R: After reading each of Jane Austen’s books, we’ve been choosing one, or more, movie/TV adaptations to watch and discuss. There were a few choices for Mansfield Park but this one seemed to be the most faithful rendition. In almost every case, I don’t feel that movie adaptations can possibly do justice to Austen’s works. Because there’s not a lot of excitement and action in her writing, one might consider a longer version to be boring, but I haven’t found it so. Rather, the faithfulness to Jane Austen’s words, work and, most importantly to me, her humour draw the audience into her world.

S: I agree! It’s difficult to adapt any book, but I think Austen’s works are particularly difficult simply because of the snarkiness.

R: This version was certainly very faithful to the original, and conveyed the humour, particularly with Lady Bertram, rather well to me. I don’t know that I’d had a particular vision of the character before watching, but as soon as I saw Lady Bertram and heard her speak, I was immediately satisfied with the casting and acting. Of all the actors, I think I appreciated her portrayal the most. Otherwise, the rest of the cast seemed to be performing as if they were in a stage play rather than on a screen.

S: That’s very interesting! I actually was a bit annoyed by the way Lady Bertram was portrayed in this adaptation. I read her as sweet and a little flighty, and, to me, this adaptation had her seeming spaced out most of the time.

It did seem as though it was a stage play adaptation, but I didn’t mind that. I really liked the scenery, the clothes, the background action, and the way everything was shot – it all made me feel like I was physically with the characters.

R: One of the other casting choices I didn’t care for was for Edmund. I’d forgot that Edmund does end up being in his mid-twenties by the end of the book and not sixteen as I’d had in my head, but still, the actor looked far older than that to me and so threw me out of the story somewhat.

S: I was a bit surprised at that at the beginning as well.

R: Another issue I had was that Fanny’s love for Edmund is hardly seen throughout the mini-series, so the ending seems incongruous. I think the problem lies in that the book shares what Fanny is thinking throughout, but they didn’t convey that onto the screen at all, really. There might have been some looks and glances, but I felt the ending was very abrupt, which I felt about the book, too, so I guess that was staying faithful to the source.

S: I would agree with that. Unless the choice is made to break the fourth wall it becomes rather difficult in an adaptation to see inside a character’s mind. I haven’t seen any other Mansfield Park adaptations, and I wonder now if there’s been one that has been written like that – Fanny breaking the fourth wall, or even Jane Austen as narrator interrupting the story to tell the audience what Fanny is thinking. That would be highly entertaining!

R: Oh, that would be amazing! Overall, I found the mini-series enjoyable and would watch it again. I might like to check out some of the other versions as well sometime.

S: Me, too! I’m glad we picked this one to watch.

After a hiatus, we aren’t sure how long of one, the next book we’ll be reading is Emma by Jane Austen.