Written by Kashvi Pallapotu. Graphic by Ananya Panchal.
I will admit, period pieces usually keep me at arm’s length. They’re so beautiful, but the characters end up feeling so far away that it’s hard for me to see myself in them. So when I got the chance to go to an early screening of “Sense and Sensibility” presented by Focus Features, I did not know what to expect. I did know who I wanted next to me, though.
I brought my roommate, who is one of the only people I can rant to about music and movies like this. We’re the kind of friends who don’t just watch something and move on. We pick it apart, talk about what it meant, and stay up too late connecting it to our own lives. Going into a movie with her feels like going in with someone who feels it as deeply as I do, and this one gave us plenty to feel.
The first thing that got to me was the dialogue. These characters sound like real people, not like they’re reading a script from an old book. The part that really made me feel a sense of yearning was when Elinor and Edward were by the lake, throwing rocks and getting to know each other. It was so simple, just two people talking, but you can see Elinor recognize something familiar in him, someone with the same values as her. Nothing about this scene felt forced, and I felt that connection click into place right along with them.
There’s a playfulness in this movie that I did not expect at all. Even in the heaviest, most intense scenes, there was a lightness running through the film. It never took away from the emotion; it actually made everything feel more real, because that’s how life works. You can only get through the hardships with the little lightness around you.
The filmmaking was truly remarkable. The hand-held camera made me feel like I was in the room with the character, instead of watching from far away. The cinematography is so soft and painterly; the lighting, costumes, and music made so many scenes look like paintings without feeling stiff.
A small, spoiler-ish confession: until the very end, I was truly heartbroken. Once again, in yet another piece of content, Daisy Edgar-Jones’s character does not seem destined for love (just like in “Normal People.”) That really broke my heart. I know that it’s just a movie, but I was truly rooting for her so hard that I could feel it in my chest. In the end, it was all okay because it worked out.
I laughed, I cried, and I really didn’t want it to end. The movie felt so nostalgic, like I had lived it. I saw parts and pieces of myself in every character, not just one, and it made me feel so human and alive. When the credits rolled, my roommate and I knew we would either have the conversation of our lives or listen to our Spotify Blend and stare at the sky the entire ride back, which is exactly what happened.
I did not expect a story from so long ago to feel this close to me, but it did. If period movies usually feel too distant to you, give this one a chance. Bring someone you love and maybe a tissue.
