Victoria Hamilton in Mansfield Park (1999)

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Mansfield Park (1999) is a BBC production based on the novel of the same name by Jane Austen. It was adapted for the screen and directed by Patricia Rozema who showed a great knowledge of and respect for Jane Austen in her approach. The novel was told as a series of letters, which, of course, is not especially conducive to a screen play. The job was even tougher in that the words are the real joy of Austen's work, but with a wonderful development of characters through the words.

Set at the beginning of the 19th century, it is the story of a poor young girl who is given by her mother to rich relatives, with the hope that she will live a better life, and to have one less mouth to feed at home. The girl, Fanny Price, arrives at Mansfield Hall, only to find out that she is not "just visiting," and that she is to be nearly a servant, and is looked down upon by the other members in the house, including her distant cousins, Maria and Julia, who are about her age.

She is sharp by nature, with a gift for writing, and makes great use of her surroundings to grow into the brightest of the girls, and becomes a power in the household. Maria marries a dolt of a neighbor, but really wants Henry, a womanizing but dashing guest at the manor. His sister Mary sets her sites on Maria and Julia's brother Edmund, whom Fanny has loved since the moment she met him.

Henry declares his love for Fanny, but Fanny doesn't trust him, and her heart belongs to another. When he asks the head of the house for her hand, Thomas tries to force Fanny to marry Henry. When she refuses, Thomas sends her home to her mother. Eventually, she is brought back to help with a family crisis. The eldest son has fallen seriously ill, and she nurses him back to health.

Meanwhile, she catches the married Maria in bed with her devoted Henry, proving what she suspected all along about him. Henry and Maria run off together, creating a huge scandal. While the family is "old money," they are trying to maintain their status by engaging in the slave trade. I will leave the conclusion for you to discover.

In fleshing out the character of Fanny, Rozema borrowed heavily on Jane Austen's life, and even used some of her earliest writings as Fanny's work. Her Fanny is bright, quick witted, with a "tongue that cuts sharper than a guillotine." She is also beautiful, kind, and moral.

The book should have been named Fanny Price, not Mansfield Park. Rozema tried to focus on characters, rather then on period dress and sets, but she did not overlook the production's artistic aspects, and created a very attractive film. I am not huge on period character driven dramas, but Fanny was so appealing, and played so well by Frances O'Conner, that I was won over.

Fanny was played by three actresses at different ages, and all three did credit to the role.

If you liked Emma, you will love this one.

Nudity Report: The exposure is from Victoria Hamilton as Maria, when she is discovered in bed with Henry by Fanny.

Critcs Vote: Enthusiastic! Berardinelli give it 3 stars, and Roger Ebert, 4.

IMDB Summary: A very respectable 7.8/10.

Box Office: The theatrical release maxed at 132 screens, and the US gross was $4.74m. I hope they become profitable with the video sales.

Written by: Tuna ...courtesy of Scoopy.net