‘Sense and Sensibility: 30th Anniversary’ 4K UHD Blu-ray (review)

Sony Pictures

Allow me, good readers, to return you to the innocent and quaint era of the late 1900s.

The year was the Year of our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Ninety-eight. I was but a novice clerk in a shoppe working as a purveyor of illustrated humor and heroic illustrated leaflets in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This shoppe was situated in the township of Cambridge, Home of the country’s oldest institution of higher learning, known as Harvard University.

Whilst working there, my Wife was at home having tea with a dear friend of hers. They took to watching a cassette video recording containing the BBC production of the mini-series performance of Pride and Prejudice starring Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennett and (excuse me while I swoon) Colin Firth as THE Mr. Darcy, a favorite of hers.

Whence I returned to our homestead, I was greeted by my lovely bride and her friend, who had paused the videos as to greet me and offer me a cup of tea and a biscuit. After our niceties, I retired to the kitchen to reheat some dinner that she had graciously put aside for me to have upon my return.

I returned to the living room, where they had recommenced their enjoyment of the show. I sat while I supped, watching. I discovered that they were well into their viewing of this 327-minute saga, and as I had no real interest in it, I just sat and ate, watching this period piece unfold in front of me. Dear readers, I have no qualms in telling you I was transfixed. The humor, the drama, the hysterics, and the romance. What was this intoxicating visual bouquet in which I inhaled?

Well, the next day was my day off and I had but naught planned. So once my wife went to work, grabbed all my favorite snacks, my cuppa, pulled out the videotape, fed it into the video machine, and plopped down on the divan, only to get up to replenish my comestibles and tea and to venture to the privy. By the time my wife had returned from her labors, I was on the final episode, and she walked in upon a sight to see. There I was sobbing with joy, wrappers and tea bags strewn about. Tissues piled like an Everest of happy weeping.

She was dumbstruck. She inquired, “Had I watched the entire series this day?” I responded between nose blows that I had. She let forth a belly laugh of extraordinary magnitude. When she had concluded, she uttered but a single phrase, “Oh my god, you’re a Janeite!” And whisked upstairs to change.

“A Janeite?! What in heaven’s name is a Janite?” I pondered.

My Austen Odyssey had begun.

This brings me to the fantastic and equally lovely 1995 film, Sense and Sensibility. Adapted by and starring Emma Thompson and directed by Taiwanese film auteur Ang Lee, whose critically acclaimed films The Wedding Banquet (1993) and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) were already favorites of mine. He would go on to win two directing Oscars for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Life of Pi (2012).

Sense and Sensibility stars Thompson as Elinor Dashwood, Kate Winslet as her sister Marianne, Hugh Grant as Edward Ferrars, and Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon. These four are supported by a stellar supporting cast that shines as much as the leads do.

Sense and Sensibility is the tale of love, loss, betrayal, and redemption.

When the wealthy Mr. Dashwood dies, his incredible wealth and entire estate pass to his only son, John, from a previous marriage, leaving his current wife and two daughters absolutely destitute.

Thanks to a kindly cousin, the three women are taken in and given a modest cottage in which to live. They are allotted a meager allowance from the step-son. Barely letting them scrape by.

The eldest daughter, Elinor, who normally relies on her responsible nature to guide her, has her world upended upon the arrival of the charming and handsome Mr. Edward Ferrars to the local village. The once sensible Elinor now suddenly finds that she harbours romantic feelings and hopes for the courteous and unassuming man. Edward’s snobbish sister and wife to John Dashwood immediately intends to quash any romantic developments with the two. But why?, you ask? Well, you will just have to watch the film, I guess. This leads to some rather wonderfully awkward and uncomfortable moments.

Meanwhile, the ever romantic and impulsive Marianne has two dashing men vying for her attention and possibly her hand. The older Colonel Brandon, perfectly played by Rickman, is charming, if a little reserved in his sweetness. Then there is the dashing but ultimately deceitful Mr Willoughby, roguishly played by actor Greg Wise. Willoughby immediately snatches Marianne’s heart away from the stoic Colonel.

But who will ultimately win the ever hopeful Marianne?

In the traditional Jane Austen manor, the tale of Sense and Sensibility unfolds little by little, enticing the viewer into the convoluted web of desire, heartbreak, and humor. The outstanding performances are matched perfectly with Lee’s direction and Michael Coulter’s cinematography (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually) to present us with a charming and heartwarming tale.

This new 30th anniversary 4K UHD Blu-ray presentation takes Coulter’s cinematography and  enhances the rich colors and the dark, inky blacks. It beautifully presents his wonderful use of natural lighting in its most visually striking form. The Dolby Atmos sound is crisp and clear and gives the viewer a chance to distinctly hear the dialogue, which ranges from the emotional yelling to the quiet whispers of intimacy. Overall, it only enhances my enjoyment of Ang Lee’s already perfect film.  Extras include two audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, domestic and international trailers, and anniversary cast and filmmaker reunion.

The years of 1995 and 1996 would become two magical years when Jane Austen exploded into the pop culture of the late 20th century. Her books, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Emma (two different productions, in fact) were all produced. All equally superb in my eyes.

Sense and Sensibility would go on to earn 7 Academy Award nominations, and Emma Thompson would win for best adapted screenplay. A win much deserved.

The next three decades would see countless adaptations, reworkings, and interpretations of Ms. Austen’s work, with more still to come, not to mention the previous six decades of various interpretations of Jane’s writings. Her work has been poured over time and time again to both successful presentations and some not so much. The future only adds to the myriad of lovingly crafted presentations of one of the most acclaimed writers of all time.

However, for myself, it all began in 1998 via the 1995 TV mini series of Pride and Prejudice and this lovely filming of Sense and Sensibility, when I embraced my Janeite persona and never looked back.