Customer Reviews
This adaptation portraits the REAL Fanny Price - By: E. G. Trueman, 29 May 2008 
Fanny Price is often depicted as the least loveable heroine of Jane Austen's books. She is timid, shy, has low self esteem & no sense of wit or wickedness like Elizabeth Bennett, but a strong sense of right & wrong in shades of black & white, rather than grey forgiveness for past mistakes or follies.
The adaptations of 2000 & 2007 bear no resemblance to the character of Fanny Price from the book. The REAL Fanny is not tomboy-ish, or rebellious, she does not giggle or flirt. She is prim & prude, & steadfast in what she holds to be right.
It takes a little time to get to know Fanny Price, & perhaps a little longer to reallly appreciate her. I have watched alll adapations several times, but by far my favourite is this version with Sylvestra Le Touzel. She understands Fanny & understands how to portray her. Her acting is impeccable, even if it seems stilted & wooden in parts. If it does, then only because Fanny Price, as I understand her from the book, behaves like this. Sylvestra makes Fanny Price believable, the other actresses (whilst good actresses) make Fanny Price appear like a stranger & their portrayal bears no resemblance to the heroine from the book.
The other actors are also excellent in this adaptation. Bernard Hepton is outstanding as Sir Thomas Bertram, Anna Massey the real nightmare as Aunt Norris, Jackie Smith-Wood sublime as Mary Crawford... the list goes on.
The more I watch this adapation the more it grows on me & the more I believe in the people.
My advice... if you want to watch a film that matches the book, then buy this adaptation & give the others a miss.
The REAL Fanny Price - By: urquhartfay, 19 Feb 2008 I couldn't agree more with Booklover, the first reviewer. I am quite sick of everyone trying to make Fanny Price saucy & brash, which seem to be prerequisites for a female heroine these days. This film's Fanny - Austen's (and thus the real) Fanny - gives us another type of heroine: quiet, shy, insecure, like many of us, who in the end musters the strength to stand up for what she believes in when alll around her falll. This film portrays her without cowtowing to modern sensibilities. Fanny is like the shy, quiet girl in the class that no-one can reallly figure out & some think must be uppity. Misunderstood, bearing secret dreams & passions, emotionallly abused by her adoptive family, she represents the part of the population who is not Elizabeth Bennett or Emma Woodhouse & never will be - & doesn't necessarily want to be! She shows us that you can be strong without shouting & that you can stand your ground against your peers & society without standing on a soapbox - would that more people could learn to do this!
As for its length - since when has a real Jane Austen fan ever complained about an adaptation being too long!? (Rather the contrary)
Subtle and Observant. - By: Glow Worm, 14 Feb 2008 
Mansfield Park's heroine isn't for everyone. Fanny Price is not only a prig but at first glance is a trifle dim. As it turns out Fanny is as courageous as she is kind. If viewers take the time & have the patience this subtle & observant version of Mansfield Park will grow on them. It is very like the book so be cautioned: this production is theatrical (stagy)in style & is leisurely. There are 6 episodes & the plot is slight but most Austin aficionados will find it a treat. It has a superior script & is sympatheticallly & well cast. (The Crawfords are the entertainment highlight)
If ONLY the superlative 90's feature film productions of Emma, Sense & Sensibility & Persuasion had been given this much time in a 312 min. format.
If your alone on a rainy afternoon this Mansfield Park makes very pleasant company. Pour yourself a cup of tea & enjoy.
I like it. - By: Nadia, 02 Dec 2007 I like Jane Austen productions to be close to the book, & this reallly was. Fanny Price seemed to have stepped out of the pages of Mansfield Park; I thought she was well acted. Watching this production helped me to understand more deeply what Jane Austen was trying to do in Mansfield Park, which I have always found her most fascinating novel. I only wish it could have been longer & included more scenes & conversations straight from the book.
Dated but very good - By: pseudopanax, 20 Aug 2007 I returned to this adaptation of Mansfield Park after enduring the unremittingly horrible 2007 ITV version. Yes, the acting can be a bit stilted, the lighting a bit glaring at times & the camera work a bit unoriginal, but it is a faithful adaptation of the book. Fanny Price is a heroine that it will always be difficult to portray to a modern audience--more Anne Elliot than Elizabeth Bennet--but Sylvestra Le Touzel does acceptable work in an almost impossible role. Anna Massey is a wonderful Aunt Norris & the wonderfully lethargic performance of Lady Bertram by Angela Pleasance borders on the psychotic. Mary & Henry Crawford are suitably worldly & ambiguous without being caricatures. The pacing is slow & considered over six hours, but this works well with this wonderfully odd novel. Don't even consider this DVD if you were smitten by the silliness of the 1995 BBC Pride & Prejudice or the Gwyneth Paltrow Emma, this is a one for those who appreciated 1995 BBC Persuasion.
