British period pieces are not my cup of tea. So it is the rare occasion that one of them breaks through my cynicism and dislike towards the genre. Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility is now officially one of them. The cinematography is positively gorgeous. Lee and cinematographer Michael Coulter block and frame the characters like they have leaped from the canvases of the paintings which adorn so many of the houses and mansions that they inhabit. Here is not an attempted facsimile of Georgian era England, but rather of an aesthetic and style that embodies it. And what can be said about the acting? Every part is played magnificently. As the ending credits began to roll, I mused to myself that if the story had taught me anything, it's that the old, creepy guy who longs for your young daughter is actually the man best suited for her. But then I brushed the thought aside. This film earned immunity from my pitiless cynicism.
8/10
Edit -- January 5, 2016 -- I recently had published a DVD review of the film that I wrote. Here is the link: http://theretroset.com/dvd-review-ang-lees-sense-and-sensibility-1995/
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