In an effort to get more creative with my love for movies and interest in blogging I've decided to try do them simultaneously. Yes, that's right--even as I write I am becoming engrossed in Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility. What will come of this bold experiment? Will my brain explode as I attempt to absorb the acting, shot composition, and score of S&S while at the same time trying to keep you, the reader equally absorbed in my witty and sophisticated blog banter?
Yes.
So instead I am going to hit you with some highlights. First off, I'm not sure I understand what Comcast On Demand means in the grand scheme of my tv watching, but for tonight it means full access to a slew of B- movies (sans S&S of course). So far Emma Thompson is already exuding brilliance as the sensible older sister to Kate Winslet's flightier younger one.
*Sidenote--why do Brits and continental Euros use their knife so much when they eat? It always looks like they're not very hungry and more interested in making a show out of cutting food.*
Okay, sorry back to more important matters. I think subterfuge is a good word to describe what Austen does with language and manners. There seems to be a dual purpose in much of the conversation and interactions, culminating in a sloppy ending that needs to be fixed. Austen deserves and gets a great deal of credit for her writing, but I'll spread that kudos onwards to Emma Thompson for crafting that into a screenplay that really "speaks" visually. Great dialogue can't always make a great movie, but in this case it does and again I'll chalk that up to the intrigue of subterfuge.
The contrast between Kate Winslet and Emma Thompson in these roles is perfection. Both of them are limited by their social standing but where Thompson carries it sensibly as a difficult reality that they must cope with Winslet sees it as an opportunity to escape. There is something infinitely sensible about both of their approaches even as love flits in and out of their lives. The true romantic might ignore all of the red flags society unleashes, and instead be disappointed from the beginning with their lot in life.
Okay, so in anticipation of Hugh Laurie coming on screen, and my blogging/watching exhaustion I will end here. Just know this reader(s): to watch is not enough, and yet to blog and watch is too much.
1 comment:
Wow. I totally watched S&S On Demand when I was at my mom's house. Does this mean you sprang for digitial cable?! It's like I don't even know you.
But back to S&S (nice VD choice, bytheway), I think that the character of Elinor Dashwood is perfection, only enhanced by Emma Thompson's amazingness. In the scene between Elinor and Marianne immediately following the revelation that Edward and Lucy Steele are engaged is unparalled. You see all that Elinor has held back, and not just for propriety's sake, but for the good of Edward, Lucy, and most importantly, the Dashwood family. Elinor has held in her pain and disappointment and heartache because Marianne cannot; because Marianne has cried and raged and selfishly thought of only her own pain, Elinor had no choice but to keep her's to herself. Wow. Emma Thompson rocks this scene (both writing and acting) in way that Austen is probably envious of.
P.S. If you haven't seen Thompson's hi.lar.ious acceptance speech at the Golden Globes for this film, WATCH IT NOW. Or rather, rent the dvd of S&S and watch it then. And while you're at it, watch the movie with the commentary track. It's really, really good. OK, I'm done ordering you around now.
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