Mansfield Park
Mansfield Park (1999)
The Mansfield Park of 1999 is not a very good adaptation of the book and I do not recommend it. While its plot follows the book well, it does not respect the feeling or Jane Austen's original characters as well as the more recent film of 2007. They confuse Fanny with the author by portraying Fanny Price as a strong, independent young woman who likes to write stories for her cousin, Edmund, and her sister, Susan. Frances O'Connor plays her more like Jane Austen than like Fanny Price. Sir Thomas is turned into some kind of horrible slave-driver, a disappointment to his eldest son and the reason Thomas Bertram is such a misfit. Lady Bertram goes from a simple and dim-witted woman to an opium addict always slipping in and out of sanity and sleep. As in many of Jane Austen's stories, Mansfield Park has it's share of bad-behavior in the shadows, but this film brings it all to light and is very explicit about things that were only suggested. The only redeeming factor of the whole movie is Embeth Davidtz's performance as Mary Crawford. She satisfies my idea of Jane Austen's Mary Crawford as the sweet, but superficial woman who could deceive Edmund Bertram, played by Johnny Lee Miller. This is very far from the original novel's portrayal of Mansfield Park and not a good choice if you love the book; the only people I would recommend this movie to would be those who hate the original novel. EDIT