My Antonia (1995)

Life in rural Nebraska in the late 1890s.

Director:

Joseph Sargent

Writers:

Willa Cather (novel), Victoria Riskin (teleplay)

Stars:

Jason Robards, Eva Marie Saint, Neil Patrick Harris

Won 1 Primetime Emmy. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Robards	...	Josea Burden
Eva Marie Saint	...	Emmaline Burden
Neil Patrick Harris	...	Jimmy Burden
Jan Tríska	...	Mr. Shimerda
Norbert Weisser	...	Otto
Anne Tremko	...	Lena Lingard
Travis Fine	...	Harry Paine
Mira Furlan	...	Mrs. Shimerda
Boris Lee Krutonog
Elina Löwensohn	...	Antonia Shimerda
Bobby Goldstein	...	Ambrosch Shimerda
T. Max Graham	...	Mr. Harling
John Livingston	...	Charley Harling
Sarah Bernhardt	...	Sally Harling
Devon Arielle Cahill	...	Nina Harling

Storyline

Life in rural Nebraska in the late 1890s.

---

Plot Keywords:

based on novel | character name in title

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 March 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Axehastos erotas

Filming Locations:

Stuhr Museum - 3133 W. Highway 34, Grand Island, Nebraska, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gideon Productions, Wilshire Court Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

From a Bad Book To This!

In many ways a book can be made into an excellent film. This of course, was not one of those occasions. As boring as the book was, the film version was even worse. There were so many inaccuracies. So many in fact; I could not keep track of what was in the movie that was not in the book and vice versa. It was like a nightmare. First of all, the introduction in the book where we learned that Jim and the author met on a train out west was not in the film, so as a viewer, I was lost. Another thing I noticed right off was the fact that in the film, Jim's grandfather has no beard, yet in the book, Jim talks about his grandfather's long white beard. The storyline itself in the film was so far out of whack; it did not follow the book very well at all. There were points in the film that occurred before they did in the book, quite a lot of them. In the book, Jim's grandfather seems to be jovial, but in the film, he is shown to be a wretched old man. Also, in the book, when the reader learns about Pavel being hurt and his imminent death, the grandmother encourages Jimmy to go, as well as making sandwiches. In the film however, the grandfather tried to persuade Jimmy not to go. At Christmastime in the book, Antonia's father stays for dinner with the Burden's, but in the film, says he must leave, and does without eating. By this time, I was starting to wonder where Jack was at. He was nowhere to be found in the film. In the book though, he comes with Jim from Virginia. Towards the end of the film when Jim returns to visit Antonia and her husband and children, the narrator states that it has been fifteen years since he last saw her. In the book, the time between when Jim last saw Antonia and when he goes back is set at twenty years. The film could have been much better, but the quality shines through a television film and keeps on going, causing dullness. The acting was mediocre, both by Jason Robards and Neil Patrick Harris who I have seen much better work from. The scenery and cinematography of the film were most likely the best part.