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:

clergyman | 19th century | cousin cousin relationship | romantic rivalry | period drama | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

The cream gown with red trim Hayley Atwell (Mary Crawford) wears to the picnic is the same costume Natasha Little (Becky Sharp) wears at the Sedley's house in Vanity Fair (1998), and Cesca Martin wears in The Regency House Party (2004).

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Quotes

Mrs. Norris: This is not a very promising beginning.

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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: The Greatest Stories Ever Told (2008)

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Soundtracks

The Navvie on the Line
(uncredited)
Traditional
By James Hill

User Reviews

Wash and go, but don't come back

Was this sponsored by Wash and go? Was the hair stylist on strike? What a mess! Would well-bred young ladies of those days be seen in public with hair like Billie Piper's? Casting Ms Piper was a big, big, big error. She is undeniably attractive to look at, but, after Dr Who, the natural place for her was EastEnders, not in a Jane Austen adaptation. Her looks and demeanour are completely out of place.

The ITV website shows the makers of the film saying (this is the gist) that Fanny Price is a boring character, but that they fixed that by bringing in Billie Piper. If they had so little sympathy or understanding for Jane Austen's original work, why did they bother adapting it? (Were these the same people who gave us 'Marple'? The same blinkered, tied-to-the-zeitgeist mentality was at work there too).

This version is rather boring. It also seems to be a very low-budget one, bound to the one setting. The so-called picnic (a few people standing around on the lawn of the house) is an unbelievably feeble scene.

But it is at least vastly better than the 1999 version.

Details

Official Sites:

ITV [UK] PBS [United States]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 January 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mansfield Park

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