With Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Kate Winslet, directed by Ang Lee, etc, etc.
As stated in in "Movies you watch over and over again" I think this is one of the perfect films. Not only as an adaptation (per Thompson's commentary, with little actually straight from the book) but as one of those perfect period films, a 'romance' and just as a straight film.
The entire movie feels like a painting rather than a film regarding the use of color, framing and composition. Not only is it a romance and a drama, it's also 'clever' and comedic. I hardly think there's a weak link and everyone's so great that it's impossible to single out any one performance over another.
There's little to no fat despite the lingering shots over the landscape accompanied only by music, there's Alan Rickman just being a god and there's something just....very organic about the whole production.
Being so much a labor of love for Thompson, who wrote and labored over the screenplay for years...I think that really shines through the film. Her commentary for the DVD with producer Nora Dolan? I believe is one of the best available - easily ranking with the Schwarzenegger/Milius from Conan.
After reading the commentary and watching the film, I think what sets this from others is the layers within. There are reasons everything is as it is - for example, Thompson recalls an anecdote that since the Dashwoods are now rather impoverished, they wouldn't have been able to afford treats and pies therefore during a picnic scene, she went out of the way to remove all the pastries that had been laid out.
Or when she instructed the woman who played Fanny Dashwood to give some off the cuff remark about some books in a library, "These are all foreign"
Even sans the commentary, a scene that always struck me was Willoughby and Marianne sitting, where he cuts off a bit of hair all under the supervision of the elder Dashwood ladies. It isn't much, but that moment left an impression on me.
I've also heard, per the commentary and elsewhere, that despite being a chick flick, the arc they inserted with Colonel Brandon (Rickman's character) resonated with the male audience in a way similar (but superior) to the Queen Gorgo in 300 insomuch as that it was not in the book and was wholly invented by the film to appeal to the audience of the opposite sex. Thoughts?
All in all, one of my favorites and I really think one of the best of its kind. Especially when compared to the lush if soulless Vanity Fair.
As stated in in "Movies you watch over and over again" I think this is one of the perfect films. Not only as an adaptation (per Thompson's commentary, with little actually straight from the book) but as one of those perfect period films, a 'romance' and just as a straight film.
The entire movie feels like a painting rather than a film regarding the use of color, framing and composition. Not only is it a romance and a drama, it's also 'clever' and comedic. I hardly think there's a weak link and everyone's so great that it's impossible to single out any one performance over another.
There's little to no fat despite the lingering shots over the landscape accompanied only by music, there's Alan Rickman just being a god and there's something just....very organic about the whole production.
Being so much a labor of love for Thompson, who wrote and labored over the screenplay for years...I think that really shines through the film. Her commentary for the DVD with producer Nora Dolan? I believe is one of the best available - easily ranking with the Schwarzenegger/Milius from Conan.
After reading the commentary and watching the film, I think what sets this from others is the layers within. There are reasons everything is as it is - for example, Thompson recalls an anecdote that since the Dashwoods are now rather impoverished, they wouldn't have been able to afford treats and pies therefore during a picnic scene, she went out of the way to remove all the pastries that had been laid out.
Or when she instructed the woman who played Fanny Dashwood to give some off the cuff remark about some books in a library, "These are all foreign"
Even sans the commentary, a scene that always struck me was Willoughby and Marianne sitting, where he cuts off a bit of hair all under the supervision of the elder Dashwood ladies. It isn't much, but that moment left an impression on me.
I've also heard, per the commentary and elsewhere, that despite being a chick flick, the arc they inserted with Colonel Brandon (Rickman's character) resonated with the male audience in a way similar (but superior) to the Queen Gorgo in 300 insomuch as that it was not in the book and was wholly invented by the film to appeal to the audience of the opposite sex. Thoughts?
All in all, one of my favorites and I really think one of the best of its kind. Especially when compared to the lush if soulless Vanity Fair.
