    sense and sensibility is a 1995 british-american period drama film directed by ang lee and based on jane austen's 1811 novel of the same name. actress emma thompson wrote the script and stars as elinor dashwood, while kate winslet plays elinor's younger sister marianne. the story follows the dashwood sisters â though they are members of a wealthy english family of landed gentry, circumstances result in their sudden destitution, forcing them to seek financial security through marriage. actors hugh grant and alan rickman play their respective suitors. it was released on 13 december 1995 in the united states and on 23 february 1996 in the united kingdom. producer lindsay doran, a longtime admirer of austen's novel, hired thompson to write the screenplay. the actress spent five years penning numerous revisions, continually working on the script between other films as well as into production of the film itself. studios were nervous that thompson â a first-time screenwriter â was the credited writer, but columbia pictures agreed to distribute the film. though she initially intended another actress to portray elinor, thompson was persuaded to undertake the part herself, despite the wide disparity with her character's age. thompson's screenplay exaggerated the dashwood family wealth to make their later scenes of poverty more apparent to modern audiences. it also altered the traits of the male leads to make them more appealing to contemporary viewers. elinor and marianne's different characteristics were emphasised through imagery and invented scenes. ang lee was selected as director, both due to his work in the 1993 film the wedding banquet and because doran felt he would help the film appeal to a wider audience. given a budget of $16 million, lee approached filming from different pe
1990s_romantic_drama_films 1995_films American_films American_romantic_drama_films Best_Drama_Picture_Golden_Globe_winners British_films British_romantic_drama_films Columbia_Pictures_films English-language_films Films_based_on_works_by_Jane_Austen Films_directed_by_Ang_Lee Films_set_in_England Films_set_in_country_houses Films_whose_writer_won_the_Best_Adapted_Screenplay_Academy_Award French-language_films Golden_Bear_winners Romantic_period_films Screenplays_by_Emma_Thompson