Mansfield Park (2007 Film)

Star Rating: Two Stars; Morality: A

Reviewed by Tristan Z. Fry

Jane Austen’s favorite heroine, ten-year old Fanny Price is sent to live with her wealthy relatives, the Bertrams, at Mansfield Park. Growing up, Fanny’s simple good nature serves her well as she is surrounded by a world of deceitful opulence. To achieve her heart’s desire, she must resist both family pressure and the charms of roguish Henry Crawford.

When Masterpiece Theatre’s Mansfield Park aired on January 27, I was fully prepared to dislike it. I already knew from the previews that the filmmakers had taken too many liberties with the novel for me to be satisfied. I watched mainly out of curiosity. How far wrong could they have gone?

To save space for my comments, I refer readers in need of a plot summary to Wikipedia’s article, or the summary on Masterpiece Theatre.

Why did I respond so vehemently to this new version? For one thing, casting Billie Piper (best known from the campy British sci-fi show Dr. Who) as Fanny Price was all wrong. She is a competent actress, but was just not suitable for the part.

Piper’s tangled blonde hair, plunging neckline, and pensive features did not fit the gentle, steady character of Jane Austen’s book. This disheveled creature was not the Fanny I remembered. I do not intend this as a criticism of Piper’s acting per se, since this was obviously a deliberate interpretive choice by the director.

This adaptation was also far too short. If any Austen novel deserved a miniseries to tell the story properly, this was it. Mansfield Park (the book) is nearly twice as long as Pride & Prejudice, and yet it receives only a third of the screen time devoted to the latter.

Much of the story is cut, including the introduction, Fanny’s sister Susan, and her crucial visit to the Price family’s home in Portsmouth. Much more is condensed or changed freely; for example, Fanny’s coming-out ball becomes a picnic. In this case, what should be a gentile scene is transmogrified into a wild party game.

Character alterations were annoying. Fanny’s cruel Aunt Norris is still cold, but the domineering speeches which made her unintentionally funny are gone. She is flattened, cheapened, and viewers miss out on a character as ridiculous as Pride & Prejudice’s Mr. Collins. Family patriarch Sir Thomas seems bipolar, and any perceptive development of his motives is excised for the sake of time.

After saying all that, it may seem surprising to turn and declare that there’s something about Mansfield Park after all. And yet this was the problem that confronted me as I found myself increasingly captivated by it.

If you can get past the fact that Piper’s appearance is not period, you might be able to enjoy her winsome performance. This may not be the book’s Fanny, but she’s friendly and open, inviting viewers to root for her. The Bertram children, especially Edmund, are well-cast. Henry Crawford’s sister Mary, one of Austen’s bewitchingly unprincipled females, was perfectly chosen. Jemma Redgrave’s Lady Bertram is more likeable, her indolence mellowed by a perceptive insight at the end.

The story’s flow and pacing was much better than Persuasion. Its superior lighting and sound make it easier to follow for newcomers than either of the previous films. More scenes were shot outdoors, so it has a sunnier, congenial feeling.

I still miss many of the book’s scenes and little details, but must admit that it was preferable to cut them entirely, rather than compressing the material into an unsatisfactory time slot.

Best of all, this is a highly moral film. The values that made Mansfield Park Austen’s most openly Christian novel are translated almost fully to the screen. First, education is more than textbook learning or social graces. It encompasses character, something the Bertram girls sadly lack. Furthermore, flirtation is serious, leading to a disastrous ethical failing.

Then there is the more subtle comparison of English country values with big city relativism. While our age denigrates the church, Mansfield provides us with a positive portrait of a responsible clergyman in Edmund Bertram. The fashionable Crawfords despise “sermon-making”, but Fanny reminds Edmund that being a clergyman “isn’t about having a comfortable parish, or even preaching a good sermon. It’s about living a good life.” This is a really refreshing sentiment to hear.

In conclusion, far too much freedom was taken in the wrong direction for this to be a satisfactory adaptation of the book. In that sense it is a dismal reminder of all that Persuasion strove for and Northanger Abbey achieved. On the other hand, it is an unflaggingly moral film. Only Andrew Davies’ new Sense & Sensibility remains to be seen in April. Can it achieve the successful blending of ethical concerns and artistic excellence that eluded Mansfield Park?