In the last post we looked at two of Emma Thompson's performances from Best Picture nominees of the early 1990s but unbeknownst to us she was also busy scribbling off screen. That's because, for the best part of five years, Thompson had been adapting Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility after being hired for the project by producer Lindsay Doran. Thompson had initially wanted Natasha and Joely Richardson to play sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood but instead the studio wanted her to play Elinor. This meant having to alter the character's age from nineteen to twenty-seven in order to make Thompson's appearance in the part convincing. Thompson would go on to win her second Academy Award for the screenplay and be nominated for a third Best Actress for her role as Elinor. But it's the actress who played Marianne that we turn our attention to as she forms the basis of this next double bill.
The actress in question is Kate Winslet who was just nineteen when she appeared in Sense and Sensibility and earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination as a result. Winslet's road to the part was a rocky one as she was initially due to audition for the smaller role of Lucy Steele. But when she arrived at the audition she played dumb and read for Marianne, instantly captivating the panel and winning the part. However, her casting in the film was not without criticism primarily from director Ang Lee who felt that her performance in Peter Jackson's Heavenly Creatures was too over-the-top. In order for her to be convincing in the role, Lee wanted her to act more gracefully so encouraged her to read poetry and learn to play the piano. The result was a scene-stealing performance as the reckless middle Dashwood sister who falls head-over-heels for the dashing John Willoughby. Even in the earlier scenes Winslet excels at conveying quiet disdain for her step-brother's wife Fanny who is basically evicting them from their own home. Winslet easily conveys Marianne's transformation from brash stroppy teenager to a more mature character as she finally falls for the stable Colonel Brandon. Emma Thompson's own performance really tied everything together and I didn't for a minute have a problem with the way that Elinor was substantially aged to suit Thompson. Indeed the fact that Elinor was practically considered a spinster was incorporated into Thompson's script and worked perfectly well in the overall story. As the dreadful Fanny, Harriet Walter gave an incredibly awful turn and triumphed in providing the majority of the film's comedy. Meanwhile Gemma Jones and Emilie François, as Mrs Dashwood and Margaret respectively, shone in their limited screen time. In comparison to their female counterparts, the male actors were a little subdued but that might have something to do with the characters they were playing. Apparently Thompson wrote the role of Edward Ferrars with Hugh Grant in mind but I feel the pair didn't share enough chemistry to convince me of their on screen romance. Similarly, as Col Brandon, Alan Rickman's chemistry with Winslet lacked any spark though he was convincing as an emotionally reserved soldier. Of the male leads, only Greg Wise put in a convincing turn as the dashing Willoughby as he made you understand why Marianne fell for him so much. Interestingly it was actually Thompson who fell for Wise in real life with the pair eventually marrying some years later.
Both Doran and Thompson wanted Sense and Sensibility to have far-reaching appeal and never wanted it to be viewed as just another costume drama. I definitely felt that Sense and Sensibility was more accessible than both Howard's End and The Remains of the Day which at times were a little bit too rigid for their own good. One of the ways the pair achieved their goal was for Thompson to simplify some of the dialogue so the themes would be more relatable for a modern-day audience. Doran's goal was for the film to appeal to lovers of romantic comedy and I feel that Thompson's script for Sense and Sensibility does indeed have those sorts of elements. Another way Doran gained global appeal for the film was in the hiring of South Korean director Ang Lee, who had never heard of Jane Austen prior to his appointment. But, after reading Thompson's script, he realised his previous film The Wedding Banquet had a lot in common with Austen's story. Lee certainly added a lot of elegance to the piece but was able to incorporate some of his own stylistic qualities to the exterior scenes which made Sense and Sensibility feel a lot more open than the stuffier Merchant Ivory pictures. Costume designers, and Merchant Ivory stalwarts, John Bright and Jenny Bevan provided plenty of distinctive outfits for each individual character. Meanwhile composer Patrick Doyle's score provided a suitable accompaniment to a film that felt a lot more contemporary than a lot of other Victorian dramas. Sense and Sensibility was a film I remember watching on VHS both at home and in a Year 9 English Lesson but a the time I don't think I appreciated the quality of the film in the way I do now. Sense and Sensibility ultimately came across as a labour of love for all those involved and was a film that definitely deserved the seven Oscars it was nominated for. Meanwhile Winslet's role in the film saw her become a breakout star and for the first time was a recognisable presence in the film industry.
But Winslet really became a big name after starring in a film that still holds the title of being the largest grossing film of all time and the recipient of eleven Oscars including one for Best Picture. Obviously I'm talking about Titanic and, just like in Sense and Sensibility, Winslet fought hard to get the lead role of Rose. Her tactics included sending several letters and a rose to James Cameron which led to a screen test and an eventual part in this monumental movie. You couldn't grow up in the late 1990s and not know something about Titanic but I have to admit that I've never watched it all the way through. I've caught bits of it on the TV occasionally but I always thought that three hours focusing solely on one movie was too much. I do however remember the commotion that was caused after the BBC revealed that they were going to air Kate Winslet's tame topless scene before the watershed. The scene, in which Rose is painted nude by Leonardo DiCaprio's Jack, is incredibly quick and also is vital to the overall plot. Indeed it is in the discovery of this drawing that the elderly Rose is reunited with the Titanic which is currently being investigated by treasure hunter Brock Lovett. The main story of Titanic is Rose's memories of her time on the ill-fated ship and the brief romance she shared with the commoner Jack Dawson. It was this romance between upper class Rose and lower class Jack that captured the imaginations of the audience. Indeed, I remember some of the girls in my class at school going to see the film two or three times with DiCaprio gaining pin-up status as a result. But I personally never brought into the central romance and as a result the majority of Titanic fell flat for me. Part of the problem for this was the wafer-thin characterisation that was afforded to the central couple but partly both actors were to blame. Winslet showed none of the maturity or discipline of her performance in Sense and Sensibility whilst DiCaprio struggled to hold the film together. Another issue I had was with Cameron's script, particularly the fact that the film shows some of Jack's scenes without Rose even though it's meant to be her narrating it. Thankfully Cameron's script was one of the elements of the film that wasn't included in Titanic's massive haul of nominations.
Despite my reservations about the film's narrative and central performances; there's no denying that Titanic is one of the most ascetically magnificent films of all time. The second half of the film, which focuses on the ship's sinking, was definitely the most compelling and allowed Cameron to demonstrate why the film was the most expensive of all time. Using a combination of scale models, computer imagery and a full-scale replicate of the ship; Cameron's vision for Titanic was more than realised when the project was complete. Every scene of the film looks fantastic from the elegant upper-decks to the rat-infested rooms in which Jack and his friends find themselves. The costumes are realistically recreated and James Horner's haunting score remains one of cinema's most recognisable. While we're on music it would be amiss of me not to mention one of Titanic's most famous attributes, Celine Dion's 'My Heart Will go On'. At the time it was hard to escape the song and there's no denying that it's still one of the most famous film theme tunes. Russell Carpenter's cinematography came alive during the film's second half as he allowed the camera to survey the sinking ship and immersed the audience into the action. The way the camera follows Jack and Rose as they hurtle down the water-logged corridors is simply fantastic as is the manner in which he zooms over the lifeless bodies that have frozen in the cold water. These scenes in particular add to the realism of the film and it was interesting to note that many of the cast members got terribly ill as a result of spending days in the freezing water. Although I wasn't wowed by the central performances some of the supporting cast members brought their characters to life. As the 'unsinkable' Molly Brown, Kathy Bates brought some much needed fun to the film whilst Bernard Hill's facial expressions as the ship's Captain were fantastic. I also enjoyed Victor Garber's turn as the ship's architect and felt his apology to Rose in particular was quite moving. But for me it was Gloria Stuart, as the older version of Rose, who stole the show and I was transfixed by her moving turn at the beginning and end of the film. Ultimately I'm not surprised that Titanic won Best Picture as it is one of the most visually engaging films that you'll ever see. That being said I was never really caught up in the narrative of the film and to me this is a film that's all about the visuals rather than the story itself.
Next time we depart from the fancy costumes of yesteryear and check in on what was going on in Britain during the 1990s.
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