Although I am certainly no fan of S&S2, there are a few instances where I can appreciate Emma Thompson’s original intent for the film. For example, the scene at the end of the film, where we see Willoughby astride his horse, up on a hill, is drastically different from the scene in the published screenplay, where we only see Willoughby and his horse in a distant shot, as the camera is pulling back. Frankly, I think that the scene as described in the screenplay is far superior to the version that we see in the final film; in the script, we are NOT forced to see Willoughby’s look of longing that might elicit unearned sympathy, which helps to keep Elinor’s “He will always regret you” remark out of our minds.

Another interesting detail from the screenplay that did NOT make it into the film is that Fanny Dashwood gets hit and thrown backward by the very thing she loves above all else – money! Yes, this is an extremely silly bit of writing, but to my mind it is also a useful reminder to the audience that money isn’t everything, and Marianne (at least according to Jane Austen) would never marry strictly for security. This theme is very evident in the final scene in the screenplay, but not so much in the actual film. Does anyone else greatly prefer the screenplay ending to the ending in the film?

Here is the screenplay ending, for those interested:

The coins spin and bounce, catching the sun like jewels. One hits FANNY in the eye. She reels and falls over backwards into a gorse bush. CAM pulls back as the wedding procession makes its glorious way from the church. We draw away into the surrounding countryside.