4.07.2008

Masterpiece Theatre's production of Sense & Sensibility

I'm sure that my readers will be happy to know that this will be my last entry on Masterpiece Theatre's The Complete Jane Austen series. Part two of Sense and Sensibility aired Sunday night. It is the last production in the series, and also the final complete Austen story. Check out a review here and here (The second one is very thorough).

It was a very enjoyable production. Although I do favor the 1995 version, there were particular scenes and depictions that I favored in the BBC version. For example, the revelation of Lucy's secret engagement to Edward is beautifully and ironically depicted in the BBC production with a full cast of characters—unlike the memorable scene in the 1995 version with just Fannie and Lucy. Yet, there were also scenes that were evident extrapolations from the text.

The actors did a great job of capturing the essence of the work, and there were many times throughout the movie that I was quite moved. One of the most memorable lines from the movie is when Marianne asks, after finding out Willoughby's true nature: "What do men want from us? Do they just want us as playthings?" (paraphrased). Amazingly, women today still ask this very question. I guess cad-ism never truly goes away, and women will forever (knowingly and unknowingly) fall for those silly cad-tricks.

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