27
Jul
2009
Mansfield Park (the Movie)
If you take Jane Austen’s book, Mansfield Park, take out the heroine, Fanny Price, and insert Jane from the movie Becoming Jane, you get this film version of Mansfield Park. I’m not saying that that’s a bad thing. It just is what it is.
Now, normally, I am horrified when things are changed in movies adapted from books. Even when I have not read a book that a movie is based on–such as in this instance, where I have not read Mansfield Park–I still don’t like things to be changed. Maybe it’s a fear that someday, once I have written and published a book (that’s another story) somebody will come along, buy the film rights to the novel, and completely butcher it in a movie version. That might seem like a self-indulgent fear, considering I have only written three pages of my novel, but it is a fear I have nonetheless.
However, in this case, I didn’t think it was quite so horrifyingly disrespectful. The reasons the changes in Mansfield Park did not bother me so much, include, but are not limited to the following:
- The original Fanny Price, so my internettal (anybody know the adjective form of internet?) research tells me, is shy and lets things happen to her instead of DOING things, and while Jane Austen may have written these attributes intending them to be positive, I just don’t think that translates well for modern audiences. Being passive = bad these days, while agency is good.
- Fanny’s family is not middle class, they are totally destitute, which adds sympathy, and Mary Crawford’s proposal that hopefully the eldest Bertram heir will die, she’ll marry Edmond Bertram and blah blah blah other nastiness, is revealed in front of the whole family, not privately, which seemed to work well. Other small details are good too, but since I haven’t read the book, I can’t really comment on them, as these are the ones I noticed from reading online.
- Fanny is basically Jane. She is a writer, and pieces of the Juvenalia can be spotted throughout the movie. Like I said, I normally hate this type of thing, but since I don’t think the original Fanny is relatable, it worked for me.
That all being said, has anyone both seen AND read the book? I’d be interested in your thoughts.
Mansfield Park (1999) at Amazon
Regarding substituting “Jane” in for “Fanny” – a vast majority of Austen’s work is based on people she knew and things that did happen in her life made their modified way into her books.
So from that standpoint, I’m more than fine with modifying Fanny’s character a little. Overall the story is still the same and it’s capturing this slice of experience. Giving Fanny more chutzpah doesn’t change who she is or the outcome – it’s not like they swapped personalities with a different character and made her completely unrelatable or gave her actions/words that would change her drastically and thus the outcome.
Audiences are also very well versed with Lizzy Bennet – they have come to expect all of Austen’s heroines to react and speak in a similar manner. “Jane” in Becoming Jane is even a reflection of this.
I agree with you about the changes to Fanny’s character between book and movie versions. I don’t think there was much they could have done to make Austen’s Fanny palatable to modern viewers, so inserting some of these ‘inauthentic’ character traits into the movie character make sense.
Having said that, I didn’t much care for the movie overall. The book is what it is, and you can definitely place it in its context and appreciate the side characters for their comments on manners and place in society. The movie doesn’t do a whole lot of that, although the inclusion of the Atlantic slavery discussion did make me sit up and pay attention.
Thanks for your review!
Celia,
I can’t believe I forgot to mention the slavery thing. I did read that it is not apparent in the book, and did think it gave something more to the story.
I really enjoyed the movie. But I still have yet to read the book…I started it a few years ago, but I just couldn’t get going on it. I’ll have to try it again. Thanks for your review!
This looks really good. I am still workingmy way through some Austen movies for the challenge.