Marianne's despoiled reputation

Please supply specific reference for Ang Lee's "not being fond of" Sense & Sensibility.

It is true that he had not read her work before he was hired to direct the film, but I find no reference other than that. You have postulated that, since you do not know for a fact that he did read the book, you feel safe in assuming he never did so.

I postulate that it would be an unusual thing if Lee had NOT made a point of reading the book, and that, therefore, it is more likely that it would have been specifically noted if he had NEVER done so. Since his reading the book would have been the natural thing, what is remarked is that he had not done so before receiving the screenplay.

If that is unclear, the gist is this - if Ang Lee had never read the novel, I think that would be easily verified. Since it is not, I think it more likely that he did read before filming.

Lee has also spoken of his having been "doing Jane Austen without realizing it" pretty much his whole career to that point, since his works tended to combine elements of family drama with a satiric societal outlook. So he noted an affinity for the source author, quite specifically.

Willoughby is no tragic hero in the 1995 film, he is a man who behaves abominably, with hideous consequences to Marianne. He is unforgivable, and most of the audience (at least, that part past the age of 12) is likely to find it very satisfactory that he looks longingly at Marianne's wedding, shut out forever from the life and joy he sees.

And, since Marianne does, indeed, suffer severely, life-and world-view-changingly, and we see this very clearly shown, I disagree wholly that S&S 1995 downplays the "darker" aspects. Colonel Brandon, himself, is, as Austen wrote him, a shadowed, deeply wounded man.

Much darker than the 2008, which presents a Marianne bounding back like a rubber ball from illness, switching affections in a heartbeat, and a dashing Brandon whom it seems an impertinence to consider lacking in any way, let alone in need of Marianne's active healing attention. The 2008 Willoughby is significantly more unpleasant than the 1995, but, since his actions have far more limited consequences, both in nature and in time, to Marianne, he cannot be considered more villainous.

ETA: the 2008 S&S has PLENTY of non-Austen dialogue. When Thompson said "5 lines" of Austen remained, she was being modest as to how much she worked in. Maybe only 5 lines of unedited Austen remain, but a good many of the lines are at least edited versions of Austen. And I think her feel for Austen's style of diction and sentence structure are better than Davies' in the S&S mini-series, though I think he showed a much, much better feel in his P&P and Emma scripts.

Oh, right. So, she secretly trained a flock of sandflies.