patricia rozema’s version of jane austen’s novel mansfield park is superb. i loved the colours, the cinematography, and the casting. unlike the other film adaptations of austen’s written works that i’ve seen, such as emma and pride and prejudice, mansfield park tells a story with much more emotional and social chaos.

frances o’connor, whom i vaguely remember from artificial intelligence and [the highly underrated] bedazzled, plays fanny price, a working-class young woman who is forced to live with her stuffy aunts and uncle at mansfield park (ergo, the title of the film). i’ve never really thought frances o’connor very attractive, but in this particular film she truly shined. jonny lee miller plays edmund (a.k.a. the conventional love interest), finally winning a worthy role since trainspotting. and why does embeth davidtz (a.k.a. that bitch natasha from bridget jone’s diary) always seem play a marriage-obsessed whore?

as i mentioned before, the story is much darker than other austen novels and the film really captures that in the subtle interrogation of slavery and class division among the bertram household. apparently, austen prided mansfield park over her other popular works, emma and sense and sensibility. nothing beats the A&E version of pride and prejudice, although mansfield park really does give the television miniseries a run for its money.

and they show a boob. (gasp!)