Mansfield Park (2007)

At age 10, Fanny Price is sent by her destitute mother to live with her aunt and uncle, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram. As a child she was often made to feel that she was the poor relation but... See full summary »

Director:

Iain B. MacDonald

Writer:

Maggie Wadey

Stars:

Julia Joyce, Douglas Hodge, Maggie O'Neill

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Julia Joyce	...	Young Fanny
Douglas Hodge	...	Sir Thomas Bertram
Maggie O'Neill	...	Mrs. Norris
Tara Berwin	...	Young Maria
Lucy Hurst	...	Young Julia
Zachary Elliott-Hatton	...	Young Tom
Greg Sheffield	...	Young Edmund
Billie Piper	...	Fanny Price
Blake Ritson	...	Edmund Bertram
James D'Arcy	...	Tom Bertram
Michelle Ryan	...	Maria Bertram
Rory Kinnear	...	Rushworth
Catherine Steadman	...	Julia Bertram
Hayley Atwell	...	Mary Crawford
Joseph Beattie	...	Henry Crawford (as Joesph Beattie)

Storyline

At age 10, Fanny Price is sent by her destitute mother to live with her aunt and uncle, Sir Thomas and Lady Bertram. As a child she was often made to feel that she was the poor relation but by the time she reaches 18, and in the absence of her uncle who leaves on a business trip for an extended period, she begins to enjoy herself. When Henry Crawford and his sister Mary become neighbors to the Bertrams, opportunities abound. Edmond Bertram falls in love with Mary but she wants to marry a man with money, not someone destined to life as a clergyman. Meanwhile, Fanny's love for her cousin Edmond prevents her from accepting Mr. Crawford's proposal of marriage.

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Plot Keywords:

female protagonist | cousin cousin incest | uncle | aunt | estate | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

ITV [UK] PBS [United States]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 January 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kasvattitytön tarina

Filming Locations:

Newby Hall, Skelton on Ure, North Yorkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Company Pictures,WGBH

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The windowpane check gown worn by Billie Piper (Fanny Price) to cut lavender is the same gown worn by Rosamund Stephen (Henrietta Musgrove) in Persuasion (2007), Honeysuckle Weeks (Alice Cottisloe) in Victoria Wood: With All the Trimmings (2000), Victoria Hopkins in The Regency House Party (2004), and Emma Thompson (Elinor Dashwood) in Sense and Sensibility (1995). The same costume is also worn in Byron (2003) by an extra at the London party where Byron meets Annabella Milbanke.

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Quotes

Fanny Price: Is it possible to be so happy?
Edmund Bertram: Yes. Let's make it our business, Mrs. Bertram, to happy ever after.

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Crazy Credits

Jemma Redgrave was only listed in the opening credits and was not included in the cast/character list in the closing credits.

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Connections

Featured in The Story of the Costume Drama: Affairs of the Heart (2008)

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Soundtracks

The Old Bush
(uncredited)
Traditional

User Reviews

Did they even read the book?

I doubt whoever wrote this screenplay has ever actually read Mansfield Park...or if they have it was not very well. None of the characters are what they should be: Fanny is lively and conscious of her mistreatment, while Sir Thomas, who treated her very well, seems to have accidentally fallen into Aunt Norris' personality. Additionally, a first person narrative by Fanny is highly inappropriate to both the story and her character. Fanny is not an entertaining heroine, and I would contend that she is not meant to be. Additionally, in the movie version, Fanny flirts shamelessly with Edmund from the very beginning, when they have been raised as brother and sister! Austen's Fanny would have shrank from flirtation of any sort, and the novel paints the Fanny/Edmund pairing as highly uncomfortable...as it should be. Unlike some other Jane Austen novels (P&P, Emma), Mansfield Park does not rest on the strength of its female protagonist. It is a very different sort of novel than the others; it is not meant to be a love story. I watched this movie because I have just now finished reading Mansfield Park, and I am absolutely horrified by what I see; Miss Austen is rolling in her grave.