Mansfield Park
***
Rated on a 4-star
scale
Screening venue: Cornerhouse (Manchester)
Released in the UK by Buena Vista International on March 31, 2000; certificate
15; 110 minutes; country of origin UK; aspect ratio 1.85:1
Directed by Patricia Rozema; produced by
Sarah Curtis. Written by Patricia Rozema; based on the novel
"Mansfield Park", letters and early journals by Jane Austen. Photographed
by Michael Coulter; edited by Martin Walsh.
CAST.....
Frances O'Connor..... Fanny Price
Jonny Lee Miller..... Edmund Bertram
Alessandro Nivola..... Henry Crawford
Embeth Davidtz..... Mary Crawford
Harold Pinter..... Sir Thomas Bertram
Lindsay Duncan..... Lady Bertram/Mrs. Price
Sheila Gish..... Mrs. Norris
James Purefoy..... Tom Bertram
One of these days I must train myself to read
the novels of Jane Austen. So many people love them, but as of yet, I've
been unable to comprehend them. Her sentences are too long for me, and written
in complex structures of defunct words -- unless I pause to absorb each one
individually, they run past me like a foreign language. Thank goodness for
film adaptations.
The latest is "Mansfield Park",
written and directed by Patricia Rozema, and based on the book Austen was
most proud of, as well as the author's letters and early journals. The nature
of the additional source material means the movie's heroine is more like
the real Austen than the character in the book. This can't be too harmful,
since most writers impose their own desires and values on the protagonists
of their stories.
The girl's name is Fanny Price (Frances O'Connor),
whose mother sent her away as a child, to live with her rich aunt Lady Bertram
(Lindsay Duncan) in the lavish country estate of Mansfield Park. Fanny has
grown up knowing her place -- when to say "Yes, ma'am" or shuffle off in
a corner -- but releases her emotions through story writing, and confiding
in her cousin Edmund (Jonny Lee Miller).
"Mansfield Park" is a generally light and funny
film which invites us to watch Fanny handle the coldness and pressure of
her priggish relatives, and not only survive, but somehow prevail. I have
no idea how much of this comes from the novel, and it's hard for me to analyse
the film from that angle. This is not a position I enjoy. I feel out of my
depth when watching a film based on a famous book that I haven't read. It's
as if I'm missing some necessary piece of general knowledge.
I suppose I must, however, try to respond to some
of the charges that have been levelled at Rozema's picture, which has become
notorious among Austen purists (some of whom may even have seen it). One
thing people are up in arms about is the making of Fanny into a writer. From
my ignorant point of view, this makes perfect sense: Since Fanny's environment
prevents her from shouting out her thoughts, and a movie cannot contain a
narration telling us what's going on in her head, we understand her feelings
through what she writes.
Another controversy surrounds the way Rozema
explicitly reveals that Mansfield Park profits from the slave trade, something
that was only hinted at in the book. Again I would argue that this is
unavoidable: In film, if something isn't on screen, it isn't anywhere, and
besides, Austen wouldn't have insinuated something if she'd wanted us to
ignore it.
Then there are the claims regarding Rozema's sex
scenes -- which are ridiculous, because no such moments exist! There is one
brief glimpse of a breast, very late on in the film, as an incidental character
is caught en flagrante. But plenty of hack journalists are making out that
this is some sort of wild bonkfest, with Fanny Price leading the
way.
Ah, sigh. There will always be cretins who invent
falsities to get their names in print. All I can say is that "Mansfield Park"
is an enjoyable piece of cinema, with charming performances and rich, colourful
photography. It hasn't dissuaded me from attempting the Austen novels a few
more times.
COPYRIGHT© 2000 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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