Mansfield Park (1999)

Regista:

Patricia Rozema

Writers:

Jane Austen (novel)
Patricia Rozema (written by)

Data di uscita:

19 novembre 1999 (USA)

Genere:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Slogan:

Jane Austen's Wicked Comedy

Plot:

At 10, Fanny Price, a poor relation, goes to live at Mansfield Park, the estate of her aunt's husband...

Plot Keywords:

Playing Cards | Love Triangle | Quill | 19th Century | Rain

Premi:

4 nominations

Recensioni degli utenti:

Even cute-as-a-button "Frances O'Connor" couldn't save this pointless exercise...

Cast

Hannah Taylor-Gordon	...	Young Fanny (as Hannah Taylor Gordon)
Talya Gordon	...	Young Susan
Lindsay Duncan	...	Mrs. Price / Lady Bertram
Bruce Byron	...	Carriage Driver
James Purefoy	...	Tom Bertram
Sheila Gish	...	Mrs. Norris
Harold Pinter	...	Sir Thomas Bertram
Elizabeth Eaton	...	Young Maria
Elizabeth Earl	...	Young Julia
Philip Sarson	...	Young Edmond
Amelia Warner	...	Teenage Fanny
Frances O'Connor	...	Fanny Price
Jonny Lee Miller	...	Edmund Bertram
Victoria Hamilton	...	Maria Bertram
Hugh Bonneville	...	Mr. Rushworth

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief violent images, sexual content and drug use.

Durata:

112 min

Nazionalità:

UK

Lingua:

Inglese

Colore:

Colore

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sonoro:

Dolby Digital

Divieti:

USA:TV-14 (cable rating) | South Korea:15 | Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | Australia:M | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:M | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:PG-13

Luoghi delle riprese:

Charlestown, Cornwall, England, UK

Company:

Arts Council of England

Curiosità:

The production company apparently left behind the flock of doves released at the end of Henry Crawford's fireworks display (filmed in Charlestown, Cornwall). For more than eight years after filming was completed, the birds survived thanks to the efforts of a local woman who feared they would perish, due to having to compete with gulls for food.

Errori:

Anacronismi: The harp that Mary Crawford is playing is a double action harp. The double action harp was not invented until 1810, while the movie took place in 1806.

Citazioni:

Fanny Price: It could have turned out differently, I suppose. But it didn't.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Real Jane Austen (2002) (TV)

Colonna sonora:

Djongna (Slavery)

Even cute-as-a-button "Frances O'Connor" couldn't save this pointless exercise...

They say the great thing about Shakespeare's work is that it is so open to interpretation. Every director can bring his or her fresh eyes to a play and make it new. Even so, I think we are obliged to stay true to the basic tennents of the text. Are the works of Jane Austen as open to interpretation? Maybe, but I doubt it; Certainly not if MANSFIELD PARK is anything to go by.

MANSFIELD was always my favourite of Austen's six novels. Many modern critics, while not denying its basic greatness, have problems with the book. Many find FANNY PRICE unlikeable, many find her judgemental, and feel that her Stoic, Augustan approach is hard to relate to. Stand-by, do nothing, and eventually he'll see the error of his ways and come to love you. Not very modern, is it?

OK, so if you don't like the main character, if you don't like what she has to say, then what do you do? Look for other aspects of the story you can relate to. In recent years some critics have chosen to see MANSFIELD PARK in Post-Imperial terms, as a critique of Slavery. After all, the family's wealth is based on plantations in Antiga, which were run by slaves. Is that what the book's about? Is it? I don't know. I think the evidence is a little slim, but who am I to deny the possibility? Maybe it plays a part in the subtext of the novel.

So, I'm a modern script-writer who doesn't like the novel, it's pre-occupations or even Fanny Price. What do I do? I completely re-write the story to take a possible minor sub-text (slavery) and turn it in to the driving narrative force. I then take smart as a whippet, stubborn yet passive Fanny and turn her into a ballsy version of Bridget Jones. With an attitude. I then string together a couple of scenes from the book with a few invented bridging scenes to advance the romance. Et Voila! I have a completely different story!

I don't know what this film is, but it isn't Mansfield Park. Enjoy it on its own terms, but don't ever get the idea that your watching Austen on the screen. But, jeeze. I think that if you're going to adapt a novel for the screen, you ought to at least like the source material; Otherwise, what's the point? If you don't like the main character, you shouldn't be able to completely re-invent her. Or if you do, you should have the decency to be a little ashamed.