Monday, April 9, 2012

My Top 10: #1 Sense and Sensibility

Oops - I had written this out earlier, but wanted to look at it in Word and then deleted it.   I thought I'd deleted the post and would set it up tonight, but alas, my attention closing out the blog has been waning.  But here you go.
Sense and Sensibility has been my favorite movie for nearly a decade (I'm sure a future post will give you all my past favorite movies).   I would say I've seen it more than 100 times.  The various things about the film that I like most change regularly, from the dialogue to the acting, to the story and the recognition of previously unknown actors (Imelda Staunton and Hugh Laurie in supporting roles very different than "Dolores Umbridge" and "House").  I also recognize it's not the kind of movie that appeals to everyone - you have to like period pieces, female characters, and it helps if you have no aversion to Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman or Hugh Grant.

Sense and Sensibility is based on Jane Austen's novel and adapted by Emma Thompson who won an Oscar for her effort.  Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are sisters whose father didn't leave them anything for dowries.  Thus, their prospects of marrying well are pretty low.  Elinor (Thompson) falls for her sister-in-law's brother Edward Ferrars (Grant), but doesn't want to admit to it, particularly when she finds out he's already engaged.  She sensibly bears up under a broken heart.  In opposition, Marianne (Winslet) loves openly and without  paying attention to proper decorum (or whether they can actually marry her).  Of course it ends the way it should, and someone has to protect the honor of a young girl (Alan Rickman).

Turns out I can't explain why this is my favorite movie.  How do you do it?

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