811, coming to theaters October 16. I was puzzled over the former, because Joe Wright’s 2005 film starring Keira Knightley is absolute perfection. (Also, 2005? That’s recent memory, but somehow still 21 years.) But as for Sense and Sensibility, the last movie adaptation was 1995’s starring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman, and so I was curious to see how the next generation would carry the torch. In this new rendition led by Daisy Edgar-Jones, I found something so passionate it bordered on violence, and reminded me of the singularity of this Austen work in that rather than put romance at the center of the plot, it’s an ode to sisterhood.
For the uninitiated Austenites, Sense and Sensibility follows Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, who, after their father’s death, are consigned to a life of genteel poverty. Elinor has developed feelings for her step-brother-in-law, Edward Ferrars, while Marianne quickly finds herself swept off her feet (literally) by the charming and rakish Willoughby. Both young women are kept apart from their lovers; Elinor because Edward’s mother expects her son to marry well and Marianne because Willoughby’s wealthy aunt calls him away on mysterious business. Bereft, the sisters have only each other to cling to as their marriage prospects look increasingly hopeless.
Fittingly, Austen’s original book title was Elinor and Marianne, and indeed, the novel’s focus—and what this new adaptation so brilliantly conveys—is not the sisters’ romantic storylines but their own steadfast, intimate relationship. Indeed, some of the film’s most passionate scenes are between Elinor and Marianne, in which the girls shed tears and raise their voices in manners that make their romantic pursuits feel like trifling footnotes. Edward and Willoughby are storylines C and B. It is only over Marianne whom Elinor, normally so laconic, weeps, never mind her own personal struggles.
As the men prove to be—like in all Austen works—fickle, Elinor and Marianne lean on each other. Neither are perfect; they keep secrets and exchange stinging remarks, but are always drawn together in times of tribulation, no matter how far away they’ve pushed the other.
Both Edgar-Jones as Elinor and Esmé Creed-Miles as Marianne execute their roles with precision; in particular I found Creed-Miles’ interpretation of Marianne’s impulsive, tempestuous nature incredibly well done. On the whole, the film, with some artistic liberties, brings a strong adaptation for today’s young people, and pays clear homage to both 2005’s Pride and Prejudice and the 1995 version. The former was my introduction to the world of Jane Austen, and watching this new Sense and Sensibility gave me the same joy I felt then—the curiosity about the characters and their world, swept up in the romance of it all. If anything, my most ardent hope is that in watching this film, more young people are encouraged to dive into the novel.
