The 1995 adaptation of Jane Austen‘s Sense and Sensibility is, for me, one of the ultimate frock flicks. It’s one of a spate of films from the 1990s that made a strong attempt to achieve period accuracy. Its screenplay was thoughtfully adapted by Emma Thompson, and it was directed with care by Ang Lee. The performances — by Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, and more — are strong and pretty much everyone is well cast. Now, I will say I saw the film before reading the original novel, so Austen purists may have more bones to pick than I do. But for me, Sense and Sensibility is a film that feels like real life, with achievable heroines, small-scale drama, and an unassuming air that conveys what life could have been like in Regency England. I can’t count just how many times I’ve watched the film, and I’ve read Emma Thompson’s published screenplay and filming diaries several times. I no longer own the DVD, but when I did, I loved watching the film with Emma Thompson’s audio commentary (is that available anywhere for streaming? Someone let us all know, because it’s that good).
Read all of this review of Sense and Sensibility (1995) here!
