Mansfield Park (1999)

Excellent but underrated film

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Having read the book and having enjoyed the fine Masterpiece Theater adaptation , I took this film for what it aimed to be...Sexy and sensationalistic . The portrayal of Fanny price is totally ridiculous , although Frances O'Connor is certainly first rate eye candy , and talented as well . This gentle , somewhat timid young lady ...the novel's heroine , is depicted as a sharp tongued and ever self confident modern day woman in this farce . It must be added that the book is a very serious one , and certainly not a comedy ! Well , it is entertaining , but it is a far cry from Austen's Mansfield Park ! The references to slavery and the disgusting sketchbook scenes relating to it add nothing to the novel's theme . The positive ratings many have given this film speak only to our modern obsession with cheap thrills and prurience . Do yourself a favor , if you truly loved the book , and check out the 2007 adaptation !

Mansfield Park (1999) was written and directed by Patricia Rozema. It's based on Jane Austen's novel. Frances O'Connor stars as Fanny Price, the protagonist of the novel. Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility are considered Jane Austen's two best works. Mansfield Park is down a rung on the ladder along with Persuasion and Emma. However, Jane Austen may well be the world's greatest English-language novelist, so even her less dazzling novels are read, and re-read, to this day.The film version rises and falls on the character of Fanny Price, the poor relation who is sent to rich relatives who live at Mansfield Park. The plot revolves around Fanny, and Frances O'Connor brings her alive. (At age 32, O'Connor was chronologically too old for the part, but she has a very vital, youthful quality, and she looks perfect in the role.) Not only does O'Connor do great work, but the supporting cast is excellent, and the production values are high.However, a controversy arises because director Rozema has chosen to subtly shift the characters and the sense of the novel to add incidents from Austen's own life, and to include a moral discussion about slavery. (The slave trade in England was outlawed in 1808, but slavery itself was not outlawed until 1833.)As cited in Wikipedia, "The result is a film that retains the core character evolution and series of events of Jane Austen's novel, but in other ways, some critics claim, stresses its themes and ideas differently. The plot changes the moral message of Austen's novel, and makes the story a critique of slavery rather than a conservative critique of the "modern." In the novel Fanny's passivity and moral stance are seen as virtues but these aspects of her character are missing from the film." I refer you to the complete article in Wikipedia, but this paragraph is the core of it.The question for me becomes, "Can scriptwriter Rozema improve on Jane Austen? Should director Rozema allow her to do this?" That's not an easy question, and I don't have an easy answer.This film was made for the large screen. We saw it on the small screen, and it worked pretty well. Whether it is or isn't what Jane Austen had in mine, it's a very good movie, and worth seeking out.

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS (but not much)*Over the years, we've seen Austen stories adapted for screen, many with liberties taken for the sake of expediency or artistic license. This film uses the title and characters from a wonderful, thought-provoking story and alters them beyond recognition. It also eliminates some key figures and plot completely (her relationship with her brother William is essential to the story, and he's not even alluded to in this film). Many of Fanny's behaviors (pique made obvious to visitors and her "superiors", her feet up on a chair in a non-private room, déshabillé with a near stranger) and statements are so thoroughly current-day and not in keeping with the shy, insecure Fanny Price of Austen's book that they are as much a distraction as a ringing cell phone inserted into a scene would be. There's also a great deal of sexualization of the characters which is superfluous and, again, distracting. It's not clear what story Ms. Rozema wanted to tell here but it surely was not Mansfield Park.

Mansfield Park is one of my favorite Austen Novels (and one of her better written ones, I think) and this movie does it a kind of semi- justice. They change some of the points of the story by elaborating some things that they merely brushed over in the book. They don't emphasize certain other things that the characters feel, say or do but they do it without alteration of the essence of the character. (I will not point them out here for those of you who haven't read the book so as not to draw your eye to it when you watch the movie.) They also change the spot of where things happen, or how they happen but you still get the core of the characters across, so no harm done.Other than those small changes I think that this movie is very well done. No book-to-movie translation is exactly like the book. They must make artistic changes because you can't see exactly what the character is feeling or thinking. The casting was brilliantly done because the actors chosen don't overshadow the character they are meant to portray; although I think they gave the audience a more favourable persona in Edmund. In the movie he is protective and affectionate of Fanny (which he is in the Novel as well) but without the pass-over kind of affection that it was. In the novel he would sometimes seem to the reader unworthy of her affections just because he was so blasé towards her and her opinions that you would think him a bit of a snob. The movie cuts that out and makes him seem like the perfect man personified. Fanny was excellent, she was just as awkward and unsure yet lovely and well spoken as the Fanny in the book. The language of the script is considerably well written and the way that they speak pulls you into the storyline.Overall this is a good movie for period piece fans, but for the Austen fans who want an exact screen portrayal of their beloved book, they might be a tiny bit let down. This movie deserves a viewing no matter which group you fall under. 7/10