MovieChat Forums > Mansfield Park (2008) Discussion > This was awful

This was awful

posted 12 years ago by anasgpais
10 replies | jump to latest

Ive never read this book (only P&P and S&S), but I love to watch this period dramas...this one tought was quite awful. I dont know if its exactly the same as the book or if it was cut to a point that it made it impossible to understand and relate to...

I couldnt relate to any of the characters. Fanny specially. She was like...a child running around, no grace whatsover... It was like she had some sort of mental disabilitie. I could understand Romola Garai playing Emma, se had less grace then normal, and she carried herself diferently, but she had charm, manners, elegance...this was just a giant mess. I can understand why Henry confused her with the maid...
Also I couldnt get one thing out of her, I have no idea how she felt or if I did I didnt know WHY she felt that.
Why did she deslike Henry? Why are se suposed to dislike him? He did some things wrong but not that wrong at the time she said no...and the man was charming.
Why did Edmund liked Mary? She never treat him right and I saw no attraction between the two.
Where did Julia go to? She disapearred when Maria got married... Did I miss something?
If Henry was ugly, why did the girls throw themselves at him imediatly?
Who's that bitchy aunt suposed to be? I was confused if she was the mother of the kids, if she was just around with no reason...why did she dislike fanny? Why did she went to Maria?
Why introduce the slave thing if they never mentioned it again? And if Fanny never really spoke about anything midly important again? I was like: oh yes, this girl will begin to have a voice...and then nothing

I cant remember more, but there are more. It was really disapointing, specially after watching Emma, Downton Abbey, North and South and recently Lost in Austen. Ill just have to search for the next thing to watch. Any suggestions?

[–] gracelily_98 12 years ago

It was a horrible adaptation. The best version is the old Masterpiece theater one or at least the movie version with Frances O'Connor.

[–] Julie-30 12 years ago

I have encountered very, VERY few people who actually liked MP99. The only thing MP99 has in common with the book is the names of the characters. The ones that aren't omitted, that is. Ugh. It's my least favorite Austen adaptation.

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[–] DarcyBrandon 11 years ago

Frances O'Connor's Mansfield Park wasn't even close! It just took the title and the names but everything else was so removed from the book that it was silly.

[–] gracelily_98 12 years ago

The BBC production of Vanity Fair (not that horrible Reese Witherspoon version)is very good. I can watch that again and again and again.

[–] kprp 11 years ago

Oh lordy I LOVE that Vanity Fair production, it is nigh perfect.

[–] rizdek 12 years ago

"Why introduce the slave thing if they never mentioned it again?"

The slave thing? I don't remember seeing anything about slaves in this version. Maybe I missed it. It's the other version (1999) that emphasizes the slavery issue. Are you sure you have the right version?

Anyhow, my two cents is that I like this MP pretty well. I have all three versions and watch them about equally. Maybe I like the 1983 version a bit better, but not much.

I like BR as Edmund more than NF.

I like BP as Fanny about as well as any. Rather than being put off by her facial appearance that so many have commented on, I rather liked it. Sylvestra L. had a way of acting that I had to get used to. Francis O. was ok as Fanny, but nothing special.

I preferred JR as Lady Bertram to the out to lunch rendition by Angela Pleasance. I don't fault AP, rather the director.

Maybe the 1983 version portrayed Aunt Norris as she was written in the book, but I don't really like watching her be so mean to Fanny and thus preferred the 2007 version in that regard.

I would like the 1999 version, but was put off by how the slavery issue was raised. I like TLM as Edmund and Alessandro Nivola as Henry.

I guess I'm lucky that I don't get hung up about them taking liberties with the stories so can enjoy more remakes of the various JA novels.

[–] anasgpais 12 years ago

As I states previously, I havent read the book, haven't seen the other versions and didnt know anything about this story until I saw this movie.

I saw it a while back, and it was nothing memorable, so I cant remember some things. But I do remember the Slave issue being adressed at a dinner, very briefly, and Fanny was against it...

Just yesterday I saw for the first time the Diary of a Secret Call Girl, and I must say this actress (I hadnt seen her or anything before this movie) is quite charming, and she looks rather good in the tv show...not in the movie tought.
I dont remember much, but I'll never forget how bad Fanny's character was, and how weirdly she was portraied. As I said, she looked mentally challenged in the movie.

[–] rizdek 12 years ago

One of the other MFs focused much more graphically on the slave issue. That I remember. I don't remember the comment in this one, so it must have been a very small part.

I didn't see BP as looking mentally challenged. She's a bit different than the other two Fannies, but it worked for me.

my god its full of stars

[–] Teach417 11 years ago

Sorry to be responding so late, but I just watched this adaptation on Netflix. Actually, calling it an adaptation is charitable; it's a horrible take on an excellent book. In the book, the only reference to slavery is when someone mentions that Sir Thomas is in favor of abolition; that this movie shows Fanny asking about it, and Sir Thomas being rather vague in his reply, is typical of how they perverted the characters from the novel. (The '99 adaptation was even worse, portraying Sir Thomas as a vicious sadist.) The novel is about propriety. Fanny in the novel is a very weak, sickly character, constantly bullied and bad mouthed by Aunt Norris, taken advantage of by Aunt Bertram, with cousin Edmund her only defender. She is, however, quite perceptive and sensitive, and constantly chooses to do the right thing, even when pressured by all around her. (In the book, she is the one person who absolutely refuses to take part in the play, unlike this movie where she gives in at the end.) It seems that nobody wants to make a filmed treatment of the book that features the Fanny of the novel; they all want her to be more like Elizabeth Bennett. In doing so, they lose the whole point of the book, change the other characters to accommodate the changes to Fanny, and lose all the ironic humor which leavens the narrative in the novel. This movie also compresses the story horribly, leaving out entire characters, events and locales which are important to the story.

My advice: read the book, it really is quite good. I've read it myself at least a dozen times, and always find something new and amusing with every re-read. Jane Austen really knew how to tell a story; maybe someday someone will do an adaptation of the book worthy of it, by simply telling it the way Austen did.

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[–] mimachka 10 years ago

Actually, I understand your confusion. If you haven't read the book, it can be really hard to grasp what is going on because they have taken out important parts and facts. I watched it with a friend who hasn't read the book and he found it very confusing and boring. I find this version better than the 1999 which I couldn't even finish.

I'm really sorry about what they did to the character of Fanny. She is supposed to be this really intelligent, composed, sweet girl. Instead Fanny from the movie is kinda shy, but still a bit dumb and too wild. In the book she'd never run around the house and laugh out loud. It's still way better than the 1999 version in which Fanny was portrayed as this confident almost rebel woman.

Henry is an awful man who likes to play with women's affections. He decides to make her fall in love with him out of boredom. However, she sees through him and doesn't fall in his trap. Henry is never refused though and Fanny's behavior makes him ambitious. He is determined to win her affection, and deludes himself that he's truly in love with her and wants to even marry her.

Edmond is very much in love with Mary. She fascinates him. She's in love with him too, but she can't get over his profession and low income. In the book you can see her really struggling with the situation.

Mrs. Norris loves Maria and Julia a lot. She prefers them to Fanny. However, they don't care about her. She is not the almost sweet woman from the movie. She's an awful person who is said to be unable to inspire attachment even in the people she loves best. She has no children herself.