Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1226 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-06-15
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Patricia Rozema is a Canadian director with the nerve to helm smart, big budget movies, as she proves again in Mansfield Park. She had her first hit with the quirky I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987) in which the heroine, a mouse among art gallery sharks, eventually comes into her own, surpassing the mentor who's risen on her back. Similarly, in Mansfield Park, adapted from Jane Austen's strongly autobiographical novel, penniless city mouse Fanny Price (Frances O'Connor) comes to live in a handsome country manor with the Bertrams, her heartless, class-conscious relations. After many cruel setbacks, Fanny manages, by dint of writing talent and moral integrity, to win the day and the love of her life Edmund (Trainspotting's Jonny Lee Miller).

Unlike filmmakers who dress up Austen's money-driven world in sweetness and light, Rozema rubs our noses in the fact that the Bertrams' wealth flows from the blood and sweat of faraway slaves. The adaptation never euphemises the down-and-dirty slum life which has swallowed up Fanny's mother and threatens Fanny if she refuses to marry the handsome but hollow fortune hunter (Alessandro Nivola) chosen for her by her benefactors. Playwright Harold Pinter is compelling as Mansfield Park's patriarch, Sir Thomas Bertram, capable of kindness but stone-cold when his aristocratic will is crossed. Embeth Davidtz (playing Mary, the amoral sibling of Fanny's suitor, with wonderfully seductive verve) and O'Connor almost resemble each other--and they are sisters of a sort, each vying, according to her talents, in a stock market where women must parlay sex to stay alive. In this entertaining ride in the socioeconomic fast lane circa 1806, Jane Austen comes across as a full-blooded proto-feminist with savvy charm.--Kathleen Murphy, Amazon.com

Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
DVD 5
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
English

Synopsis
This sterling adaptation of Austen's third published novel, set in early 19th century Portsmouth, England, concerns Fanny Price (O'Connor), an intelligent young woman who is sent to live with her mother's wealthy family. Settling into her new life, Fanny is treated poorly by everyone except her cousin Edmund (Miller). The pair connect immediately, and pretty soon deeper feelings emerge. The arrival of a conniving brother and sister duo cause a commotion, forcing Fanny to decide if she should succumb to her material surroundings, or remain true to her heart.

Customer Reviews

Instead of changing the story, they should have changed the title.
I had seen this film a few times without reading the book. I didn't know the story so thought it was a really lovely film and enjoyed the cinematography and acting. I was quite happy to watch it a couple of times after that

Then, recently I bought the Complete Works of Jane Austin and finally read and enjoyed the book. It had been a while since I saw the film, so dug it out again. This time I was horrified as to what they had actually done with it!! Whoever wrote the script, they may as well have started from scratch and then claimed the glory for themselves!! There were so many things wrong in this film that it drove me to distraction. What's the deal with the slavery? The sex scene that Fanny Price walks in on? Fanny's engagement??? The fiesty heroine, rather than a timid little mouse!! And numerous other things that I could not believe. My whole enjoyment for the film was gone.

So, if you intend to watch this film, DO NOT, whatever you do, read the book first. Then you might enjoy it!!!

A personal vision
Début Août 2007, je voyais ce film pour la première fois et mon appréciation était parasitée par différentes choses; C'était la première fois que je me lançais sans le support de sous-titres en français (et je dois dire que mettre les sous-titres anglais aide réellement, il ne faut pas hésiter !), je n'y avais pas fait attention lors de mon achat et c'était donc une (mauvaise) surprise. Et puis, si j'avais lu les six romans "majeurs" de Jane Austen, je n'avais pas encore vraiment pénétré plus avant dans son monde.

Depuis, les choses ont évoluées, et ma "groupitude" n'a cessé de croître
J'ai donc fait, entre autres, l'acquisition des oeuvres romanesques complètes (seul le tome 1 existe à ce jour... mais que fait Gallimard !) dans La Pléiade, et j'ai pu réellement approfondir mes connaissances (ça fera l'objet d'un autre billet, un jour) et notamment découvrir deux de ses oeuvres de jeunesse, "Amour et amitié" et "Histoire de l'Angleterre".
C'est donc avec un oeil tout à fait différent que j'ai repassé 112 minutes à Mansfield Park.
Et je suis maintenant enthousiaste !

C'est une adaptation très libre du roman, écrite et réalisée par la canadienne Patricia Rozema. L'héroïne, Fanny Price, a beaucoup plus de caractère que celle du roman. Elle incarne même presque une forme de féminisme avant l'heure, tenant tête de plus en plus bravement : à Sir Thomas pour le mariage qu'il souhaite lui imposer, à Aunt Norris (j'adore la scène où elle lui rétorque "et vous, tante Norris, combien de temps pensez-vous rester ?", puis enfin à la belle Mary Crawford dans l'extraordinaire confrontation finale.
Il y a énormément de modernité dans cette adaptation, dans les relations entre les gens, dans l'essence même de la personnalité des Crawford, dans le traitement de certaines scènes du roman (chocs très visuels de la découverte du cahier des dessins de Tom, ou surprise au lit de Maria et Crawford... Inconcevable, chez Jane Austen ! Tout au plus suggéré de très loin).

Mais pourtant, l'esprit de Jane est bien là, la trame du roman est respectée, et on en vient à beaucoup apprécier - et même respecter - cette Fanny Price, au détriment de celle de papier qui est souvent beaucoup trop incolore et passive.
Et c'est bien là le secret, la touche mutine de la réalisatrice, que d'avoir intimement mélanger Miss Price et Miss Austen elle-même !
Les histoires qu'elle écrit à sa soeur Suzy dès son arrivée à Mansfield Park et jusqu'à la fin de son adolescence, sont les propres oeuvres de jeunesse de Jane Austen, ou l'épilogue nous montre l'heureux couple devisant du futur titre (imbuvable :-D) qu'Edmund propose pour la première édition des écrits de Fanny.

Ah l'épilogue justement : quelle merveille que ces plans arrêtés, personnages suspendus, attentifs, espérant ou redoutant, alors que la voix off nous égrene, toute mutine (après nous avoir donné des nouvelles de chacun) "Bien sûr, les choses auraient pu se passer différemment... But they did not"...
Enfin, les acteurs, somptueux, justes jusque dans leur moindre battement de cil... Superbe casting ! Pour pinailler je trouve juste que Victoria Hamilton (Maria Bertram), si elle est parfaite pour le côté frondeur, a du mal à faire passer sa soi-disant beauté beaucoup plus prononcée que sa soeur. Mais sans doute est-ce une question d'appréciation personnelle ?

Fanny Price a trouvé en Frances O'Connor en tous les cas une merveilleuse interprète (avec même le détail de la vilaine peau toute boutonneuse après son séjour forcé chez ses parents...) !
A noter que je n'ai pas pleuré, à aucun visionnage (si rare !), mais pour l'excellente originalité je recommande avec conviction cette adaptation.

An Intriguing adaptation
Reading the reviews submitted on the topic of Jane Austen novels, I wonder why so much criticism is directed toward a film's total adherence to every aspect of her books. I have all her novels, and read them periodically and know the stories as she wrote them. I find it interesting to see the various features, within her stories, used by producers to try and interpret how she wanted her characters to come across to her readers. Whatever form of interpretation is offered by whatever producer, it will never satisfy everyone as the script writers have to be selective as well as inventive because of the film's time-scale. For me, any production of her work simply immortalises Jane Austen novels still more. When the need arises that I want to relive the originality of her stories, I open her books in my collection. I enjoyed this film adaptation of Mansfield Park and felt Frances O' Conner's portrayal of Fanny Price, quite entrancing, though a little more assertive than previous adaptations, and perhaps there, strayed a little from how the character comes across in the book. I was intrigued to see Edmund played by Johnny Lee Miller; a part that was worlds away from the Hackers character he played in the mid nineties. I found his performance convinced me of his brotherly relationship with Fanny, gradually mutating to a romantic conclusion. On the whole I felt this production worthy to enter my collection alongside the many other versions of Mansfield Park in it.