Sense And Sensibility reopens the national bonnet reserve
Sense And Sensibility has returned to United Kingdom cinemas, requiring multiplexes to install an emergency fainting sofa next to the machine that dispenses nacho cheese.
The BFI republished a 1996 Sight and Sound review of Ang Lee’s 1995 film. The review praised its wit, performances and subversive handling of Jane Austen. This is considerably more honest than calling it a lovely houses film and hoping nobody notices the social order.
The film follows women negotiating love, money and strict social expectations. Those constraints matter. The joke is aimed at a cinema poster that might describe all this as a charming escape with scenic hedges.
The multiplex discovers subtext
“Patrons may sigh, blush and exchange meaningful looks across auditorium four,” said Lavinia Popcorn Ferrars, Mistress of Restrained Refreshments. “Open declarations cost extra and include a medium drink.”
Ang Lee’s direction and Emma Thompson’s screenplay and performance made the adaptation distinctive. One visitor waited for an explosion, then slowly realised that inheritance law was the explosive device and had been all along.
The film’s comedy has real force because it exposes inequality rather than treating it as decorative background. A viewer cannot dismiss it as a period piece simply because everyone wears excellent coats and suffers with unusual posture.
During a proposal, a mobile phone rang. The entire auditorium reduced the owner’s income by two thousand pounds and required them to marry for expedience.
The foyer restores modern life
After the final scene, audiences applauded emotional intelligence expressed through silence. In the foyer, couples resumed communicating by asking who had the parking ticket and why the water cost £7.20.
The fainting sofa survived six screenings. It collapsed only when the concession stand called the price of popcorn a suitable marriage.
Read the real story: The BFI’s republished contemporary review.
