Review: Sense and Sensibility

If you are looking for a good, inexpensive movie to buy, Sense and Sensibility is definitely a great choice. It has a recognizable cast and it's filled with great acting.


Box Art

 Synopsis

Sense and Sensibility follows the story of two sisters: sensible Elinor Dashwood (Emma Thompson) and passionate Marianne Dashwood (Kate Winslet). When their father Mr. Henry Dashwood (Tom Wilkinson) dies, his property, Norland, is passed to his son from his first marriage, John Dashwood (James Fleet). Before he died, Henry Dashwood made John promise to take care of his current wife and three daughters (Elinor, Marianne, and Margaret). John promises to take care of them and wants to give them some money, but he is persuaded by his wife, Fanny, not to. Meanwhile, the Dashwood women prepare to receive John and Fanny, and when they arrive, Fanny announces that her brother Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant) will be joining them. Edward arrives and him and Elinor form an attachment, which is broken off by Fanny.

Characters
The cast represented the characters well. I read Sense and Sensibility, and I think that the characters are accurately portrayed in this movie. While the storyline is not exact to the book (there had been scenes and characters taken out), you do get a good sense of what the remaining characters should be like. Also, many of the actors and actresses are very well known: besides Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet, there is also Gemma Jones (Bridget Jones's Diary) as Mrs. Dashwood, Alan Rickman (The Barchester Chronicles) as Colonel Brandon, Imelda Staunton (Cranford) as Mrs. Palmer, and Hugh Laurie (House) as Mr. Palmer.

Alan Rickman as Colonel Brandon and Emma Thompson
as Elinor Dashwood.

Emma Thompson, who played Elinor, was much older than Elinor was supposed to be: in the book, Elinor was 19, while Emma Thompson was in her mid thirties. Still, despite that, I still think she did a really good job with the role. You really got a sense of how much Elinor was suffering, even though she did not show it outwardly.

Kate Winslet was an appropriately emotional Marianne. You could tell that when she spoke, there was a lot of feeling in her voice. It might have been a little over-the-top to illustrate Jane Austen's point of the ridiculousness of too much sensibility and unrestricted emotional outbursts.

There is more of an emphasis on the male characters in this film, unlike in Austen's novel which focused on the women. Additional scenes were added such as Edward Ferrars and Margaret fencing, Colonel Brandon talking about how Marianne would not love him, etc. I personally didn't mind that they did this, but these are not scenes that are found in the book.

Scenery
Great scenery! Scenes are in both the manor houses, in the country, and in London. Even though this Sense and Sensibility is not a BBC production, it still features very nice scenery. Though maybe not as bright sometimes as some of the BBC miniseries, there is still some very pretty scenery. You get a wide range in each of the settings: in the country, not only do you see the grounds of the manor houses, but you also get to see some of the wilderness areas.

Costumes

Elinor's Robe Pelisse: New fashion or handed down?

I love the costumes in this film! The open-faced robes/pelisses that Elinor and Marianne wear are absolutely lovely, but a question about them is still in my mind. Those robes were mainly popular around 1795, over a decade before Sense and Sensibility was published. Which leads me to ask "What year was this set in?" I would say maybe around 1795, but in the scene where Marianne sprains her ankle, you can see that she is wearing a pair of drawers, which were not worn until 1806 and only by few women. Maybe the robes were handed down to both Elinor and Marianne? I don't know. Not a big deal, but just something that I was wondering about.

The other costumes are also well done. I noticed on one of Mrs. Jennings's (Elizabeth Spriggs) dresses, there was a bit of leopard print on it. Perhaps it was to show that she was wealthy? It was an interesting touch.

Music
The music, composed by Patrick Doyle, reflects the overall theme of the story. While not a depressing story, Sense and Sensibility does have a more serious overtone than Pride and Prejudice or Emma. The Dashwood women are in a very serious situation in which there is very little money coming in, and they have very little means of earning much money. The music was very flowing and pretty, but few songs had an upbeat tone to them (I can only think of two). Unfortunately for the CD soundtrack, the songs sung by Kate Winslet were not included in the CD. The two songs on the CD (Weep You No More Sad Fountains and The Dreame) were instead sung by Jane Eaglen. I was a little disappointed about this because I thought that Kate Winslet sang both songs beautifully, but the rest of the soundtrack was very nice.

Overall: 4/5
This film is a very good choice if you want to show a class the main points of Sense and Sensibility. It is not exact to the book (so I would recommend actually reading the book to fill in any questions that you might have that might not be explained by solely watching the movie), but the characters are accurate and believable. The acting is well done and the scenery and costumes are absolutely lovely.

Sense and Sensibility runs for 2 hours and 16 minutes. It is available on DVD, and is rated PG.

Review: Lark Rise to Candleford - Series 2

After seeing Lark Rise to Candleford - Series 1, I fell in love with the series! It became a weekly treat when I would sit down with my mom and sister and watch an episode. When Series 1 concluded, was I ever so glad that there was another series! Though Series 1 is still my favorite, I did really like Series 2. There are spoilers below, so I recommend watching all of Series 1 if you don't want to be spoiled. If you would like to read about Series 1, I did a review a while back about it: here's the link.

Synopsis

Box Art

Series 2 begins with the Christmas Special after the events in Episode 10 of Series 1 take place. The second episode takes place in the following year of Series 1. A new hotel called The Golden Lion opens up across the street from the post office and stirs up talk around Candleford. Everyone is curious as to the new owner, and all they can find out is that it's owned by a Mr. JD. It turns out that Mr. JD is a man named James Dowland, who grew up in Lark Rise, has made a fortune, and has returned to Candleford to open up a new hotel to his chain of hotels. At first, sparks fly between Mr. Dowland and Dorcas (Julia Sawalha), but it soon evolves into friendship and something more.

Characters
A couple of characters have left the series since Series 1: Zillah died at the end of Series 1; Sir Timothy and Lady Adelaide left for London; and Caroline Arless leaves at the end of the Christmas episode. This, of course, leaves characters to be replaced.

Dorcas hires a new maid to replace Zillah named Minnie. Minnie came to the post office after running away from her abusive stepfather and now works for Dorcas. Of course, Minnie has no experience with being a maid, and is quite incompetent at first, but she does improve (while still making mistakes occasionally). At the beginning of Series 2, she can be a little annoying, but from the middle to the end of Series 2, she does become endearing. I still miss Zillah, but Minnie is okay.

Sir Timothy and Lady Adelaide leave for London at the end of Series 1. When they leave, James Dowland comes into Candleford. At first, Mr. Dowland is arrogant, but eventually he becomes more tolerable, and you might even have hope for him and Dorcas. However, his past does come back to haunt him, leading to a very interesting episode.

Emma Timmins (Claudie Blakely), Dorcas Lane (Julia Sawalha),
and Queenie Turrill (Linda Bassett) at The Golden Lion.

Other characters that left were Matthew of the forge (where he went, I don't know), Phillip (since Laura broke up with him), and Mr. Paxton (who owns the Wagon and Horses, the Lark Rise pub). In the middle of the series, Fisher Bloom enters into town to work on a clock tower, and Laura begins to date him. I personally do not like Fisher: he seemed too full of himself and he wanted to change Laura.

I have noticed that since the Christmas episode, Ruby Pratt's character has developed more. In the first series, she was almost exactly like Pearl: snobbish,  rude to Lark Rise folks, cold, etc. But in Series 2, she starts to differ from her sister. She might still be a little snobbish, but it's to a much lesser extent. Her and Minnie actually develop a friendship later in the series. Pearl still remains a little cold, but there is even an episode where she develops a little more. However, both women, just like they did for Lady Adelaide, try to flatter Mr. Dowland because he is a single, wealthy businessman. Of course, they still hold his Lark Rise origins against him.

Episode Plots

Laura (Olivia Hallinan) on her Christmas delivery route.

The episode plots are still very interesting, same as it was in Series 1. The Christmas episode that started off Series 2 was quite interesting. There was an atmosphere of Christmas, but there was also a ghost story. It was suspenseful, but it did not get too creepy or scary, in case you were wondering (I personally do not like ghost, but this did not bother me). There was more of a theme in the Christmas episode about coming together whether as family or neighbors.

The episode plots start to bring in other storyline. Laura is still the main character, but you start to notice that there are more episodes that don't always focus on Laura. For example, one focuses on Dorcas challenging Mr. Dowland for a church council position; another focuses on Mr. Dowland's past. So, there is more going on in the story line than whatever Laura is doing: because of that, you only hear adult Laura narrate at the beginning and end of each episode.

A small downside to this new series: there seems to be a small increase in double entrendres throughout the episodes. They are not blatant, but they are there. They are something that are not really that essential to the main plot line. There are only a few, but there are more in Series 2 than in Series 1.

Some of the episodes tend to contain more scandal than in Series 1: for example, Mr. Dowland's past. They are not graphic, but they are either mentioned or implied. Not too big of a deal, but just a heads up.

Scenery
As it was before,  the scenery is still beautiful and remains pretty much the same as Series 1. There are no more scenes in or around the manor house (since Sir Timothy and Lady Adelaide left), but there are plenty of scenes inside of The Golden Lion. The Golden Lion is a very nice hotel that is owned by Mr. Dowland. It is very nicely decorated and spacious. It's even nice enough for Ruby and Pearl Pratt to eat lunch there.

The post office exterior gets a make over (thanks to Mr. Dowland's remarks to Dorcas). It does look nice. They painted the walls and fixed up the sign and facade. The inside pretty much remains the same.

Costuming

Dorcas (Julia Sawalha), Ruby and Pearl Pratt
examining The Golden Lion.

Slight changes were made to the costuming. Ruby and Pearl Pratt are suddenly wearing more colors. It could have something to do with their characters developing into better people than the snobs they were before. They still dress alike for most of the episodes, but there is more variation to the color of their clothes. In Series 1, they tended to wear black with an accent color, but in Series 2, they wear more colors that while still tame are more varying than black.

Laura's dresses (and hairstyle) also changed. In Series 1, her dresses were "turtle" necked (not sure if historically they were called that), and her hair pulled neatly back into a bun. Now, due to Fisher's comments, she occasionally dons a lower neckline (not too low, but lower than her usual), and her hair is loose. It seems a little odd for Laura to be so easily swayed by a boy to change her appearance compared with Series 1.

The rest of the cast pretty much has the same type of clothing: Dorcas still looks professional, but with a couple of new outfits; Lark Rise women still wear their poorer clothes; and Miss Ellison, being the daughter of the parson, still wears very modest clothing.

Overall: 4/5
Lark Rise to Candleford is probably my new favorite TV show. Series 1, I think, will always be my favorite series in Lark Rise to Candleford, but I still like Series 2. The episodes are still very interesting and entertaining, and the acting is very well done. It ends with a great transition into Series 3 (which I might review at a later time; I'm in the middle of watching it). It's really great to watch on a relaxing evening.

Lark Rise to Candleford - Series 2 has twelve episodes on four disks. The Christmas episode is 75 minutes long, while the other episodes are about an hour long. It is currently available on DVD.

Regency Apron

If you remember, about a week ago, I posted a sneak preview of my next sewing project. Did anyone guess right?

Well, to reveal what it is... here it is!

Tada! It's a Regency Era Apron! This was made out of ivory colored cotton. I used the pattern Butterick 5509, view D.

Side View

Back View

 I made this pattern within a couple of weeks (I took a week off of sewing because I was a little busy). I had fun working on it (as I do with most of my sewing projects).

Here we have a close-up of the back ties. The ties are not pre-tied: they can be adjusted to fit anyone.

Here is the close-up of the front bodice. There is some gathering along the bodice and skirt.

Meanwhile, I think I'm getting a little better with hemming neatly!

And, of course, what would a Regency Apron be without a Regency dress? Well, an apron.

So, there's my new apron. I'll have to start my next project soon, so in the meantime, enjoy the apron and the period drama reviews!

Review: Little Dorrit

Over a couple of weeks, my mom, my sister, and I watched Little Dorrit. We started to watch it one evening and next thing we knew it was 12:30 p.m. We wanted to keep watching, but it was late. It kept us all interested: here are my thoughts.

Synopsis

William Dorrit is imprisoned in the Marshalsea for debt. His daughter, Amy (also known as Little Dorrit) (played by Claire Foy), lives with him in prison and goes out to support him secretly because of his pride. Amy gets a job doing needlework for Mrs. Clennam whose husband and son are overseas in China. When Mrs. Clennam's son Arthur (Matthew Macfayden) returns from China, he brings word that his father has died and that his dying wish was to correct a wrong. Arthur notices that Amy is working for his mother, and learns that her father is imprisoned in the Marshalsea for numerous debts. He suspects that his family might have something to do with this, and he tries to right the suspected wrong.

Characters

BBC does another great job with selecting a great cast. There were recognizable actors and actresses in Little Dorrit: Tom Courtenay (Doctor Zhivago (1965)), Freema Agyeman (Doctor Who), Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings), Matthew Macfayden (Pride and Prejudice (2005)), James Fleet (Sense and Sensibility (1995)), and other actors that you may recognize.

I thought that Claire Foy played Amy Dorrit quite well. Amy Dorrit is supposed to be around 21 years old, but she's supposed to look like a child, and Claire Foy pulled it off well. Her face was freckled to make her appear young which worked really well for the role. She also acted the part well: Amy is meek, quiet, and hard working, and it showed in this adaptation.

Andy Serkis, who many would recognize as Gollum from The Lord of the Rings, plays the escaped convict Rigaud. I've got to say, that whenever he appeared on the screen, my mom, my sister, and I were like "Oh no! What's going to happen next!?" There was always something that followed that man. I won't give any spoilers, but let's just say he made the story all the more interesting.

Scenery



Multiple characters from Little Dorrit from different
classes and ages. Notice differences in dress between the
classes and the dark, London setting.

I did not mind the scenery, but there is a concern that I have. The Marshalsea is supposed to be a big, dirty prison in very poor conditions, but when I was watching it, it didn't seem that bad. It didn't look too dirty, and sure the prison rooms could use some renovation and maybe a scrub down to get rid of the dust, but it didn't seem like it was really bad. It seemed like the only inconvenience was that it was a prison and that you couldn't leave. I mean, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to stay in a place like that, but for a prison in the ninteenth century, I guess I pictured it a lot dirtier.

There was used of dark overtones for the scenes in London, which seemed appropriate. **Spoiler** The first half of the series takes place in London before William Dorrit found out about his fortune, when life was harder for the Dorrits. **End of Spoiler** Also at Mrs. Clennam's home, dark overtones were used to show that there were dark secrets there. Bright colors were used for the scenes in Italy, which featured very nice architecture. I liked the brighter colors and the scenery there better than the dark overtones in London.



Costumes

Amy Dorrit in her usual dress,
cloak, and apron.

I did like the costumes in this miniseries. Little Dorrit takes place around 1826, which is in between two eras: the Regency era (which ended at about 1820) and the Victorian era (which started in the 1830s). Both Regency era dresses and 1820's fashion were used in this miniseries. Generally speaking, the Regency dresses were worn either by the poorer women or by older women (i.e. Mrs. Clennam, who was very old in the story). This would make sense because most likely poorer women were handed down clothes that were still good; these "hand-me-downs" would be outdated clothes from the Regency era considering that when the story takes place, the Regency era did not end that long ago. Mrs. Clennam, being both old and infirm, probably did not get a chance to go out and buy the latest fashions, so she probably found her current dresses to be suitable. The 1820's dresses were worn mostly by the rich who could afford to go out and buy the latest fashions or could have dresses made for them.

My personal preference: I preferred the poorer clothes to the richer clothes. It could be because I love Regency era clothing, or because I don't particularly care for the large sleeves of the later 1820's fashions, or because I liked the simplicity of the clothes. To me, some of the richer clothes seemed gaudy and outlandish to me. But again, that's my personal opinion.

Overall: 4/5
I really like this miniseries. I liked that the plot was very interesting and that all of the subplots came together nicely at the end. The cast acted very well, and the costumes were very nice. But there are a couple of things that you should be warned about. There is some violence, a scene with blood (only one scene that can be fast-forwarded through), and a questionable scene that, while it is not explicit, it is still a little disturbing; I will say that the scene is short, so you could even fast-forward through that too. Other than those three things, this miniseries is very good and interesting. It definitely keeps you guessing and holds your attention throughout.

Little Dorrit is made up of fourteen episodes (two hour long and twelve half hour long). The entire miniseries is 452 minutes long and can be bought on DVD at Amazon.

Sneak Peak!

Here's a sneak peak at my next project. Can anyone guess what it will be?

Review: The Way We Live Now

My mom bought the Anthony Trollope Collection at Amazon one day that included three miniseries: The Way We Live Now, The Barchester Chronicles, and He Knew He Was Right. We watched The Way We Live Now over a couple of weeks first. It was one... interesting miniseries. Now, how do I define "interesting"? Well, read on and decide for yourself.

Synopsis

Talk arises over London when the mysterious, rich, and very strange Mr. Melmotte (David Suchet) arrives with his wife and daughter. Meanwhile, the Carburies have fallen on hard times: Sir Felix Carbury (Matthew MacFayden), the son of Lady Carbury, a gambler and a ladies man, has spent all of his mother's saved money leaving his mother and sister, Hetta, to dodge creditors. Hetta does not like dodging from creditors, but she obeys her mother. When Sir Felix meets the rich Marie Melmotte (Shirley Henderson), Marie falls in love with Sir Felix, while Sir Felix is only marrying Marie for her money. Lady Carbury wants Hetta to marry her cousin Roger Carbury, who has the Carbury estate and money, but Hetta has fallen in love with Paul Montague, Roger's friend who has a mysterious past. Many Subplots follow in The Way We Live Now.

Characters

If I could pick one word to describe most of the characters excepting Hetta and maybe a few others (and that's a big maybe), it would be "weird". I never read the book, but seriously, could they have found weirder actors to play these very bizarre characters? I honestly don't think so. First off, you have Marie Melmotte, who you would think "maybe she's a little shy and awkward, but she might turn out to be a little normal", but then you hear her voice. Out of this woman comes the voice of a very nasal, high pitched child -- the sound did not fit the picture. Melmotte himself was a very wierd character; between his bad table manners, his temper, and how he wormed his way around business, he was just a very odd character. Another character, Paul Montague, I at first thought that he was a somewhat normal character, but then they dug into his past, and let's just say, he's not as innocent as I initially thought. Lady Carbury, again, another weird character. She was a flirt (determined by her behavior and her attire) and was encouraging Sir Felix to marry Marie Melmotte for her money. The list goes on, leaving only a few characters somewhat "normal" and only one that really is "normal".

Hetta Carbury (Paloma Baeza) looking at Sir Felix
and Lady Carbury with disgust.

While most of the characters were very weird, it was still comical; when my mother and I were watching, we had to laugh at the very odd body language that was before us. But at the same time, it was just plain weird

The only one that was truly innocent was Hetta. I would have to say that she must have been the only "normal" character throughout the whole miniseries: she had what I would say "a good head on her shoulders"; as cliched as that sounds, it is true. She didn't have a mysterious past with deep, dark secrets and she had strong morals (and actually stuck to them). She was a breath of normalcy in the midst of all the odd characters that appeared on the screen. It is my opinion that in order to like something, whether it is a book, movie, or television show, there must be at least one character that you like. Here, Hetta fills the requirement: she gives the audience someone to relate to.

Scenery
As normal for BBC productions, the country side is pretty. In The Way We Live Now, dark colors are utilized in order to highlight the dark overtones of the story. The hallway in the Melmottes' home, though mostly white, still appears to have a dark atmosphere. Melmotte's study in itself was dark, fitting to Melmotte's scheming, dark character. I personally do not care for dark overtones to movies, but I would say that it did fit for this film.

Costuming
I did like the costuming. The costumes featured bustles, which were popular at the time (in fact, the miniseries is supposed to take place in the 1870's, the first era of bustles). The ladies dresses did fit their personalities: Hetta had dresses that were modest and pretty which fits with her sense of morality; Lady Carbury had more revealing dresses which fits with her flirtation; Mrs. Hurtle, a woman from Paul Montague's past determined to marry Paul and will take revenge if he double crosses her, is dress in dark colors, appropriate for her. So, the costumes were well done.

Overall: 3/5

I did enjoy watching this: the plot was very complex and kept you wanting more, and even though most of the characters were very odd, they did provide some comical moments. However, there are some faults which might not be very easily overlooked. Firstly, I would not recommend showing this to children: there are some adult situations, that, though short, were still enough to make most people (even adults) blush. Another one of the faults was that the three episodes that lead up to the forth/final episode were building up to something big, but then the forth episode came and it was a bit of a let-down and it left you hanging. It almost felt like there should be more of the story, but the writers were either short on time or didn't have enough time to fit everything into the allotted time. Lastly, though the plot was interesting, it was still very complex with a couple of different subplots going on simultaneously with the main plot. This is not something that you can watch while doing something else and understand what's going on. You actually have to sit down without many distractions and watch what is going on in order to understand what is going on.

The Way We Live Now is made up of four one hour and thirty minute episodes. It is available on DVD either on it's own or in The Anthony Trollope Collection with two other miniseries.

Update!

Hello Everyone!

I hope all is well. I have had more time lately to work on my blog. I'm hoping to write more reviews. There is one that I will release shortly. What is it? You'll have to wait and see!

As you can see, I finally got an image for the header. Also, I added a page at the top: it's the index to the reviews that I have written; hopefully there will be more coming soon!

Oh! If you haven't already, you can like the Facebook page for Elegance of Fashion along the side. And please suggest this page to your friends.

I am working on another sewing project, so I'll post pictures of it when it is done. It is another historically based garment. That's the only clue that I am giving out for now!

Well, I am off again. I'll post again as soon as I can.

Sincerely,
Admin

Family Event Dress

My apologies for the long wait for this update. I have been busy in the last couple of weeks.

Onto the dress. The sneak preview that I mentioned earlier with the two fabrics, the secret is now out. This dress was intended for a family gathering. It was made with Simplicity 2692. It is a simple, blue dress.

 

Here are the front, back, and side views of the dress. It's an asymetrical, tea length dress. The one side has a tied strap, while the other has a regular strap. There is a zipper at one of the sides of the dress.

Here is the bodice. It is gathered along the bottom of the bodice and on the regular strap.

Here you can see the lining. It is lined in a white lining material in the bodice, midsection, and skirt.