Mansfield Park - the verdict?
Overall - I liked it!
It was a nice sunday evening t.v. programme - reasonably well-acted, pretty locations, gorgeous frocks and romantic too. As with any t.v. adaptation there were some strange ommissions (what happened to Julia Bertram? Did I miss this? And the Bertrams' feelings towards Fanny seemed rather changeable...)
I thought the actress playing Mary Crawford was excellent. Michelle Ryan was very pretty and Billie Piper did a credible job as Fanny. (The little girl playing the young Fanny in the opening scene was the spit of Billie Piper!) Though I must confess I occasionally got distracted by the fact that Fanny's hair was so blonde and yet her eyebrows so dark...Curious!) There was also a moment when Fanny was rather more chav than regency miss...On being offered the chance to see her brother's letters of commission, I swear she said a rather Cockney 'yeah!' rather than yes.
But these are nit-picks and, overall, this was fun! (And much better than the last Jane Austen adaptation I saw which was P&P with the giggling Keira Knightly ruining the character of Lizzie Bennet!)
What did everyone else think?
Northanger Abbey next sunday...A novel I've always enjoyed, not least because of the fun Austen has with Catherine and her addiction to Gothic novels...
You can view a trailer here:
posted by Gillian @ 8:25 am
8 Comments:
I really enjoyed it! Whilst not being a ground-breaking, or overly exciting production (and why should it be?) it was nonetheless really good viewing. I haven’t read the book, so can’t comment on what they did with the plot, but I also did wonder what had happened to the younger sister, Julia. I hear there was some scandal to do with her, too, so it was a shame that was cut! I really liked BP, as I always do, but she does look so modern, doesn’t she. And the poor little girl obviously had to have her eyebrows dyed to match Billie’s! I loved the actor playing Edmund – must watch out for him – and what a great name, Blake Ritson. Nice to see Dexter Fletcher playing a tiny part (as the doctor), shame there wasn’t more of him. Looking forward to Northanger Abbey next week – it looks like it’ll be a little more lively and melodramatic.
Annemarie
Hiya,
Good to see Piatkus entering the "blogosphere" ...
I must admit I wasn't that keen, although Mansfield Park was about ten times better than the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma which BBC2 showed on Saturday night.
Austen is so much richer (darker and funnier) than TV adaptions ever seem to manage ...
Mark
Despite Mansfield Park not being my favorite Jane Austen book, I just couldn't get past Billie Piper playing Fanny Price. I completely agree that the young Fanny Price looked exactly like BP. The settings and costumes were definite eye candy, so I'm looking forward to what Northanger Abbey will be like.
Julia
I thought it was O.K. Didn't get a sense of any chemistry between Fanny & Edmund ~ and have to say I didn't really 'believe' in the whole story, felt very much 21st century playing dress up. Just my thoughts!
Thought Billie Pipers eyebrows deserved their own acting credit :D
Many thanks for the book.
Mmmmm, now I’m not to sure as to whether or not I should buy it on DVD, as the reviews seem to be rather lacklustre and Willa’s comments of “felt very much 21st century playing dress up.” And my favourite “Thought Billie Pipers eyebrows deserved their own acting credit :D” LOL might just be proof that the whole thing might be a little distracting to say the least : )
It's very pretty to look at - I have higher hopes of Northanger Abbey.
I think all t.v and film adaptations of the books have a tendency to make everything look a bit too 'chocolate-boxy' but with all the Gothic overtones of N.A, it has to be darker, surely?
Fingers crossed!
Gillian
Speaking of Billie and her eyebrows, I saw them both last night while walking in central London's China Town. While the eyebrows weren't as over-powering in real life, the wide smile was a bit distracting. This may be b/c she had a different man on each arm and quite a group following her! The only other thing I noticed was how short she was, but tv tends to make people appear taller than they really are.
Julia
i thought Mansfield Pk was a bit like a children's tv programme. Stilted dialogue (Fanny did not seem to say much) ok acting but complete lack of tension, drama or real emotion.
BP's eyebrows...wow! She gives the Gallagher brothers (Oasis) a run for their money.
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