Click here to enter my other blog: Jane Austen's World.

Sunday, October 24

Jane Austen Movie Throwdown: Which Actress Walked Best in the Rain?

Ah, Sense and Sensibility. There are many scenes in the last two film adaptations that simply are not in Jane's novel. Nevertheless, they make for great cinematic melodrama. Take the reason for Marianne's illness, for example. Jane describes the onset of her illness at Cleveland as being a tad less dramatic than the rain walks depicted in the films:
Kate Winslet quotes Shakespeare in the rain as she gazes longingly at Willoughby's house
Two delightful twilight walks on the third and fourth evenings of her being there, not merely on the dry gravel of the shrubbery, but all over the grounds, and especially in the most distant parts of them, where there was something more of wildness than in the rest, where the trees were the oldest, and the grass was the longest and wettest, had—assisted by the still greater imprudence of sitting in her wet shoes and stockings—given Marianne a cold so violent as, though for a day or two trifled with or denied, would force itself by increasing ailments on the concern of every body, and the notice of herself. Prescriptions poured in from all quarters, and as usual, were all declined. Though heavy and feverish, with a pain in her limbs, and a cough, and a sore throat, a good night's rest was to cure her entirely; and it was with difficulty that Elinor prevailed on her, when she went to bed, to try one or two of the simplest of the remedies.
The wind WHIPS Kate/Marianne's cape and gown
Marianne got up the next morning at her usual time; to every inquiry replied that she was better, and tried to prove herself so, by engaging in her accustomary employments. But a day spent in sitting shivering over the fire with a book in her hand, which she was unable to read, or in lying, weary and languid, on a sofa, did not speak much in favour of her amendment; and when, at last, she went early to bed, more and more indisposed...
In 2009, Charity Wakefield WALKED the walk

Such a scene would not have been dramatic enough for a film,and thus we have Marianne wandering in the rain searching for Combe Magna, Willoughby's house.

Charity as Marianne welcomes the rain drops
Who walked the walk best? Curious minds want to know.

Whose Walk in the Rain is Best?
Kate Winslet as Marianne Dashwood
Charity Wakefield as Marianne Dashwood

  
pollcode.com free polls

7 comments:

TONY said...

Oh!!!! Kate Winslett and Charity Wakefield in the rain, their hair getting plastered to their faces. You shouldn't do this sort of thing to a poor bloke.

Tony

Anna said...

So is this the men's alternative of the Darcy wet shirt scene?

;-)

Nonna said...

Good one Anna...I think you're correct !

a said...

I suppose rain does make everything more dramatic. Isn't it odd that we always assimilate sad moments with rain? Personally I love the rain but I don't need the flu...thank goodness for umbrellas :)

Anne Elizabeth said...

Kate Winslet actually fainted during the filming of that scene. It WAS all wet and cold, and she really got into the character's feelings.
If I remember correctly, she had to get her feet warmed up in some paramedic's armpits... or was it a fellow actor's armpits? Can't remember.

She wins for putting so much passion and effort into the acting.

Cirze said...

I'm guessing you won't mind if I blogroll this lovely site too.

Janeite Forever!

Suzan

MissAmerica said...

Keira Knightley in Pride and Prejudice..! =D =D