ITV Mansfield Park -- My Thoughts

[olde_fashioned]

I have just finished watching ITV's skeleton of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park. I am most seriously displeased. I am now going to bring out my sarcastic weapons without any apologetic restraints and wield them with utter ferocity in the general direction of whoever is responsible of ruining this story. Do not read this tirade review if you are an ardent fan of this movie. (although I do not see how any could exist, haha) They seem to have kept the names and changed the rest. Why bother to adapt something if you're not going to tell the story properly???? Grrrrrrr…

I knew I would not like Billie Piper the moment the cast list was released and I saw her picture. Without seeming to “judge a book by its cover” she is not at all period-looking or suitably “meek” or sweet or downtrodden enough to play Fanny Price. At least Jane Austen’s Fanny, that is. I was left with the distinct impression that somewhere along the line, PBS was given the wrong tape and we were subjected to some non-Austen contraption designed to torture and confuse the viewer.

What was with the HAIR in this movie? Fanny has a bleach job (and a bad one at that!) while Tom and Henry looked like something a cat would drag in. Edmund’s hair was plastered to his head like he hadn’t taken a bath in weeks. And makeup? Lipstick?? *fans self*



Was Billie Piper’s idea of showing Fanny’s goodness and sweetness to run around all the time falling out of her dress, flailing her arms about like a crazy woman who thinks she was a chicken in another life? And that wheezing laugh of hers. Is that supposed to be endearing and sympathetic?? Where is Fanny’s heart? Her inner struggles, her moral convictions, her desire to be good, honest, and truthful? There was no emotion at all, and there was no drama -- unless you count confusion! I am so grateful that I had HAPPENED TO READ THE BOOK so that I knew what the heck was going on. I think the filmmakers were even more confused than their audience, sadly. Tom declares that “Fanny is the best girl alive” but what makes her so? There is nothing in the movie to indicate anything other than she likes running around with her mouth open, and watching people behind curtains. The latter worked for Colin Firth as Darcy, but I have yet to see anyone pull off the former with any success.

We were never given a clear reason of why Fanny dislikes Henry so much, other than his previous attentions to Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. (whoops, sorry -- I meant Maria and Julia). We don’t even know in a timely manner about Maria’s sin, or at all about Julia’s elopement, and how “Maria’s guilt induced Julia’s folly.” We are never allowed the crucial visit to Portsmouth where Henry goes and visits Fanny. We never even see Mr. Price and the rest of Fanny’s family.

The dancing scene for Fanny’s birthday was frustrating! The Waltz is not period correct! Gahh!!! I guess ITV didn’t want to go to all the added expense of fitting up a ballroom for a proper Regency ball since they spent all of their budget on getting period-correct hairstyles. I suppose they thought we, the ignorant audience, would enjoy a springtime frolic out on the grass where all the servants gather to gawk? The Bertrams have holdings in Antigua, and yet they cannot afford more than one measly fiddler to play music. The request of the song Portsmouth was an interesting choice, because of Fanny, but it is not the Portsmouth I am familiar with on my English Country Dancing CD. But perhaps there are two different versions. I really thought we might get a nice dance with candlelight and Tom getting away from his aunt’s card table and seeing Fanny’s “glossy spot” dress but alas, we are doomed to have a picnic.

The only thing I liked was the casting of Edmund, which surprised even myself. I thought he did a good job with what he was given, and in portraying Edmund in a less-than-clueless way. I think the character of Edmund would be easy to screw up. Did anyone else think the actor’s voice sounded like Paul Bettany’s? (oooh, there’s an idea. Stephen Maturin in a Jane Austen movie! Why not? We already got Mr. Pullings and Worley. hee hee. Anyone with the last name of “D‘Arcy“ simply HAS to be in a JA adaptation at least once…)

Speaking of which, what is wrong with a little RESEARCH???? William wasn’t allowed to wear his uniform when not on duty!!! It was all over the novel! (note to ITV filmmakers: there is this nice book called “Mansfield Park” -- you might not have heard of it, but you really should make an effort to read it sometime)

Mary Crawford was tolerable, I suppose, but only because everyone else was so bad! Was she trying to hitch-hike and get a ride from Edmund by showing her leg like that??? (my initial reaction was that she was a prostitute, and if I did not know the story in advance, I would have believed that throughout the duration of the film) Maybe that was how she was asking him to take her riding, because the first clue we get of that is seeing her perched atop a horse, YET AGAIN clad in red. I think the costumers believe that stupid, age-old cliché that only bad women wear red, and lots of it. Hmph. I was amusing myself by trying to decide who was showing more cleavage, Fanny or Mary. *snort*

Mrs. Norris? Hellooooo she was the evil stepmother aunt! Where was all of her abuse of Fanny? Where was her evil, cruel, devastating remarks to Fanny about her being undeserving? Where was her preferential treatment of Maria? Where was her matchmaking with the aforementioned spoiled brat and The Idiotic Dolt aka Mr. Rushworth? (I also thought she was too young, but that is just a personal preference.)

The music was a strange combination of I-don’t-know-what with an almost comedic element to it. I felt like I was supposed to seeing something funny or witty before me, when all I saw was a random selection of Cliff’s Notes: The Mansfield Park Edition. Poor Jane is probably rolling over in her grave. Either that or laughing her head off at ITV.

Oh yes! I almost forgot. The most flawless element in the entire film? The brilliantly inspired and truly moving performance of Pug.

Comments

[lady-grace.livejournal.com]

The screen writers only read the summary on the back of the book, methinks. And although MP is my least favorite Austen novel (I couldn't bring myself to like any of the characters) chopping it up and turning Fanny into a bosom-heaving, chirpy fake blonde haired kind of girl is even worse. Perhaps, someday, somebody who genuinely appreciates (or maybe even likes!) the novel will be able to adapt a decent, faithful version.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree!!

What is your icon from? It's lovely!

[lady-grace.livejournal.com]

It's from Cranford, which recently aired on BBC. If you haven't seen it, I would highly recommend it. :)

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Oh phooey. I am absolutely dying to see it, but am waiting until a) it aires in May, and b) after I've read the book. ;-) I am trying very hard to not peek at pictures and icons!!!

[goingofthings.livejournal.com]

I tried to explain to my parents it was horrible and if you haven't read the book you'd be utterly lost (heck, I read the book and I was lost), and the hair was horrible.... but my mom just said if I hated it she'd probably like it, so she was going to make a point of watching it. *shrug* I tried to save them an hour and a half of their lives, but alas, one can only do so much.

oh! I meant to say - I read your review on Lorna Doone and surprise of all surprise, a friend had it and I was able to borrow it. Enjoyed it very much :D

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

ROTFLOL!!!

My review? But I'm glad you liked it! I think it is a shining example of how a good costume drama should be. ;-) That and North & South, haha.

[goingofthings.livejournal.com]

oh - I thought you had written a review/entry mentioning the movie and I added it to my to-watch list. Maybe it was someone else. I did really like it though! I was glad I happened to find it because it's not one of those you can find easily to rent. Mostly I just loved his horse. I still want to know what breed it was but as much as I rewound and paused I couldn't figure it out. But I digress. It really was a great example of a costume drama. And now you've reminded me I'm long overdue for a N&S re-watch :D

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Do you mean my icon post of Lorna Doone, where I kind of recommended it? If there's a review out there I'd be interested in reading it. :-)

John's horse? Haha, yes. When I was little, I used to try and figure out what breed each horse was in a movie, making it was geographically and period-correct (i.e., no modern American horses back in Medieval days, etc.) until I realized that all the movies use trained horses, and the breeds don't matter at all! :-( Oftentimes poor folk get really fancy horses they would never have been able to afford, or a country that mostly small riding horses (Braveheart is a good example of this) is shown riding high-quality stock in a movie. [/lecture] ;-)

[goingofthings.livejournal.com]

oh yeah I never imagined directors would have the time/budget to get a breed from the time period since many of the breeds are extinct. My trying to figure out the breed of his horse was more just a weird equine curiosity. For instance, I thought it'd be marvelous to use Exmoor ponies (that would be fitting) but it was clearly a horse. So then I racked my brain with what breed it could have been. I think I just finally settled on some German warmblood - like a Trakehner. But when I see a horse I like in a movie I like to know things about it. I'm also very weird ;)

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, real Exmoors would have been delightful! Although then you could suggest that John had draft horses for farm work, or that the Doones would steal blood horses and therefore had better mounts. It could go on forever.

I'll bet the horses are just mixed-breed QH and TB stock owned by the film's wranglers. :-/ Oh well. We can dream, can't we?

[goingofthings.livejournal.com]

yeah you are probably right - they were probably a QH/TB cross. But yes, we can dream. I still have fantasies of riding a Westphalian, lol.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

I would settle for riding any horse! ;-)

[goingofthings.livejournal.com]

oh - I found the review post. It was another friend's post. Glad I found it, it was starting to bother me. It's a locked entry, but basically she commented on the excellent costumes and scenery and said it reminded her a bit of her visit to Ireland. I'm only slightly obsessed with Ireland, so I think that's what made me watch the movie.

I'll have to check out your icons from the movie - I don't know if I saw that before, but I'm always on the look for good icons :D

[ephramyfan.livejournal.com]

LMAO You totally nailed it on the head! I knew you would hate this version as much as I did. Billie Piper bothered me horribly, something about her teeth and the hair :S

Plus, where was the political undercurrents from Austen's novel? Her dislike of slavery and Sir Bertram's involvement in Antigua?

The only thing that made this slightly watchable for me was the casting of Edmund. I thought he was adorable and did the best with what he could.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

*bows dramatically* Thank you! Happy to be of comedic service. ;-D

Her teeth? Yes, I agree. I think she looked like a chimp.

EXACTLY!

I think he was the only actor trying hard to make it work! Poor guy. Do they have a Best Effort in Rotten Film award?

[ejeanmay.livejournal.com]

I didn't care for it either and only made it one hour into the movie. Unfortunately I am ashamed to say that I haven't read the book, only seen one other adaption, which I didn't like either (Frances O'Connor, who was gawdawful). Will read!

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

I think the only way to get the story of "Mansfield Park" is to read the book! Apparently the storyline is above the heads of these film makers. :-/

[ladybluelake.livejournal.com]

Ah, was waiting for your take on this. I'm responding late, out celebrating my birthday.

I agree completely with you. I couldn't stop starring at Billie Piper's eyebrows. No way would a woman of her time wear her hair down and run around everywhere. Everybody else had their hair up. I watched the ITV behind the scenes on all 3 adaptions. I liked them, except for MP. Anyway, the writer said in an interview that she thought Fanny was boring, the producer said they wanted to make Fanny modern and having Billie Piper run around with her down was the trick. Billie is so sexy, let's show ner washing her hair, as if that would ever happen around a man that wasn't her husband. Also, the wedding dress that Fanny wears was half their budget or something like that. It was very telling on how lost they were.

MP is my least favorite JA book, still a good book, it's just not the top JA book for me. In no way does it deserve to be treated this way, no way. The only thing I thought was good was the actress who played Mary Crawford, Hayley Atwell. I like her. Poor Jemma Redgrave, did she need the work? As for Michelle Ryan, who played Mary Bertram, she's either on game or not. She however was not on game here as usual. And why have James D'Arcy in this film if he was onlly going to pop up and be scenery?

I've read alot about how people think ITV just can't make costume dramas. I disagree, they have had some excellent ones in the past and present. The Forsyte Saga with Damian Lewis and Gina McKee, Bramwell, Brideshead Revisited, Foyle's War, Sharpe, My Boy Jack (airing on Masterpiece this year), just to name a few. The BBC has some clunkers too. If a director and writer have a good vision, they can work magic, just not in MP case.

P.S. After reading your comments about Edward and the actor, I agree with you. He could of played it over the top. I wanted to reach in the book and smack some sense into him.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Were you really? I'm flattered, and I hope you had a happy birthday! :-D

Bushy eyebrows + bad hair + cleavage DOES NOT EQUAL period costume! Grrrrrr...

I hate writers like that. They're ignorant and stupid.

Scenery! I kept wondering if this was some sort of Master & Commander joke with Pullings and Worley and such, since Patrick O'Brian borrowed so many elements from Mansfield Park as well as Persuasion. But my mistake was in thinking these ITV people are at all clever...

ITV made Foyle's War?!!? No! You're joking!

P.S. Edmund was the only decent performance in the whole piece, pretty much.

[ladybluelake.livejournal.com]

Sorry this is late. But yes I was waiting for your review, you alsways have a good take in them.

Yep, Foyle's War if from ITV, no joke. You would be surprised the good things that come out of ITV.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

That's fine! Better late than never, right? ;-)

You flatter me.

I am astonished. I thought Foyle's War was pretty good!

[ladybluelake.livejournal.com]

I'm not a huge fan of Foyle's War, but it does seem like something that the BBC would air.

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

I've only seen a few, and it's not so bad, but not fantastic, either. But I'm glad someone agrees that it's more BBC-like than ITV. ;-)

[greenlee-g.livejournal.com]

Firstly, i completely love the "Mary Crawford was tolerable, I suppose.." the P&P parallels were not lost on me :)

Oh no! I was actually going to buy this adaptation and see how i liked it. Honestly, Mansfield Park is my least fave JA novel. I HATED the adaptation with Alessandro Nivola and (whats that actresses name again..?) Cant remember.. Frances O'Connor! yes. Nothing about her endeared me im afraid to say. I was just sooo disappointed.

What did you think of that adaptation?

Anyway, im still curious to see how this one looks. Sounds completely botched. But i may give it a viewing because im curious!

[olde-fashioned.livejournal.com]

Aha, I was wondering if anybody caught that!

I have yet to subject myself to such torture.

As they say, curiosity killed a cat! *lol*