By June L.
Apr 9, 2008, 13:16 GMT
Available on DVD today in the USA is the latest production from BBC and PBS’s Masterpiece series The Complete Jane Austen. This is Sense & Sensibility, a new adaptation by Andrew Davies (who is responsible for the highly acclaimed 1995 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice), of Jane Austen’s first published novel.
With stunning scenery, gorgeous costumes, and a well chosen cast, this production brings the story of the Dashwood women to life with touching believability.
Sense & Sensibility was originally written in the epistolary style, and was called Eleanor and Marianne. Jane Austen over the course of several years changed the book from letters written by the characters to an omniscient narrator’s point of view. The story was a familiar one for women of the early Nineteenth Century, as they were dependant upon the men of their family for their livelihood.
At the beginning of Sense & Sensibility Eleanor, Marianne and Margaret Dashwood, the children of a very happy second marriage have recently lost their father. His estate is inherited by his only son, the child of his first marriage. John Dashwood the son promises his father on his deathbed to do something for his step mother and half sisters, but is easily convinced by his society wife that the girls are in need of very little help. In fact Fanny Dashwood is so ready to take over Norland that she virtually forces her husband’s relatives out.
It does not help matters that Edward Ferrars, Fanny’s kind and gentlemanly brother while on a visit obviously takes a strong liking to the Dashwood women, singling out Eleanor in particular. Made so uncomfortable by Fanny’s snide remarks and pushy behavior, Mrs. Dashwood and the girls accept the kind offer of a cottage in Devonshire made to them by a cousin Sir John Middleton. Once established in the cottage, their lives undergo many changes.
This production of Sense & Sensibility stresses the plight of the women, in their reversal of fortune but does not let the mood become forlorn or drab. We see instead that the Dashwoods are intelligent and ingenious women, and best of all very capable of making things work in their life at the cottage.
The viewer witnesses their economy and frugality, but it is often so subtle, it takes a second look to realize that a gown has been altered in style as it is mended, or that instead of fine furnishings there are strings of shells and their own artworks for decoration. They may be frustrated at times with their lot, but the audience does not get a sense of abject unhappiness.
Emotionally they are experiencing great changes as well. Eleanor’s attachment to Edward is unspoken and unacknowledged, as much time passes before he makes a very unsatisfactory visit. She wonders in silence at his silence, while Marianne with great exuberance falls head over heels in love with a dashing young man Mr. Willoughby. Things just seem to go awry from the beginning for these attachments, and we watch mesmerized to see what in the world is going to happen next. I don’t like to compare productions, because I believe that each one has its own value and integrity.
I loved the faces in this production, the expressions that spoke as eloquently as words, and a feeling that the faces fit the characters superbly.
Some do not like Andrew Davies tweaking of the story to bring it more in line with 21st century fare, but I think that this tweaking is not a mistake. Jane Austen novices will be intrigued, and will want to read the real thing after seeing a production like this, while devoted Jane Austen fans may read the book again to see what inspired the adaptation.
Sense & Sensibility is presented in a two disc set. The first disc contains the production and has some very nice special features, a commentary with cast and crew, interviews with producer Anne Pivcevic and writer Andrew Davies, a Radio Play “Remembering Jane Austen” and a photo gallery.
Boxed with Sense & Sensibility is a second disc which contains the production “Miss Austen Regrets.” This is a look at the life of Jane Austen based on some of her letters. This is a much darker look at Jane’s life than the recent “Becoming Jane Austen,” concentrating on the problems three single women must face in trying to make lives for themselves.
Jane, her sister Cassandra and their mother are forced by circumstances to live together. It is not always an easy task, and we see in this older Jane perhaps shades of regret for various things that might have been in her life.
It is beautifully written and acted, and more somber in tone than the life we usually imagine Jane Austen lived. Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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