Editing Sense and Sensibility (film) (section)

=== Editing ===
Thompson and Doran discussed how much of the love stories to depict, as the male characters spend much of the novel away from the Dashwood sisters. The screenwriter had to carefully balance the amount of screentime she gave to the male leads, noting in her film production diary that such a decision would "very much lie in the editing."{{sfn|Thompson|1995|p=272}} Thompson wrote "hundreds of different versions" of romantic storylines. She considered having Edward re-appear midway through the film before deciding that it would not work as "there was nothing for him to do."{{sfn|Thompson|1995|p=272}} Thompson also opted to exclude the duel scene between Brandon and Willoughby, which is described in the novel, because it "only seemed to subtract from the mystery."{{sfn|Thompson|1995|p=272}} She and Doran agonised about when and how to reveal Brandon's backstory, as they wanted to prevent viewers from becoming bored. Thompson described the process of reminding audiences of Edward and Brandon as "keeping plates spinning".{{sfn|Thompson|Doran|1995|loc=9:30–9:50}}

A scene was shot of Brandon finding his ward in a poverty-stricken area in London, but this was excluded from the film.{{sfn|Thompson|Doran|1995|loc=01:29:10–01:29:50}} Thompson's script included a scene of Elinor and Edward kissing, as the studio "couldn't stand the idea of these two people who we've been watching all the way through not kissing."{{sfn|Thompson|Doran|1995|loc=01:30:00–01:30:35}} It was one of the first scenes cut during editing: the original version was over three hours, Lee was less interested in the story's romance, and Thompson found a kissing scene to be inappropriate. The scene was included in marketing materials and the film trailer.{{sfn|Thompson|Doran|1995|loc=01:30:00–01:30:35}}{{sfn|Higson|2011|p=141}}{{sfn|Stovel|2011}} Thompson and Doran also cut out a scene depicting Willoughby as remorseful when Marianne is sick. Doran said that despite it "being one of the great scenes in book history," they could not get it to fit into the film.{{sfn|Thompson|Doran|1995|loc=01:59:00–01:59:15}}

[[Tim Squyres]] edited the film, his fourth collaboration with Ang Lee. He reflected in 2013 about the editing process:
<blockquote>It was the first film that I had done with Ang that was all in English, and it's Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, and Hugh Grant — these great, great actors. When you get footage like that, you realise that your job is really not technical. It was my job to look at something that Emma Thompson had done and say, "Eh, that's not good, I'll use this other one instead." And not only was I allowed to pass judgment on these tremendous actors, I was required to.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/22/showbiz/movies/oscar-nominated-editors-ew |title=Oscar-nominated editors clear up the biggest category misconception |first=Mandi |last=Bierly |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |publisher=[[CNN]] |date=22 February 2013 |access-date=23 July 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302023213/http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/22/showbiz/movies/oscar-nominated-editors-ew |archive-date= 2 March 2013 }}</ref></blockquote>