Once a sure bet with the art house crowd and book-reading adult audiences, movies based on the works of Jane Austen are a recent tradition that Canadian filmmaker Patricia Rozema messes around with in "Mansfield Park". The Miramax film premiered at the Montreal Film Festival and now faces a chilly boxoffice climate crowded with "prestigious" productions of all persuasions.
In some ways successful in her ambitious combination of the 1814 novel -- which is in its feature-film debut, though faithfully done a few years back as a BBC miniseries -- and biographical elements from Austen, Rozema ultimately lets her revisionary agenda overwhelm the natural rhythms and refined wisdom that radiates from the author's works.
Incorporating material from Austen's "letters and early journals," Rozema creates Fanny (Frances O'Connor), a poor relation who moves in with her rich uncle (Harold Pinter), aunts (Lindsay Duncan, Sheila Gish) and numerous cousins, including the somewhat rebellious Edmund Jonny Lee Miller). Although she's made to feel inferior and not encouraged to seek a mate, Fanny turns into a writer and woman of wit, ambitious but impressionable.
The action takes place in and around a titular mansion in a privileged environment maintained by the owner's overseas business that uses slaves. Fanny herself is a slave to convention and good decorum but kindles a flame in the heart of easily defeated Edmund. The moral atmosphere gets even stormier and sensual currents flow around the pair when brother and sister Henry (Alessandro Nivola) and Mary (Embeth Davidtz) come for a visit.
While Edmund falls for Mary, she plays a number of angles, including a mild flirtation with Fanny. Eventually disaster strikes when tricky Henry proposes to Fanny and she's forced to run away.
With her energy and generally sensible persona, O'Connor is the film's biggest asset as the plucky but complicated heroine, who is ultimately unfazed by certain shocking complications on the way to a happy ending.
MANSFIELD PARK
Miramax Films
A Miramax Films/BBC Films presentation
in association with the Arts Council of England
A Miramax HAL Films production
Credits: Screenwriter-director: Patricia Rozema; Producer: Sarah Curtis; Executive producers: Trea Hoving, David Aukin, Colin Leventhal, David M. Thompson, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein; Director of photography: Michael Coulter; Production designer: Christopher Hobbs; Editor: Martin Walsh; Costume designer: Andrea Galer; Music: Lesley Barber; Casting: Gail Stevens. Cast: Fanny Price: Frances O'Connor; Mary Crawford: Embeth Davidtz; Edmund Bertram: Jonny Lee Miller; Henry Crawford: Alessandro Nivola; Sir Thomas Bertram: Harold Pinter; Lady Bertram: Lindsay Duncan; Mrs. Norris: Sheila Gish. MPAA rating: PG-13. Color/stereo. Running time -- 116 minutes.
In some ways successful in her ambitious combination of the 1814 novel -- which is in its feature-film debut, though faithfully done a few years back as a BBC miniseries -- and biographical elements from Austen, Rozema ultimately lets her revisionary agenda overwhelm the natural rhythms and refined wisdom that radiates from the author's works.
Incorporating material from Austen's "letters and early journals," Rozema creates Fanny (Frances O'Connor), a poor relation who moves in with her rich uncle (Harold Pinter), aunts (Lindsay Duncan, Sheila Gish) and numerous cousins, including the somewhat rebellious Edmund Jonny Lee Miller). Although she's made to feel inferior and not encouraged to seek a mate, Fanny turns into a writer and woman of wit, ambitious but impressionable.
The action takes place in and around a titular mansion in a privileged environment maintained by the owner's overseas business that uses slaves. Fanny herself is a slave to convention and good decorum but kindles a flame in the heart of easily defeated Edmund. The moral atmosphere gets even stormier and sensual currents flow around the pair when brother and sister Henry (Alessandro Nivola) and Mary (Embeth Davidtz) come for a visit.
While Edmund falls for Mary, she plays a number of angles, including a mild flirtation with Fanny. Eventually disaster strikes when tricky Henry proposes to Fanny and she's forced to run away.
With her energy and generally sensible persona, O'Connor is the film's biggest asset as the plucky but complicated heroine, who is ultimately unfazed by certain shocking complications on the way to a happy ending.
MANSFIELD PARK
Miramax Films
A Miramax Films/BBC Films presentation
in association with the Arts Council of England
A Miramax HAL Films production
Credits: Screenwriter-director: Patricia Rozema; Producer: Sarah Curtis; Executive producers: Trea Hoving, David Aukin, Colin Leventhal, David M. Thompson, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein; Director of photography: Michael Coulter; Production designer: Christopher Hobbs; Editor: Martin Walsh; Costume designer: Andrea Galer; Music: Lesley Barber; Casting: Gail Stevens. Cast: Fanny Price: Frances O'Connor; Mary Crawford: Embeth Davidtz; Edmund Bertram: Jonny Lee Miller; Henry Crawford: Alessandro Nivola; Sir Thomas Bertram: Harold Pinter; Lady Bertram: Lindsay Duncan; Mrs. Norris: Sheila Gish. MPAA rating: PG-13. Color/stereo. Running time -- 116 minutes.
- 11/9/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.