#Sense and Sensibility 2024
Text
DEBORAH AYORINDE as Elinor Dashwood
SENSE & SENSIBILITY (2024) dir. Roger M. Bobb
#sense and sensibility#sense and sensibility 2024#elinor dashwood#perioddramaedit#perioddramasource#perioddramagif#perioddramacentral#weloveperioddrama#mine#mine: gifs#mine: misc#movies#she's so pretty look at her!
91 notes
·
View notes
Text
Sense and Sensibility (2024, Hallmark) a review
I had expectations for this movie. They were not surpassed. It didn't perform below them either.
Spoilers under the cut.
So, this is a short movie (1.24hr long) a tv movie, a hallmark movie. You must keep that in mind as a frame of reference for what I'm about to say. You cannot really compare this with theatrical movies on equal footing.
Where to start. Costumes and sets. It is Bridgerton's world and we live in it. Everything is VERY colorful and shiny and not very real looking; that was to be expected. I think that sort of semi-fantasy aspect didn't hurt at all, and it was consistent. If you are not going to stick to the time period, at least go ham and show me something really interesting. I'm looking at you, Netflix Persuasion. There are some dresses that are pretty, and some others that... aren't. Considering that apparently the costume designer had to make something like 60 pieces in a month, it's kind of impressive that it came out as it did.
One funny bit, though, in this respect, is that they complain about how small the cottage is like some actual estate houses aren't the same size IRL XD Allenham we only get to see from afar, and it is rather disappointing.
Music: nothing to write home about, to be expected. Yes, we got one of those Vitamin String Quartet modern-song-played-by-strings. IDK. They were a bit dorky in their heyday, I don't know why they are so sought after in these pieces lately. I digress.
The acting. Deborah Ayorinde was a really good Elinor. She definitely deserved better writing and direction. The rest of the cast was good enough; I feel some roles really benefited from their characters being a bit hammy already in the source material (Lucy, Mrs Jennings, Anne, Fanny, Robert), others were really struggling because of being given very poor dialogue (Mrs Dashwood), and others were just... not good (Willoughby and Brandon, sadly). Edward was... a very special case. I can only describe it as the actor having two expressions: one, an attempt at reaching Hugh Grant's adorkableness AND Dan Stevens' ease at the same time, and two [SCREAMING INTERNALLY], but I guess those two were indeed enough to make it work just fine!
Which leads me to the writing. We all knew this adaptation was going to live or die in the writing, and most likely die.
The thing is that most of it is written around repeating 95' and 08's greatest hits, while attempting to compress the narrative into an hour and a half. And that goes as well as you can expect it to. Some scenes are painfully rushed -Brandon's backstory was extremely awkward to get through- some things are over before you have any time to assess their real weight -Marianne's illness, and many others end up being... incongruous.
Let me stop a little on those. The movie keeps Margaret, and gives her the whole play acting as a pirate with Edward from 95', but then removes the only real plot relevant thing she does in the book. So why keep the character at all? (Willoughby asks for Marianne's handkerchief in exchange for Queen Maab, instead of cutting a lock of her hair).
Because 2008 makes Brandon suspicious of Willoughby from the get go, this one makes it so that they know each other and implies that Brandon knows dirt on Willoughby, but then plays the rest of the story straight, which makes it... pretty inconsistent.
Speaking of Brandon, we have reached adaptation #5 that cuts out the fact that he tried to elope with Eliza sr. This time the backstory is that his father promised to let him marry Eliza if he proved himself as a soldier, but when he came back, he found his father has kicked her out of the house. Yeah, that was utter nonsense.
The adaptation makes a clumsy attempt at including the dinner at Mrs Ferrars... but Brandon isn't there to see Marianne defend Elinor.
We needed to have a "Brandon rescues Marianne in the rain" scene, but in this case, she's not faint or anything, he just grabs her because she's sad XD
And the list goes on and on and on. It was to be expected that the shadow of both 95 and 08 would be large over this one, but it truly is to the point that the references and contrivances are almost constant. Which is a pity because I think most of the original choices were interesting.
For example, Marianne twists her ankle running after Margaret, to try and stop her from asking something embarrassing, which is a good choice in terms of showing that Marianne is passionate, but she has more sense than Margaret.
On his deathbed, Mr Dashwood makes Elinor promise that she will take care of her mom and sisters and keep the family together. That added pressure on Elinor works really well in the context of the adaptation, and ads a new layer of interest.
John Dashwood is written mostly as a hapless but not malicious idiot. This is similar to what From Prada to Nada did (though there it made more sense because of the father having two families simultaneously), but I'm not sure where was that going. They did cut the Palmers, so I suppose the choice was so that they could go to Norland instead on their way to Barton (it is never established that Norland is so far away as it is in the book, so I guess one could give it a pass), but in that case, I feel the most cost effective shortcut is... have them go to Barton? Because we do get to see Barton (Marianne goes alone with Brandon to see it close to the end, and they get engaged before Edward returns, don't think much about it, manners and such are... for this movie... loose guidelines. But it isn't super offensive most of the time).
Anne Steele is decent fun as she's supposed to be, but Lucy really suffers the flattening. The mastermind has been flanderized into just a mean girl, and that's a pity.
Oh, Edward is sassy at times! And the sassy jokes land! I have to say it is not my preferred way of doing the character, but he does show some sass at the end of the novel, so, you know, I'll allow it I suppose XD
Edward's return and proposal started pretty good, but it overstayed its welcome. I cannot emphasize enough that, when writing this kind of proposal, you must avoid the word love if you can, and if you must use it, use it once, and with great reluctance.
The movie chooses to dedicate quite a time to the reveal of Edward and Lucy's relationship, and it's honestly... decent? For a scene made out of whole cloth it stands on its own feet reasonably well. But there's no Fanny freakout. This is probably the most shocking plot twist in the adaptation. This very on-the-nose Hallmark adaptation decided to cut the Fanny freakout of all things. Impressive restraint.
One thing, however, that was sadly cut out was Elinor and Marianne's conversation about Willoughby at Barton. It is instead replaced by an unsubtle comparison between Willoughby and Edward, and an exchange between Brandon and Marianne. It is one of the several points where the storytelling relies on previous knowledge of the work.
These are my main, disordered thoughts. I leave you with this choice from the ending, that I cannot form a thought about:
At Elinor and Edward's wedding, on the first pew are in attendance, from center to side: Mrs Dashwood, Margaret, Marianne, colonel Brandon... and Eliza Williams with her baby in her arms.
As a summary, I'd say Elinor and Edward's story was good enough, the relationship between the sisters was sweet, there were some odd choices, some interesting choices, and overall the writing was severely downgraded by attempting so much to stick to the choices of previous famous adaptations.
47 notes
·
View notes
Text
How is it possible that HALLMARK (!) Sense and Sensibility looks better then Netflix Persuasion?
30 notes
·
View notes
Text
I had a lot of fun watching Hallmark's Sense & Sensibility. The characters and relationships were just as heart warming as they were in the book and other adaptations. The locations were very beautiful. I especially loved all the portraits in the background of important historical figures (Olaudah Equiano, Dido Elizabeth Belle, and Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence). This was probably the work of historical fiction author Vanessa Riley who served as a historical consultant for Hallmark on the project.
The costumes, hair, and makeup were mostly really pretty. I'm in love with a yellow dress worn by Victoria Ekanoye as Lucy Steele. I want to make it for myself! When I finish this I'll start looking for fabric.
I only wish it could have been longer so the story didn't have to be as fast paced as it was. There are some moments that deserve a bit more time to play out. But its a tv movie so the run time is expected.
It was a great adaptation and I recommend it!
20 notes
·
View notes
Note
There is going to be an adaptation of Sense and Sensibility with an all-Black cast - so cue the racist whining from fans of the very, very white 1995 S&S. I love Austen, but the fandom on the whole rivals the Tolkien one in terms of racism. What do you think it will take to change this?
Wow. I knew vaguely that Hallmark was doing something Austen-inspired, but I just Googled about it and that S&S sounds really cool (probably the coolest of the productions, in fact). So I haven't seen any discussion of this adaptation beyond what my two minutes of scanning "sense and sensibility 2024" results turned up.
That said, I have absolutely no difficulty believing that Austen fans (esp fans of extremely white adaptations) would pitch fits about it. Despite the differences between Austen and Tolkien fandoms, I think both fandoms tend (broadly) to use the racism and overwhelming whiteness of their canons—and the even whiter and more racist adaptations of those canons—to veil their own racism. And they'll try and pass this off as simply a concern with fidelity (though they're less concerned with fidelity when it comes to basically any other consideration, mysteriously).
To be honest, I don't know what would change this in either fandom in any kind of conclusive way. I mean, I'm a random white blogger on Tumblr dot com, not an expert on racism. My personal feeling is that ... I guess both fandoms used to be even worse (as far as I saw), so positive change has happened, but racism is still huge in fandom culture and I don't know what would make it go away.
I do think that, much as I love Austen's and Tolkien's work, that there are reasons that they have often attracted particularly racist audiences even for fandom (e.g. the cloistered whiteness of Austen, the overt racism in LOTR and the world-building of Middle-earth). I suspect that those elements will always draw in particularly racist fans unless fandom is made inhospitable to them. And I think it's incumbent on us to do our part in that process. Beyond that, other people probably know better than I do.
#anghraine babbles#anon replies#respuestas#sense and sensibility 2024#cw racism#austen blogging#austen fanwank#legendarium blogging#legendarium fanwank
26 notes
·
View notes
Text
This Color Robe is worn on Uknown Actor as Mrs. Bennet in An American in Austen (2024) and worn again on Deborah Ayorinde as Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility (2024)
#recycled costumes#an american in austen#sense and sensibility 2024#accessories#jane austen#period drama#reused costume#costume drama#historical drama
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
Sense & Sensibility 2024 Review
It is a truth universally acknowledge that if a new Jane Austen adaptation is released, I must watch it. ::sighs:: I’m way behind on reviewing Hallmark’s new adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, but in my defense, I was only able to watch a couple of weeks ago. It aired on the Hallmark Channel back in February; I don’t have cable so I had to find a place online to watch it. Special thanks to the kind soul who let me know where I could find it. If you’d like to see it, go here.
youtube
Now, onto my unorganized review.
We’re all familiar with the story: It is a tale of two sisters who dearly love each other, but couldn’t be more different if they tried. At first, they are unlucky in love and then later do make good matches for themselves. For me the love story is really between the sisters, that whatever may happened to them in life and in romance, in the end Elinore and Marianne only have each other.
Before I give my thoughts on this adaptation, let’s address the main complaint I’ve encountered regarding this version. Some viewers have criticized this movie for being Woke, because it dared to cast people of color in it. For Pete’s sake, it’s 2024! History has been white washed. People of color did exist in the Georgian and Regency eras, they moved in society, they fell in love and made matches. If you don’t want to watch this adaptation, fine, but please don’t insult it simply because the cast and crew are people of color.
What did I think? In general, I enjoyed it. I’m not a fan of Hallmark Productions, unless they’re Hallmark Hall of Fame movies. The usual Hallmark movies follow the same tired out formula. Now, since this is an adaptation of a classic, it doesn’t follow their formula and we do have a decent movie. The film quality was a step up, as were the locations, and the set design. I hope Hallmark considers adapting more classics, since this one was a win. I do have a few criticisms.
The movie hit all of the book’s highlights but things felt rushed at times. I wanted at least another hour for this adaptation, to spend more time in the Dashwood’s world.
In certain places it lacks in emotional range, contrasting the two sisters, showing the gravity of Marianne’s illness. Again, I think that is due to time constraints. If the movie were longer, it would have been able to flesh out everything.
It does rely heavily on Emma Thompson’s adaptation. Example: The character of Margaret is bigger and has been made into a tomboy, Lady Middleton is killed off, Sir John Middleton and Mrs. Jennings are especially close.
When the Dashwood ladies move into Barton Cottage, we don’t feel the impact of them stepping down in society, or living in genteel poverty. They talk of their financial troubles, but it doesn’t seem real because Barton Cottage looks more like a mansion than a cottage. They looked like they just moved from one mansion to another.
Now, onto what I liked.
The age-appropriate actresses and actors. They may have been a little older than the characters they were portraying, but it wasn’t too drastic. We can tell Elinor and Marianne are both young and full of dreams, and they’re ready to fall in love. The one who plays Margaret is obviously their baby sister, but they don’t feel so much older for it to be impossible for them to be sisters.
No smutty opening scene of seducing 13-year-old Eliza Williams. The 2008 version opens with Willougby seducing a girl in the tackiest, most uncomfortable manner possible. It gives away the whole mystery of Willoughby, so when we heard about it later, it wasn’t a surprise. This version remains classy, respectful, family-friendly and follows Austen’s example by keeping it off-screen.
I’m not a costume expert or anything, but the costumes are crazy gorgeous. It gives the whole production a fairy-tale feel.
The actor who plays Sir John Middleton is hilarious. I was cracking up whenever he was on screen. And unlike previous versions, Mrs. Jennings isn’t plump or crude. Though she teases and gossips, she’s rather charming.
The Steele sisters are like they are in the book, but the one who plays Lucy took her manipulation tactics to another level. Kudos to her – you could tell in this adaptation that Lucy really enjoyed causing Elinor pain.
I really liked Edward in this version and he is always a hard character for me to like. You can see why Elinor falls in love with him.
Robert Ferrars is cute and a great coxcomb, just like his book counterpart. And I appreciated the hints o his and Lucy’s eventual attachment/marriage.
The age gap between Marianne and Brandon doesn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable, like it did in the 2008 version. You can slowly see Marianne falling in love with him; her changing her feelings towards him doesn’t feel that abrupt.
Mr. and Mrs. Palmer aren’t in this adaption, which was an interesting choice. But the way this adaptation was set up, they weren’t really needed.
Last but not least, the mention of historical figures! When Marianne and Willoughby discuss poetry, they mention reading Phyllis Wheatley. We often forget that Phyllis Wheatley was of that era, and the characters could have read her poetry. Also – the portraits of Dido Belle Lindsay and Olaudah Equiano are featured in the background in a couple of scenes.
So, yes, I recommend this version for any Austen lover and as I said, I hope Hallmark considers making more classic lit adaptations.
Have you watched Hallmark’s “Sense and Sensibility?” If so, what were your thoughts?
Until next time!
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Sense and Sensibility 2024 preview
youtube
There's been some comments made about the inaccuracy of the costumes...but I think they look gorgeous and I'm looking forward to this new adaptation.
5 notes
·
View notes
Text
This Pelisse Coat is worn on Grace Hogg-Robinson as Lydia Bennet in An American in Austen (2024) and later worn on Beth Angus as Meg Dashwood in Sense & Sensibility (2024)
#recycled costumes#an american in austen#sense and sensibility 2024#historical drama#period drama#costume drama#reused costume
2 notes
·
View notes
Text
Hallmark Mahogany’s Sense and Sensibility 2024 is an eye-catching and enjoyable adaptation that largely remains true to Jane Austen’s work. It is short and sweet and undeniably beautiful. Viewers who approach the film with the perspective that it is, after all, a “Hallmark movie” will pleasantly discover that it is much more.
Making a Jane Austen adaptation set in a period is not an easy task. Audience expectations are even higher for a novel that already has well-loved film and TV versions. Many viewers will measure any new Sense and Sensibility against their favorite existing adaptation, whether the one studded with A-list stars or the one with the luxury of abundant runtime. And, though such reactions make little sense, Mahogany’s casting of Black actors in most of the primary roles will run counter to self-appointed purists’ sensibilities.
Continue Reading
1 note
·
View note
Text
DEBORAH AYORINDE as Elinor Dashwood
SENSE & SENSIBILITY (2024) dir. Roger M. Bobb
#sense and sensibility#sense and sensibility 2024#elinor dashwood#perioddramaedit#perioddramasource#perioddramacentral#weloveperioddrama#mine#mine: gifs#mine: misc#movies#once again she is so beautiful!
35 notes
·
View notes
Text
youtube
#Jane Austen#Sense and Sensibility#Sense and Sensibility 2024#I think Edward and Elinor have great chemistry#I've mentioned before that I like the costumes for the most part#I suppose we must resign ourselves to Marianne in the rain#It seems like the choice was to make Edward more goofy#which is better than making him suave and charming I'm looking at you Andy#I am mmmm about that “I want to marry for love” line#depending on context it can be okay or a mess#I remain cautiously hopeful#and certainly very curious about this one#Youtube
16 notes
·
View notes
Text
Hallmark's Adaptation of Sense & Sensibility 2024
Overall, I enjoyed it. It was better then I expected to be honest and it did something I've not seen before, which was put Elinor & Edward's story centre stage instead of Marianne & Willoughby. I think they cut a bit too much of the M&W story because it totally fell flat, but I enjoyed having a well-developed relationship between E&E.
They also did a really good job of explaining why Edward staying engaged to Lucy was an honourable thing and we even hear Elinor say she admires him for it. The inheritance issue was well explained too, though more blame should have gone to John Dashwood. Did not love Fanny as Lady Macbeth.
But yeah, leagues ahead of Persuasion 2022 because Elinor felt right. They turned up Edward's sassiness, but it is something that exists in the novel (he calls himself "saucy" at one point). What it really needed was Marianne actually looking desperate and sick before the rain scene.
The only characters that really felt wrong were Mrs. Jennings (not so fun), John Dashwood (too nice), and Robert Ferrars (too hot and too nice). Also, Anne was technically right but Lucy should have been correcting and shutting her up more often.
6/10?
#s&s 2024#hallmark#review#sense and sensibility#not a bad adaptation really#I'm marginally impressed
41 notes
·
View notes
Text
So has anyone watched Sense and sensibility 2024? How was it?
18 notes
·
View notes
Text
Hallmark stars at the Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour (TCA) on February 6, 2024 at The Langham Huntington in Pasadena, California.
(photos from justjared.com Click the link to see all the photos and read the article.)
#tca winter 2024#hallmark events#hallmark stars#hallmark movies#deborah ayorinde#sense & sensibility#loveuary#mahogany#hallmark original series#the way home#season 2#andie macdowell#chyler leigh#sadie laflamme snow#evan williams#hallmark channel#ali skovbye#danny griffin#gilded newport mysteries: murder at the breakers#hallmark movies & mysteries#photo preview
12 notes
·
View notes
Text
As promised, my thoughts on Sense and Sensibility (2024)
(Looking for what REAL people of color wore in the Regency era? Check out my Pinterest board!)
The clothes weren't as bad as I was expecting. The fabrics vary from garish prints, to heavy embroidery, to plain colors.
The main problem seems to be that they are ill fitting. The men's coats seem to add extra bulk to the actors.
The production itself has scenes that appear to be copied from both the 1995 production and the 2009 production.
Elinor's hair is styled in an ancient Greek inspired arrangement that enjoyed popularity during the Regency era. I think it is a beautiful style for Black hair. Most of the women's hairstyles are quite good.
Colonel Brandon's beard and mustache are not period accurate. He should be clean shaven. Compare to this portrait of Pierre Toussaint.
The main problem seems to be that they are ill fitting. The men's coats seem to add extra bulk to the actors.
On the other hand, the ladies bonnets appear to be too small. I thought Margaret's bonnet was weird as hell but apparently it's a real design from the late regency to early romantic period.
Marianne's boots are visible after she has her famous fall. They have a prominent heel. Regency boots for women were very flat without a heel or with a very low heel.
Margaret's shoes here are also very odd. They look almost like 16th century women's shoes.
I don't know what kind of shoes Marianne is wearing here but they look a bit clunky. This is a production where $15 plain, solid colored pleather flats from Amazon would not be out of place, if budget necessitated it.
The blue gloves are period accurate!
Costume Parisien, 1798
In an article about the movie, it was mentioned that the set dressers added real historical portraits of Black people. I noticed the famous Portrait of a Man in a Red Suit and a GIANT bust portrait of Dido Belle (cropped from the original). I also spotted some 16th or 17th century portraits of Black men that seemed vaguely familiar. Other artwork was unfortunately too hidden in shadow or out of focus for me to recognize.
There are also some other things that made this production more Black, such as the scene where Wentworth and Marianne bond over their shared interest in art and find that they both admire Phillis Wheatley's poetry.
There were some changes that raised my eyebrows. The child of Colonel Brandon's ward is his!
At the ball in London I am almost positive that Seal's Kiss From A Rose was being played by the violinists.
Final thoughts:
According to the costume designer, she had to make 68 costumes in 20 days. This is absolutely an insane demand. While some of the costumes were rented, the time crunch is quite obvious on the other costumes. People who work in film and television do not deserve to be treated like this. Hallmark has a ridiculous turnaround time for their productions, but at this point I feel like the Hallmark back catalog is big enough it can afford to make fewer but more high quality productions.
Or perhaps we can sacrifice complex, unnecessarily over the top costumes in favor of simple but pretty costumes such as the ones in Mr Malcolm's List (2022), which also notably starred people of color.
I think that people of color DESERVE beautiful costume dramas, but this is not what it could have been. The first (and currently only) Black Jane Austen adaptation in existence deserved more. I love Sense and Sensibility but this adaptation broke my heart because it lacked the richness and warmth of the 1995 and even the 2006 versions.
#unfortunately I cannot find the reference for Elinor's hair again. it was from a Regency fashion plate. I promise it was EXACTLY the same.#sense and sensibility (2024)
3 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
lonelygifs
Gifs for you
letfreedarealme
Freedom
boybop
INACTIVE
noworries12345
Untitled
avocadomin
i want to believe in eternity with you ;