Men of altered sense and sensibility in two film adaptations

There can be no doubt that Jane Austen's novels appeal to contemporary audiences, especially given the spate of film adaptations in recent years. However, the differences between the two most recent film adaptations of Sense and Sensibility demonstrates how this story both transcends time and still appeals to contemporary audiences. Directorial choices in the 2008 Andrew Davies/John Alexander and the 1995 Emma Thompson/Ang Lee versions of Sense and Sensibility, such as cuts, additions, and alterations of dialogue shape the story to emphasize sexuality and diminish thematic elements. The later film reduces the thematic focus to only the romantic by increasing the sexuality of the story, while the earlier version cuts and adds scenes and dialogue far more effectively, utilizing Austen's dialogue in a way that creates a concise, humorous interpretation truer to the style of the novel, updating it for a twentieth-century audience without stripping it of thematic layers.