Highlights Archives
See Sense and Sensibility on the Big Screen
One of Jane Austen's classic novels, brought to the big screen by acclaimed director Ang Lee in 1995, "Sense and Sensibility," will be shown in a free public viewing as part of the Wisconsin Historical Society's Classic Book and Movie Club at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 14, in the auditorium of the Society's headquarters building at 816 State Street on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. The book and movie weave a tale about a widow, Mrs. Dashwood, and her three daughters struggling to overcome Mr. Dashwood's death and the unintended loss of their fine home and income that follow as a result. The English society in which they live has strict conventions about courtship and marriage and, finding themselves suddenly destitute, the two oldest daughters — Elinor (played by Emma Thompson) and Marianne (played by Kate Winslet) — face daunting odds in their hopes of finding husbands.
Into the mix come Hugh Grant as the wealthy and funny Edward Ferrars and Alan Rickman as the gentle and affluent Col. Christopher Brandon, who go about courting the two sisters amid a variety of plot-thickening circumstances on their way toward a typically Jane Austen-crafted romantic ending. Emma Thompson does double duty in the film as not only its leading lady, but also as the writer of the screenplay, winning her an Oscar for best adapted screenplay and earning an Academy Award nomination for best actress.
In the tradition of earlier Classic Book and Movie Club offerings, University of Wisconsin-Madison Professor of English, Caroline Levine, will give a prescreening introduction to the film and will lead a postscreening discussion of the book and the movie. Participants are encouraged to read Austen's "Sense and Sensibility" before seeing the film, but reading the book is not required. Admission is free to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Classic Book and Movie Club is a joint venture of the Wisconsin Historical Society, the Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research, and The Capital Times newspaper.
:: Posted August 28, 2008
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