FROM PRADA TO NADA - AUSTEN GOES TO LA, EAST LA

Sense and Sensibility has inspired this film released in the US in January 2011. From Prada to Nada  DVD has been released soon after. I wanted to see it, as I'm always very curious to anything Austen inspired coming out. I didn't expect an Oscar - worth movie and I was ok with it. I mean, I wasn't too disappointed. I got just what I expected.

The popularization of classics is something I can even appreciate. Provided that, to keep them to the masses involves at least respect for the original and, especially, does not completely  forget quality and decency.  

Was this film bad? Not bad, it was quite pleasant actually. Naive and romantic, light and delightful, full of clichés but bearable. Don't look for much Austen in it, though. Austen is much more than shallow comedy and romance. Maybe people who don't know anything about Sense and Sensibility can enjoy it a lot. Three out of five stars.

The story

Two sisters from Beverly Hills learn how the other side lives after their father dies unexpectedly, and they're taken in by their estranged aunt in East L.A. Nora  and Mary grew up in a sprawling mansion, so far removed from their Mexican roots that Mary refuses to even acknowledge her heritage. Then, in a flash, their father is gone, and they're both left without two pennies to rub together. They discover they have a half brother with an awfully greedy wife who wants to sell their house to pay their debts. Fortunately, Nora and Mary have their kind-hearted Aunt Aurelia (Adriana Barraza) to fall back on. Aunt Aurelia only lives a short distance away, but Boyle Heights is so steeped in Latino culture that it may as well be on another planet.

Unable to speak a word of Spanish and completely ignorant about their culture, Nora and Mary leave their comfortable world kicking and screaming. But the more time Nora and Mary spend getting to know their extended family, the more they begin to get a sense of what they've been missing by remaining locked in their ivory tower all these years. Before long, Nora and Mary begin to regard their Mexican heritage with a sense of pride rather than shame, and realize that all the money in the world can't buy the happiness of begin surrounded and supported by family (from http://www.allrovi.com )

The main characters

Elinor -  Nora Dominguez (Camilla Belle)

Camilla Belle as Nora

I've built my whole life on the only one thing I can control, which is my career... this is what Nora believes in, her shield against suffering. But, suddenly, her father dies and she's left alone with her sister, no money and a huge amount of debts. She dreams of becoming a brilliant lawyer and working for the civil service, helping poor people.

Edward and Nora

Edward Ferrars - Edward Ferris (Nicholas D'Agosto)

I've never liked Edward Ferrars much but I liked his counterpart here in this movie quite a lot. Nicholas D'Agosto portrays a tender, sensitive but, at the same time, self - confident young lawyer with a swooning smile. He immediately falls for Nora and wants to help her offering her a job in his firm. They hit it off at once and become a brilliant team together. If only Nora wasn' t so scared of her own feelings ...

Nicholas D'Agosto as Edward Ferris

Marianne -  Mary Dominguez (Alexa Vega)

Alexa Vega as Mary

"I love the colour red, my iPod is full, I don't wake up before 10.00 and no hablo espanol. I love poetry, pasta and Prada".  This is how she introduces herself to Rodrigo, the fascinating TA giving lessons in her course at college, for whom she immediately falls, right after his first impressive class about Garcìa Lorca. They have a brief but intense, passionate affair. But later on, while she thinks he's away in Mexico,  she discovers he is a liar and a rake. She'll run away in despair from the party where he is a guest too and will have a terrible car crash.

Rodrigo and Mary

Willoughby - Rodrigo Fuentes (Kuno Becker)

Kuno Becker as Rodrigo

If you are lucky enough to meet a TA like him at college, you won't skip a lesson! Even if you are spoilt, lazy, shallow Mary Dominguez. If only he wasn't that good a liar, if only he wasn't ...
He  is a rogue. I've always somewhat forgiven Willloughby, thinking he was really in love with Marianne but too ... penniless! But this Rodrigo here is unforgivable. Though very handsome.

Colonel Brandon - Bruno (Wilmer Valderrama)

Alexa Vega and Wilmer Valderrama

Well, actually, meeting him like this... you can't recognize any sign of Colonel Brandon's charm in this man. He's Bruno. He loves Mary at first sight but she treats him as a tramp, poor man. He is generous, patient, resourceful and wise. An artist. He doesn't hide any tragic romantic love in his past but he conquers Mary's love and trust  in the end.

Double very happy ending guaranteed!

This blogpost is part of my third task in the Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011 hosted by Laurel Ann at Austenprose. For further info about the challenge click here. 

My previous tasks:

1. Review Cathleen Schine, The Three Weissmanns of Westport

2. Review Beth Pattillo, The Dashwood Sisters Tell All

THE DASHWOOD SISTERS TELL ALL by BETH PATTILLO - MY REVIEW

Beth Pattillo knows how to make me feel better in stressful times. The same happened while reading Mr Dracy Broke My Heart last year, I found relief and escapism in a well-written, all-delight modern Austenesque tale.
Beth Pattillo follows the same successful "recipe" she used for her previous work and the result is a delicious, tasty new novel,  released at the beginning of this month and celebrating the bicentenary of Sense and Sensibility. What are the "ingredients" I  recognized in The Dashwood Sisters Tell All? The double-layered narration: the present story of the American Dodge sisters and the 18th century story of the Austen sisters conveyed through a diary which the 21st century protagonists read, the mysterious "Formidables" protecting Jane Austen's reputation at all cost, beautiful English settings for very romantic love stories, dashing but very down-to-earth male heroes as well as fascinating, very modern heroines and all of them are mixed with an Austen-can-do-magic wand. The result? A delightful modern fairy-tale with the familiar features of Sense and Sensibility.
The plot is in fact based on Elinor and Marianne's Dashwood's story but set in Hampshire, England, nowadays.

Ellen and Mimi Dodge have never been close, but their mother's dying wish sends them on a walking tour of Hampshire that follows in the footsteps of Jane Austen (Beth Pattillo went on the same pleasant errands while writing this book). Their mother also left them something: a mysterious diary that belonged to Jane's sister Cassandra. These private pages shed light on the secrets that nearly tore the Austen sisters apart and inspired one of the greatest love stories of all time.
As the Dodge sisters visit sites that were important to the Austen sisters, from Steventon Rectory to Chawton Great House to Winchester Cathedral, they are drawn together in ways they never expected. They also discover that Cassandra's diary holds clues that will ultimately lead them to Jane's own diary. But someone doesn't want the Dodge sisters to discover Jane's secrets and will stop at nothing to keep Ellen and Mimi from finding the truth.
There's an Edward/Elinor thread (Daniel and Ellen), a Willoughby/Marianne unfortunate encounter  (Ethan and Mimi) and, of course, a Brandon/Marianne happy ending (Tom and Mimi), with none of the bittersweet closing of Sense and Sensibility (I've always thought that ending the least happy among Austen very gratifying six epilogues). 

The story is told in a smart, convincing, amusing style with magic moments of romance and a bit of mystery.  A great fun read. If you fancy something which is light and enjoyable and Austenesque, this is perfect for you.

Remember! There's a giveaway going on here on My Jane Austen Book Club of an autographed copy of The Dashwood Sisters Tell All. It is open worldwide and ends on April 30th. Read Beth Pattillo's guestpost for The Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Celebration - a brilliant fragment inspired to the novel, titled Lost in Sense and Sensibility-  and leave your comment and e-mail address there to be entered in the giveaway.


My grateful thanks to Beth Pattillo for my personal autographed copy of the novel. I'll treasure it on the Austenesque shelf of my library.

Task 2 out of 4 in The Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge hosted by Laurel Ann at Austenprose.

SENSE & SENSIBILITY RE-LIVES IN CATHLEEN SCHINE' S "THE THREE WEISSMANNS OF WESTPORT" - MY REVIEW

Sense and Sensibility relives in this highly entertaining modern comedy by Cathleen Schine. Her homage to Jane Austen's first published achievement in the year of its bicentenary is funny, light, delightful. 

The events may be anticipated by Austen fans to whom the plot and its twists have no secret, but The Three Weissmanns of Westport  remains, however,  a surprisingly original and highly amusing novel. Those familiar with Sense and Sensibility will immediately spot parallels. 

Miranda is sensibility, hence,  a modern Marianne. She is not 17 any longer. She's middle-aged and a literary agent entangled in a series of scandals. Her Willoughby? Kit, a charmingly handsome  thirty-something, single parent, promising TV actor,  who succeeds in making her totally lose her head.

Annie is sense and, like Elinor she is the elder, more pragmatic sister, a library director who can't help  taking care of all those around her: her sister and her mother,  her two sons, her friends.

Both Annie and Miranda love quoting Louisa May Alcott: "She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain" . And this is true, for both of them.

Their mother, Betty, a modern Mrs Dashwood on the brink of divorce,  has  unexpectedly been left by their  step-father, Josie, whom they have loved and esteemed as a dear father since they were very young children. 

Josie is now in love with Felicity, his blond and much younger secretary. A changed man.

The three Weissmanns, shocked and disappointed by an unacceptable behaviour from a  father/husband of forty-eight years,  leave their luxurious apartments in New York and move to a run-down Westport, Connecticut, beach cottage. Here we met a variety of  humorous characters,  from bizarre cousin Lou and his wife, Rosalyn, as well as her hilarious father, Mr Shunptov  to some romantic characters like Roberts - Colonel Brandon's  unfortunate correlative - and Frederick Barrow - aka a modern Edward Ferrars , whose awkwardly indecisive behaviour will make Annie suffer all through the story. Barrow, Felicity's brother, is a fascinating writer, rather prone to his own grown-up children, which makes his love affair with Annie very complicated. No Lucy Steele,  then? Yes, of course. She's called Amber and she's so young and even pregnant, poor Annie!

Books and money matters take the place of Jane Austen's propriety and decorum matters in this upper-middle-class world's conversations. The characters  live between New York, Los Angeles and Westport, Connecticut. Their being Jewish makes everything even more interesting. Though, they don't take it too seriously, their being Jewish sounds rather self-mocking . For instance, while they are decorating their Christmas tree, Josie reminds to young Annie and Miranda that that holiday " ...celebrates the birth of a man in whose name an entire religion has persecuted and murdered our people for thousand of years... And knowing that, why should we let them have all the fun?"

The happy ending can't be avoided and is very much welcome: Jane Austen docet, Cathleen Schine discit. Forgive my Latin jokes. I mean, Jane Austen teaches, Cathleen Schine has learnt. Joy will come in the end with a bit of nostalgia and, just like in Sense and and Sensibility, we have an imperfect happy ending.  

In conclusion,  this is a good example of how to  re-write  a well-known and beloved novel in a clever way: respect and love for the original behind every word.

This was my first task for the Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge  

hosted by Laurel Ann at www.Austenprose.com

Thanks to Picador for kindly providing me with a review copy of this lovely book.

THE SENSE AND SENSIBILITY BICENTENARY CHALLENGE 2011 - MY TASKS

I'm very pleased to announce that I'll officially join the Sense and Sensibility Bicentenary Challenge 2011 hosted by Laurel Ann Nattress at her amazing site, Austenprose . If you have not read Jane Austen’s masterpiece or would like to revisit it in honor of its significant anniversary, seen all of the movies or read all of the sequels and spinoffs, this is the year to join the challenge along with other Janeites, historical fiction readers and period drama movie lovers. I'm going to try to fullfil 4 tasks: 

Books

1. The Three Weissmanns of  Westport by Cathleen Shine

2. The Dashwood Sisters Tell All by Beth Pattillo

Films 

1. From Prada to Nada 2011 

2. Scents and Sensibility 2011

For further information about this challenge CLICK HERE