Mansfield Park details
| Format: | 15 DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Victoria Hamilton, Justine Waddell, James Purefoy, Hugh Bonneville, Alessandro Nivola, Lindsay Duncan, Embeth Davidtz, Harold Pinter, Frances O'Connor, Jonny Lee Miller, Sheila Gish |
| Director: | Patricia Rozema |
| Genre: | Drama - General, Period |
| Studio: | WALT DISNEY STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
Mansfield Park |
15 Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 1 hour 47 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | Currently unavailable |
| Main languages: | English |
| Subtitles: | English |
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Most helpful review
Mansfield Park on drugs
By a customer from Canterbury , 07 Feb 2006[Highly rated reviewer]
This isn't an awful movie. It's quite watchable. Some of the acting, especially from Pinter is excellent.
But the rest resembles those films made from classic novels in the 30s where no one concerned in making it had time to read the book. A quick treatment by a college student, a quick script conference, then off we go. Rozema has almost no idea of what the book is about but is entirely unembarrassed by her ignorance in her interview on the DVD.
Austen fans don't have to wait long to discover just how far off the wavelength she is. The first contact between Sir Thomas and Fanny is a reproof for running through MP's corridors shrieking like a banshee. Lines are taken from Mary Crawford in the book and given to Fanny in the film. How's that for missing the point? One by one characters appear looking no more recognisable than if they were appearing in a literary celebrity edition of Scooby Doo.
If the film was called something else and the characters had different names, it would be impossible to trace it's origins to Austen's book which is definitely not a conventional love story about bright young things getting together having overcome a few obstacles.
There's very little to choose between the morals of Rozema's characters, so nothing of the catastrophic descent into the abyss is associated with the production of Lover's Vows, nor do we have any glimpse of Rushworth and Crawford vandalising Sotherton. Mrs Norris is one of the most deliciously evil creations in literature - Rozema reduces her part to a few lines. Thomas Betram is a 'modern' artist - yikes! William Price, Fanny's brother and one of the key relationships in the book, is missing altogether. Susan, her sister, has been reading too many Style magazines.
Mansfield Park might have been a bit like this had it been written by Georgette Heyer or even Jackie Collins. As an Austen adaptation it is execrable. But it's so far off the mark, that as something else entirely, it's not all that bad. Maybe they should just change the title.- Was this review helpful to you?
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All reviews
(38)Corny!
By a customer from Essex , 20 May 2007I love period dramas, especially earlier productions, but this one is pretty poor.- Was this review helpful to you?
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THE BEST VERSION BY FAR
By a customer from WALES , 11 Apr 2007WE'VE RECENTLY WATCHED THE OLD BBC VERSION & THE NEW ITV ONE, NEITHER OF WHICH WERE A PATCH ON THIS VERSION, WHICH IS VERY WELL CAST & ACTED.- Was this review helpful to you?
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great film
By a customer from glasgow , 24 Jan 2007loved this period drama and although had not heard of this one before I watched it thought it was excellent and worth watching again- Was this review helpful to you?
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NOT true to the book
By a customer from Cardiff , 20 Dec 2006'Sterling' is most definitely not the word I would use to describe this adaptation. Not only has it taken gross liberties with the tone of the novel and the historical era but the plot has been 'spiced up' to the point where some scenes are beyond recognisable. Don't watch this if you want to see a good adaptation of Jane Austen's novel. However, if you're just looking for an entertaining film, this is actually really enjoyable. Just keep Jane Austen out of your mind whilst watching!- Was this review helpful to you?
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ASuccess
By Frukie (50 reviews) from London , 21 Oct 2006Watching this again, having seen it on release, its far more successful than I thought originally. Certainly, quite a lot has been added and quite a lot taken away but its entirely consistent in its own terms, and putting the action in the broader context of the foundations for much of the wealth and ostentation that we now enjoy seeing in our heritage cinema is no bad thing. Its not propoganda as some seem to think.
The Crawfords are delicious and their role as 'actors' comes through very clearly - rightly given that the 'theatricals' in all senses form the centrepiece of the novel. Indeed, the arc of the story works well and seems entirely clear. You want to slap Edmund - but that's no great surprise.
Quite off the point, its also the case that, as far as this reviewer is concerned, Embeth Davidtz is quite simply utterly gorgeous.- Was this review helpful to you?
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