My sister and I, along with the rest of the world, gave cries of dismay yesterday when we heard the sad news of the death of Alan Rickman. That towering British actor who has moved us and excited us in so many landmark roles over the years.
Rather than trying to reprise his entire oeuvre here, I decided to highlight just one major work. One of my favourites, if not the favourite. It is the film which my sister and I immediately earmarked as Saturday-afternoon viewing. Something we would have chosen to watch anyway, but particularly fitting in the circumstances.
It is the 1995 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.
Alan Rickman is magnificent as the steady Colonel Brandon. He is the epitome of military decorum, honour and decency, serving the Dashwood family as best he can, while holding back his love for Marianne.
Take a look at this clip, where Colonel Brandon is reading to Marianne. Who would not want to be read to in this tender way? Mega-Swoon!!
I won’t say any more – I don’t want to spoil the plot in any way for anyone who has not either read the book or seen the film. I would urge you to do both – ideally read first, then watch in my view. But in any event, don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to admire great British talent at work, and generally just enjoy a wonderful film.
I will leave you with this great clip, where Alan Rickman discusses filming Sense and Sensibility, and working with director, Ang Lee.
*Mrs Dashwood speaking about Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility directed by Ang Lee (1995)
I, too, was very sad indeed to hear that Alan Rickman has died. ‘Sense and Sensibility’ and ‘Love Actually’ are my favourite films. I will miss him as a superb actor with such an admirably distinguished voice and style.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hear, hear X
LikeLiked by 1 person
You know, until yesterday I never put it together that Alan Rickman was Colonel Brandon in that movie. I think that Rickman came onto my radar with Galaxy Quest, which I adore to this day. He was such a versatile actor who embodied his roles more than most. I’ll miss him, even if I didn’t always know that he was in the movie.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I have not seen Galaxy Quest, but having checked it out on IMDB, it looks great – I will have to try and track it down. It just shows how very versatile Alan Rickman was.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that movie! He was brilliant. I love his quote: “I do take my work seriously and the way to do that is not to take yourself too seriously.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, that’s a brilliant quote! 😀❤️
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is one of my most favourite films too. We were so impressed by it when we saw it in the cinema that we changed the name we were going to call my younger daughter from Beatrice Elizabeth to Elinor Beatrice. I always vowed I’d never do anything like that but….. I must admit to being more upset by Alan Rickman’s death than by the death of David Bowie despite DB having gone to the same junior school as me and an ‘old boy’. (I never knew him – he was 12 years older than me). I first saw Alan Rickman when he played Mr Slope in the BBC dramatization of the Barchester Chronicles. He was always Alan Rickman no matter what part he played but he acted with such feeling and insight that I ended up by believing that Mr Slope/Professor Snape/Colonel Brando etc were Alan Rickman and not the other way round.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi Clare, this all makes such wonderful reading! I love the name of your daughter. And completely agree with you about how AR’s characters became him in many ways! X
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank-you! x
LikeLike
This is one lot of links I can’t follow! When I was 15 I decided not to read Sense and Sensibility until my 90th birthday, because it would be utter bliss to have a new Jane Austen novel to read when i zimmer out into the sun after gumming down my toast. I mentioned this some time while I was Tom Legg’s private secretary and now have a beautiful hardback copy of it, inscribed “Not to be read before 2054”. So even for Alan Rickman I can’t watch the film clips yet! But that will be something to look forward to the day *after* my 90th birthday 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fabulous!! I look forward to gumming our approval of the book & film together in due course… 😀❤️
LikeLike