Oscar Goes to the Five Corners of the Globe

This year’s best picture nominees represent an unprecedented sweep of the world, with each one having been set or filmed in a different country: “The Postman (Il Postino)” in Italy, “Babe” in Australia, “Braveheart” in Scotland, “Sense and Sensibility” in England and “Apollo 13” in the United States. So we dispatched correspondents to each site to find out how filming affected the area, how the finished film touched the locals--and who everyone will be rooting for on Monday night.

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This historic southwestern port city has a long, proud tradition of making its influence felt on America.

Four hundred years ago its most famous son, Sir Francis Drake, sailed round the world, stopping en route in 1579 at Point Reyes, Calif. He renamed the land New Albion and claimed it for his monarch, Queen Elizabeth I. In 1620, the Pilgrims sailed from here aboard the Mayflower; the rest is history, and a plaque in Plymouth’s harbor commemorates it.

No surprise then, that its citizens are taking the success of “Sense and Sensibility” in their stride. Ang Lee’s film, based on lead actress Emma Thompson’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel, was partly filmed near Plymouth--at Saltram House, an 18th century country manor. Saltram was used for the house of the Dashwood sisters Elinor and Marianne, played by Thompson and Kate Winslet, in “Sense and Sensibility.”

“Americans do seem to like this kind of film, don’t they?” said Plymouth resident Jane Simpson, musing on the movie’s seven Oscar nominations. “You can see why--it’s beautiful. But then it’s some of the prettiest countryside in England.”

“I reckon the film will do more for tourism round here than any amount of advertising could do,” said Janet Morgan, who also lives in the Plymouth area. “Americans will take one look and want to visit.”

Both women had just emerged from Drake Odeon, the city’s major movie theater, where lines form round the block to see “Sense and Sensibility” three times daily.

“We’ve done tremendous business since we opened [in February,” Drake Odeon manager Allan Rosser said. “There’s a feeling that it’s a hometown film.”

Yet the major effect of “Sense and Sensibility” may be on Saltram itself. The house is run by the National Trust, a government-subsidized organization that manages and restores significant or historic buildings, opening them to the public while trying to keep them in their original pristine condition. Saltram reopens to the public next weekend after its scheduled winter closure--and a flood of visitors is expected in the wake of the film’s success.

“We are an old and very sensitive building,” said Roy Chandler, Saltram’s house steward. “The trust has mixed feelings about a lot of visitors--it’s a constant balancing act between conservation and access.”

The National Trust is probably wise to be prepared. Last year, after the success of another Jane Austen adaptation, BBC TV’s production of “Pride and Prejudice,” visitor numbers tripled at Lyme Park, a splendid rural manor used in the series.

Certainly there is much at Saltram for fans of the film to see. Seven ground-floor rooms were used, and Chandler ticked off scenes as he gave an exclusive tour of the house. “This is where Hugh Grant noticed the young girl hiding under the table. . . . Here’s where the Dashwood family sat round the dinner table,” and so on.

The visual splendor of the Saltram scenes has had another indirect effect on Plymouth, which has become a magnet for location scouts. Since “Sense and Sensibility,” Trevor Nunn’s film version of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” has been shot at two nearby National Trust properties; and director John Duigan (“Sirens”) plans to embark this summer on “Land’s End,” which will be shot at the southwestern tip of England.

Overall, though, the city has reacted calmly to the success of “Sense and Sensibility.” Apart from the lines at the Drake Odeon, there is scant evidence of the film’s local connections. City center booksellers are not promoting their Jane Austen novels heavily, nor even Thompson’s published screenplay and diaries of the film. Well, Plymouth has made its mark on America for four centuries--why get excited about it now?