From Prada to Nada

Even a classic like Sense and Sensibility can be turned into a senseless drama

Jane Austen wrote the sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood as representing sense and sensibility, even though, by the end of her novel, it becomes clear that if a combination of the two attributes is ideal, rarely are both found in the same person. Such sharp observations on human frailty are entirely absent in From Prada to Nada, an adaptation of Sense and Sensibility set in East Los Angeles.

With the sudden demise of their father, the sisters Nora and Mary Dominguez have lost their home in Beverly Hills. They are Mexican American and are brought to rude realisation of their ethnic origins when they have to move in with their aunt in a ghetto. Spanish is the lingua franca, the posh car and Prada handbag are exchanged for the unthinkable, and the girls are reduced to Nada (nothing).

But so long as there are such men as Edward Ferris (Nicholas D’Agosto), women of East LA may still hope. He is the only one who retains his name from the Jane Austen novel and is madly in love with Nora (Camilla Belle).

Meanwhile, Mary (Alexa Vega) meets handsome Spanish Literature teacher, Rodrigo Fuentes (Kuno Becker), who sweeps her off her feet by raving about Garcia Lorca in the most vague, elliptical language. Naturally, he turns out the villain.

Men apart, what hurts the sisters most is the loss of their mansion in Beverly Hills. This is the core of Hollywood’s love affair with Jane Austen—her fretting about the acquisition, by inheritance or marriage, of large estates. From Prada to Nada is clued on here, but misses out by scattering the movie with brain dead characters, caricaturing Mexicans as charming illegal immigrants who sing, dance and eat taco, and by casting and writing as one might for a bad sitcom.

About The Author

Ajit Duara