Monday Movie Madness: Sense & Sensibility

When I reviewed 'Austenland' a few weeks ago, I mentioned that it didn't compare well to another film from the Austen library.  So why not, let's delve into my love for Emma Thompson's adaptation of 'Sense & Sensibility':

I haven't had a lot of opportunities to go up and pester any celebrities, but I've always sort of thought that I would like to follow a standard of required appreciation before I barge in on their daily lives with my annoying admiration.  It's one thing to be able to tell someone that you really love the work that they do, it's quite another to go up to someone just because they happen to be well-known.  That would feel too much like wasting their time.  Not that it's incredibly productive even for a celebrity I'm obsessed with to hear me awkwardly gush about them, but it seems more worth it.

All of this is to say that Emma Thompson is someone I admire enough to run across an airport and declare my undying affection for.  The difficulty would be in deciding what, in my few seconds of her attention, I would thank her for.  She's been involved in so many things that I've loved throughout my entire film-watching life, it would be hard to choose.

Obviously, this movie is high on that list.  It's a very true-to-spirit adaptation that does take some liberties with technical plot points and characters, but recreates the essence of Austen's story brilliantly.  In case you didn't already know, Emma Thompson didn't just star in this, she herself adapted Jane Austen's novel into the screenplay that won an Oscar.

The movie is fabulous, and I of course recommend it.  But if you're a fan of Austen you've probably seen it before.  Possibly multiple times.  So I'd like to also highly recommend something a little sideways to the film: the DVD commentary.  Emma Thompson and producer Lindsay Doran talk over the film and offer their little insights into how the film was made, and it's equal parts fascinating and hilarious.  You know it's going to be good when Thompson jokes as the Columbia Pictures statue pans across the screen about how her arm got so tired and she kept that wrap.

It's not on Netflix Instant, and you can't even listen to commentary that way anyway (am I the only one that would like that feature?), so it's going to have to be a DVD if you want to have the commentary.  You will never watch the movie the same way afterwards.

Would it be weird to run up to Emma Thompson and tell her I loved her DVD commentary?  At least it might make me stand out from the crowd.

For more movie madness, head to Amaryllis Musings.