Sunday, November 19, 2023

Sense and Sensibility (1981 TV Miniseries)

When I popped this into the blurayer player to watch it with Mrs B, we both thought it was going to be another movie version like the 1995 version. So imagine our surprise when up popped a menu with Episodes 1-7. We looked at each other and immediately decided to watch just one episode a night.

We made the right choice.

I can’t say this was a horrible production, but one episode a night was all we could handle. It was from the BBC and they used their usual cast of ugly people. Why the BBC makes these kind of choices is beyond me.

In many respects this felt like a stage play instead of a movie. The actors spoke their lines to each other instead of having conversations naturally. Even how they moved and their body language felt like they were posing. It was uncomfortable to watch and wasn’t something we looked forward to.

We came to Friday night and had 3 episodes left. We were planning on watching our usual one episode and double up on Saturday. I had eaten two eclairs and the sugar coursing through my veins gave me an unparalleled amount of fake courage. With Mrs B’s blessing, we powered through the final 3 episodes. The series ended with neither of the Miss Dashwoods actually being married, nor even engaged. It was all implied that it was going to happen. Which given the whole issue is that Willoughby didn’t give his word to Marianne, seems to go against everything they were trying to show. It was a very anticlimactic ending.

We were both happy it was over and I have zero interest in ever rewatching it. Not a terrible experience but this version is not one I’d ever recommend anyone ever watch. I wish I could have kinder, more positive things to say, but I can’t and I don’t. I don’t even want to go into more details, sigh.

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