Well, what do you know? I really liked it! The most recent production that showed on Masterpiece Theater’s The Complete Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, was the best yet. Yes, it suffered from the same time problem as the other productions, but other than being a bit rushed I really can’t complain at all. The casting was excellent, the few changes to the story served the film well and didn’t take away from the novel, and most importantly they were able to make Fanny sympathetic and relatable to a modern audience while still retaining the essence of the character.

I had hopes for this production since MP has always been my least favorite of Austen’s novels and I am more able to set aside my purist tendencies. At the same time, I’ve often felt that it would be a difficult novel to adapt because the heroine is so timid – the temptation would be to change her too much (as happened in the 1999 version with Frances O’Connor). I believe this production found a happy medium. They were able to show how Fanny’s life was formed by being raised as a “poor relation” and showed her sweetness and propriety without having her come off as a total prude or a wet blanket. Very nicely done by Billie Piper.

Blake Ritson made an excellent Edmund Bertram, and the secondary characters were all quite good as well, particularly Mary Crawford and Maria Bertram. Last week, I couldn’t fully enjoy the production of Northanger Abbey, even though the leads were very good, because the changes to the plot and to some of the characters detracted from the story (in my opinion – I know a lot of people liked it). This time, though, the changes were more seamless and served the story well. If there was anything that distracted me, it was the mix of fashions, but I’m not going to quibble over that because as much as I love costumes, the really important thing to me is how the essence of the novel is put on the screen, and in that respect this production is a success.

Northanger Abbey was the first Jane Austen novel I ever read. It’s not her best known or most respected, but I’ve always loved it. It’s a fun parody of the gothic novels that were so popular in Austen’s time and gave rise to books such as Rebecca, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. I’ve never seen a film adaptation of Northanger Abbey, and although I tried not to get my hopes up I knew that the film that just showed on Masterpiece Theater was written by Andrew Davies (who also wrote the A&E Pride & Prejudice miniseries), so I did have some expectations. I was disappointed again.

As with Persuasion last week, the plot felt rushed, but at least the characters were more accurately portrayed by the actors. Felicity Jones made a very good Catherine Morland, and J.J. Feild a charming Henry Tilney. The secondary characters were mostly good as well. There were some nice creative touches: I have no problems with the sequences that depicted Catherine’s overwrought imaginings and thought they were a clever way to develop that aspect of her character. But again I have to take exception to changes that I thought were unnecessary. A lot of the dialog was re-written and plot points changed in ways that subtly altered, and I think, diminished the characters. I imagine the writer felt that Catherine’s extreme innocence would make her less appealing to modern audiences, but the central conceit of the plot depends on her being very innocent and impressionable, and I don’t think that was believable in this production.

This film has one advantage in that I don’t have the ability to compare it to a stronger production, but I still feel a little let down and think it could have been much better. I have higher hopes for Mansfield Park next week, as it’s my least favorite of Austen’s novels and therefore I will probably be much less critical (no promises, though).

I watched the new adaptation of Persuasion on PBS last night (part of The Complete Jane Austen series)and was rather disappointed. My biggest complaint was that the run time was only 1 1/2 hours, and it felt VERY rushed. Contrast that with the 1995 version starring Amanda Root, which I believe is only about 15 minutes longer but feels much more spacious. With the new production, they had plenty of shots of Anne writing in her diary that could easily have been jettisoned in order to give more time to events that move the plot along or develop character. They also changed plot points for no reason that I could see. I’m something of a purist when it comes to adapting novels, but I’ll allow for some changes if they are necessary to the production and don’t alter the point or tone of the original. For example, sometimes you have to jettison secondary characters in order to fit everything in. Emma Thompson did this nicely in Sense & Sensibility, eliminating Lady Middleton and Lucy Steele’s sister without compromising the essential narrative. However, the changes in this production seemed pretty arbitrary and so I just found them annoying.

Also, I’m going to start referring to the new version as “Blair Witch Persuasion” because there was so much shaky camera work. I SUSPECT that they were trying to give the viewer a sense of immediacy, but I found it really distracting.

And finally, some of the characterizations were just off. Mr. Elliot was almost evil – in the book he’s just so self-absorbed and vain that he can’t be bothered to notice or value anything that doesn’t further his own interests. To be actively malicious would require too much effort. And Mary Musgrove was a nightmare of quirks and tics. The character is annoying enough on her own – you really don’t need to add anything to that! Sophie Thompson did a near-perfect characterization of Mary in the 1995 production, which is not perfect but is very good and which I would definitely recommend over the one I watched last night.

This is a great season for Jane Austen fans. While I’m preparing to go the Jane Austen Evening in Pasadena (I will post pictures, if they are not too scary), I’m also really excited about PBS’ The Complete Jane Austen – film versions of all of her novels, including the stellar Pride & Prejudice mini-series with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle (the gold standard of Austen adaptations, in my opinion), plus 4 new adaptations. Woohoo! It begins this Sunday the 13th with a new version of Persuasion, and they’ll be showing a different film or part almost every week through the beginning of April. Mark your calendars!