Sense and Sensibility
Short description
Sense and Sensibility follows the Dashwood sisters after the death of their father leaves them with almost nothing. Elinor, the elder, is reserved and practical; Marianne is impulsive and open about her feelings. Their father's estate passes to his son from an earlier marriage, so the sisters, their mother and their younger sibling must leave their home and settle elsewhere on a small income. In their new surroundings, both women form attachments that raise hopes of marriage, only to meet with obstacles tied to money, propriety and the expectations of those around them.
The film is director Ang Lee's fourth feature, coming between Eat Drink Man Woman and The Ice Storm, and it was adapted for the screen by Emma Thompson, who also plays Elinor. Kate Winslet appears as Marianne, with Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Gemma Jones and Greg Wise among the main cast. Lindsay Doran produced, and the production involved 25 credited cast members and 59 credited crew.
Released in December 1995, the film had a budget of 16 million USD and took about 135 million USD worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.7/10 from 137,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 7.4/10 from 1,894 votes. A critics' rating of 8.7/10 from 139 reviews places it above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The first draft of the screenplay consisted of 350 handwritten pages. The final version incorporated elements from this draft and thirteen others, which took Emma Thompson nearly five years to write.
- Director Ang Lee initially envisioned Kate Winslet as Lucy, but she desperately wanted to play Marianne. Arriving at the audition, the actress began reading Marianne’s lines, and when this was pointed out to her, she pretended that her agent had made a mistake and sent her the wrong text. Regardless, she landed the role of Marianne.
- The Dashwoods moved into the cottage in winter, when it was still cold and the sheep were covered in their long winter fleece. These scenes were filmed at the end of May, and during filming, one of the animals became ill from the heat. They had to be sheared and then filmed already shorn, even though the plot called for it to still be winter.
- The end credits of the film express gratitude to Stephen Fry. This refers to an incident during the screenplay’s development when Emma Thompson had computer problems. She couldn’t find the script file and asked Stephen Fry for help. It took Fry seven hours to figure out what was wrong and fix the issues.
- The filmmakers saw only Hugh Grant as Edward. He even agreed to reduce his fee, as the film’s creators were experiencing certain financial difficulties.
- According to Emma Thompson, in the scene where Colonel Brandon, played by Alan Rickman (1946-2016), talks to Elinor and Marianne (played by Thompson and Kate Winslet), and they are all on horseback, many takes were ruined by one of the horses constantly passing gas. Eventually, the scene was filmed as best as possible, and the inappropriate sounds were simply removed in editing.
- During filming, Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet lived together to feel more comfortable around each other, as they had to play sisters.
- To immerse himself in the British atmosphere and get used to British humor, director Ang Lee spent six months in the UK before the start of filming.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
