Sense and Sensibility is based on the novel of the same name by British author Jane Austen. The film has been highly praised in the West, won many important awards, and has a global box office of more than 200 million.
The whole film is invested by Columbia Pictures in the United States, and the British production team is filmed in the United Kingdom. The original work is a British literary masterpiece, the script is adapted by British actress Emma Thompson, the director is Chinese, and the producer is American. This is a British-style Hollywood Movie. The cross-border cooperation of the production industry will inevitably bring about changes in multiculturalism and specific national traditional culture. The impact of the international standard elements permeated by this cross-cultural production on the "purity" of national culture is exactly the same in the eighth century of the 20th century. The focus of British film researchers in the 1990s was the debate over whether the British "national film" was too static and pure or varied and mixed. This Anglo-American co-production film, which was born in 1995, can be said to be a beneficial attempt for British films to make productions between the "cultural production model" and the "industrial production model" amid the pressure of Hollywood and even the wave of globalization.
The analysis of "Sense and Sensibility" should also be placed in the context of British "heritage film". The so-called "heritage film" has been the highlight of British films since the 1930s. In the 1980s, the concept was clearly put forward, referring to films adapted from literature and dramas of the past to promote the British way of life and national style. As a result, most of them have a slow rhythm, with a gorgeous oil painting-like visual style, and the movement of the camera and the scene scheduling are beautiful and smooth, thus showing the pleasant pastoral scenery, classical architecture, exquisite furniture and elegant clothing of the British old days. Nostalgia and pastoral feelings also cater to the middle-class tastes of British filmmakers and elites, continuing a major film tradition in which British films draw nutrients from literature, drama, history and other heritage.
Austen's novel adaptation is an important part of the British "heritage film", she wrote a total of 6 "state of the world novels" in her short life. Starting from the film adaptation of "Pride and Prejudice" in 1938, all works have been moved to the screen or screen one after another, and have been repeatedly remade. The famous American critic Edmund Wilson believes: "The renovation of literary tastes has affected the prestige of almost all writers, but Shakespeare and Jane Austen have endured for a long time." Austen's works have a large number of loyal readers and audiences around the world, It is because she taught people who love life the logic of dealing with things and the conduct that men and women should have, secular but not worldly, calm and rational but not paranoid and conservative, challenging traditional vices but not exceeding etiquette norms, cynical but not sharp, and maintaining a kind of goodwill. Modest living ideals. Therefore, although her novels are all a story mode: twists and turns of love and perfect destination, grasping the relationship between money, love, marriage, and family is always a theme: how vulnerable women in complex economic relationships are dignified to live a happy life. However, it has modernity because of its image construction of morality and etiquette, which is full of life philosophy, and contains universal social values.
Based on the above background, when the film was cast, the British deliberately sought directors who were compatible with the national temperament, and Hollywood directors who were immersed in popular culture and commercial box office were inevitably lack of cultural conservatism. This period drama involving love life must not only abandon the "sex" element, but also try to avoid the clichés such as "I love you" in Hollywood romance films. Appropriately expressed, it is in line with the wise thinking and human nature insight of female writers and screenwriters on British women and traditional culture. Therefore, a director with deep traditional culture like Ang Lee is the best choice. He is considered to be able to better reproduce the charm of British works in the early 19th century, and to maintain their "national character" and "literary character" to the greatest extent. The purity of art and commerce, responsibility and entertainment, cultural function and industrial attitude are realized in compromise and reconciliation.
Emma's superb screenwriting talent plays a crucial role in the success of the film. Emma is described in the UK as "the most likely director's nightmare". She vividly reproduces Austen's love, irony, criticism and criticism of his characters. preserved style. For example, the dialogue between John and Fanny at the beginning of the film is very exciting. The father's dying entrustment made John think of giving his stepmother and sister 3,000 pounds. Fanny was extremely reluctant, but she did not directly conflict with John, but instead attacked with defense. John's awareness of the loss of property and the insignificance of family responsibilities was emphatically induced. Through 5 scenes and 8 rounds of dialogue, the script allowed John to make a decision not to give a point in 1 minute and 40 seconds. The inadvertent actions of John tipping but being stopped by Fanny for a few coins are interspersed, which typically depicts the characters of this pair of brothers and sisters who are in a mess in their lives. At the same time, in the first 3 minutes of the film, there is no complete motivation and social background for the loss of the plot because of cherishing ink like gold. The British social norm in Austin's life is that women without inheritance rights are in a disadvantaged passive position, and the only way to change their fate is to marriage.
The success of this film is due to the charm of the original work, the talent of the screenwriter, and the skill of the director. As the common "author" of this film, the excellence of all parties has contributed to the perfect presentation of the video. As Ang Lee said: "After directing a Western film, it made me realize for the first time that I am an Eastern director. Although in terms of details and flesh, I try to imitate and learn from the West and meet the standards, but when it comes to vision and emotional expression, I begin to We are more self-conscious. If we are like the West, not only can we fail, but also have no new ideas. If we want to win, we have to use our strengths. So I began to pay attention to how to use images and situations to reflect the inner scenery of the characters.” So, stories, characters , Emotions become the foothold of the film. In terms of audio-visual language, the film sets a dramatic situation in the narrative of prose culture, paying attention to the natural form of life, the character and the expression of inner emotions. Whether it is the interior decoration or the outdoor beauty, it is properly integrated with the plot and the emotions of the characters. The rhythm of the whole film is slow, but the stories are constantly conflicted, changing the light and ups and downs of the "heritage film". The details are dense and dense, Margaret's treehouse, Shakespeare's sonnets, Edward's handkerchief, Eleanor's slipping shawl, Marianne's piano, Willoughby's white horse, and even Mary before the rain An Zai's two completely different solo walks on the hillside are all image details that shape the character's character, set off the character's psychological changes, and set off the atmosphere. For example, through "reading poetry", the film delicately and completely expresses the huge contrast between Marianne's emotions and moods. At the beginning of the film, Marianne is extremely dissatisfied with Edward's lack of enthusiasm. In a desperate situation, she recites aloud with emotion, and orders Edward to re-read it. Edward, who is pampered, does not have the same feeling at all, and portrays the different personalities of characters in different situations. At the end of the film, Marianne accepted Colonel Blanton's equally calm reading. After the test of life and death, she was no longer the innocent girl with unrealistic fantasies.
Following the theme of the original novel and the background of the luxurious life of the leisure class, the film vividly describes the decent lifestyle of the upper class in England in the 18th century and the etiquette and restraint of a gentleman and a lady, and explores the contradiction between reason and emotion in life. At the same time, the film continues the pursuit and tradition of British "heritage films" rich in "high-quality" consciousness, retains the novel's light-hearted, humorous and comical conflict style, and moderately integrates the mode characteristics of Hollywood movies and the aesthetic style of oriental scenes. For global audiences living in heterogeneous cultural backgrounds, breaking cultural barriers and aesthetic barriers and creating a homogeneous narrative based on "closeness" identity is the premise for transcending specific ethnic experiences and gaining multicultural acceptance. On the basis of embodying the Hollywood communication model, the film is supplemented by oriental artistic processing, interweaving perceptual pleasure and rational thinking into aesthetic pleasure, and reproduces the mainstream idealistic dream. And the perfect ending reflects the values that tend to be bridged, and this faithfulness to the original work is also a requirement of the Hollywood business type rules. Values based on equality, freedom, and independence are the connotation of the "American Dream" and the ideology that runs through Hollywood films. It is consistent with the causal relationship between good and good in traditional Chinese culture and the ancient drama psychology that is keen on happy endings. The film is recognized by different nationalities because, like Austen's novels, it has the international element of traveling the world.
The narrative technique of "Sense and Sensibility" is neat and clear, with twists and turns. In the two parallel love lines around Eleanor and Marianne, there are three other love lines in flashbacks, one is Edward and Lucy's secret engagement, the other is Colonel Brandon and One of Alyssa's unfortunate emotions is Willoughby's chaotic abandonment of Beth. The film explains the background of the patriarchal society in which women live: they cannot inherit inheritance, go to university, go out to work, and can only gain status by obtaining a wealthy husband through artistic nurturing and lady etiquette. Dashwood's mother and daughter lived on £500 a year, which was about the bottom of the English squire class in the 18th century. The experience of the two sisters in choosing a mate reveals that the Western family ethics is a "contract" human relationship based on law and power, which is different from the Eastern blood ethics. Marriage is mostly a contract formed in a well-matched economic relationship. Money is the foundation of marriage and often dominates the emotional outcome. As a result, the sisters' differing attitudes toward emotion and reason have a dramatic reversal, with Eleanor achieving a perfect emotional and romantic ending because of reason, and Marianne choosing a marriage that is intellectual and perhaps lacking in passion because of emotional frustration. The profoundness of the film is not the contrast between reason and emotion, but the dialectical expression of the two sides of things. The moral and responsible Edward and Colonel Brandon are rewarded for their kindness, while Willoughby and Lucy are cast aside for their indiscretion. Equally sentimental, Marian pulls back from the precipice, in contrast to the catastrophic devastation of Alyssa and Bess.
The film affirms the noble sentiment and character, praises the hero and heroine with virtue, and ridicules the frivolous and ruthless character of Willoughby and John. The contrast of the elevate the theme. The film is a mixture of praise, ridicule and criticism of different characters. There is no absolute distinction between good and bad, and they have an understanding and kind attitude. The social atmosphere at the time forced women to face the fact that marriage was more of a transaction, and perhaps reason suppressed emotions, like the wonderful metaphor of the coins thrown into the air by the colonel at a wedding. But the author is still sure that feelings trump money, after all, Eleanor's sanity made her lover get married. Willoughby appears lonely on the hillside at the end of the film, looking at the wedding and the lively crowd from afar. This picture is both a question of Marianne's choice and the author's sympathy for Willoughby, which makes people think about what is "consummation".
The story takes place in the embryonic period of the capitalist industrial revolution. The film reflects the daily life and idyllic scenery of the untouched British rural middle class, which is undoubtedly a distant nostalgia for today's audience. The natural landscape plays an important narrative and expressive role in the film, and is more of a subjective lens, which not only alludes to the dialectical thinking of sensibility and intellect in the Austen era, but also is nature's projection of the emotions of life. In addition, the film is dominated by balanced medium and panoramic shots, and close-up shots and fast editing are used sparingly. When performing Eleanor, it is often a still and slightly depressed medium and close-up image in the room. For example, Eleanor and Edward are in the study to draw out Margaret's "acting", and Eleanor who has always been rational There are only four emotional scenes (the first is the disappointment of receiving Edward's atlas and he himself cannot come, the second is the anger at the sister's accusations that she has no feelings, the third is the sight of Mary Ann's dread as she died, and the fourth time she cried with shy joy when she learned that Edward was not married). The love scenes of Edward and Eleanor chatting on horseback and walking in the manor are rare outdoor scenes, basically a steady switch between small panorama, long shot and medium shot, showing Eleanor's emotions. When expressing the passionate and unrestrained Marianne, she deliberately echoes the nature, mostly in the panorama and long-term view.
The film pays attention to the coordination of sound and picture, and the meticulous design and skillful control of long shots and scene scheduling are very good, reflecting the psychology and situation of different characters with the help of the scattered layers of space. For example, in the voiceover of Fanny and John talking about plans to expand the manor, the camera pans to the left to Eleanor who is sitting at the desk and reading, she looks up out the window and sees Edward and Margaret fighting swords with wooden sticks on the lawn The play scene of , there was a near-miss attack, which surprised her, followed by a sigh of relief, followed by a relief. Next is a long shot. There are three doors in the depth of field. Edward quietly passes through the two doors from far to near, turns to his profile, and then follows his line of sight to see the back of Eleanor who is holding the door frame, she concentrates Looking at the depths of the screen, Marian played the music that her father loved during his lifetime. Then there were 5 counter shots. Eleanor turned around and saw Edward, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes. Edward walked over and handed the handkerchief. Marianne saw everything. In the long shot below, Edward and Eleanor walk across the porch to the outside of the house while talking funny things about Edward and Margaret's travels together. He walked down the stairs and entered the painting, smiling and panning the camera. Fanny leaned on the rail and looked down, her expression gloomy, with a mood of "the oriole is behind". In such a complex set of scenes with audio and video, the peeping and being peeped are superimposed layer by layer, revealing the different psychological activity trajectories of the five characters. At the same time, the images of Eleanor and Edward in each other's eyes, through the intersection of different spaces in the visual fields of the two sides, established the emotional foundation of the two people's heart-to-heart, and the rich life interest temporarily relieved the somewhat repressed mirror language of the film. The shy and introverted Edward naturally complained about his mother's expectations of him, like a pair of old friends.
The music plays an ingenious narrative role. When Fanny knows Lucy's secret and fights, a cheerful and bantering symphony sounded, accompanied by Mrs. Jennings' hurried trot and the crisp sound of horses' hooves passing by, setting off a tense and The atmosphere of farce also made a spatial hint for the uproar of this matter in London.
"Sense and Sensibility" is Ang Lee's first English-language film. A Chinese director successfully directed a Western film. This is a cultural return that attracts the attention of the world amid the trend of strong export of Western culture, and Ang Lee has stepped into mainstream Hollywood movies. door made. Beginning with "Sense and Sensibility", Ang Lee gradually showed the aptitude for "the only person in the world who can shoot both Chinese and Westerners authentically".
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