Just No
We just watched the version of "Mansfield Park" with Billie Piper. Lord, you were right, petercampbell. Gah, what a mess. I kept thinking, WHAT is wrong with this? And then it came to me. They reduced the whole thing to a love story. A love story without any of the other stuff is finally pretty dull. And poor old Billie Piper, bless her, seemed woefully miscast. Actually, there were other casting bizarrities: putting two of the principals into same-ish looking men such that even an Austen veteran had to strain to keep them apart? Eliminating one of the evil sisters? Swallowing whole plot points for no particularly apparent reason. I did not say so in front of Julia, as she was determined to like it and keeps promising to read the book. Please, my sweet, do read the book. I am glad to have seen this version and it will, I hope, fuel her interest in adaptations, which I still maintain is a worthy subject even if her essay on it did not get her into the fancy high school programs.
Oh but the woman playing Mary Crawford, the rival for Edmund's affections -- such a beauty, whoever she was. (Edit: Hayley Atwell. OMG what a creature.) I confess my sympathies lie with her about 85% of the time. Sorry, Jane.
Oh but the woman playing Mary Crawford, the rival for Edmund's affections -- such a beauty, whoever she was. (Edit: Hayley Atwell. OMG what a creature.) I confess my sympathies lie with her about 85% of the time. Sorry, Jane.