For the last 200 years, no author has seemingly had their films embraced on screen over and over again like Jane Austen. The BBC has mounted many productions of Austen’s books, for starters, as well as several feature length films, have been devoted to Austen’s works. Two films released in the last 12 months have dealt with Austen-esque topics, The Jane Austen Book Club and Becoming Jane. She’s persisted as one of the great writers of the modern era for a reason; her works are easily adaptable and are filled with wonderful characters and stories. The BBC has long since developed projects around them, and are now released several that were made as part of its Masterpiece Theatre program. They’ve seen fit to release three of her books made into DVDs: Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park and Persuasion.
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Director
Howard Baker
Cast
Anne Firbank ………. Anne Elliot
Bryan Marshall ………. Captain Wentworth
Basil Dignam ………. Sir Walter Elliot
Valerie Gearon ………. Elizabeth Elliot
Marian Spencer ………. Lady Russell
Georgine Anderson ………. Mrs. Croft
Richard Vernon ………. Admiral Croft
Morag Hood ………. Mary Musgrove
Rowland Davies ………. Charles Musgrove
Mel Martin ………. Henrietta Musgrove
Zhivila Roche ………. Louisa Musgrove
Noel Dyson ………. Mrs. Musgrove
William Kendall ………. Mr. Musgrove
Charlotte Mitchell ………. Mrs. Clay
David Savile ………. Mr. Elliot
Persuasion, originally released in the early 1970s for the BBC, follows the story of Anne Elliot (Anne Firbank). Eight years ago, Anne fell in love with a poor but ambitious young naval officer in Frederick Wentworth (Bryan Marshall). Her family disapproved, thinking he was not distinguished enough for their family, and she was persuaded her to break off the match. Now 27 and considered a spinster, she encounters her former fiancee, who is now a captain, as he courts her spirited young neighbor. The story focuses on her trying to win back the love of the man who once spurned.
Originally shown as five 60-minute episodes, Persuasion is the only one of the DVD series that actually feels like a true representation of the source material. But then again it has the ability to tell a full story, much like the BBC version of Pride & Prejudice, as opposed to feel like it’s cramming a lot of story into a small time frame. It’s more of the full story, as opposed to the Cliff’s Notes version of it.
If there’s one downside it’s that the film has a lot of inferior production values. Shot over 30 years ago, the film looks almost amateurish in comparison to its modern counterparts if only because it’s a modest TV production in an era where production values have increased substantially.
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Director
Iain B. MacDonald
Cast
Julia Joyce … Young Fanny
Jemma Redgrave … Lady Bertram
Douglas Hodge … Sir Thomas Bertram
Maggie O’Neill … Mrs. Norris
Tara Berwin … Young Maria
Lucy Hurst … Young Julia
Zachary Elliott-Hatton … Young Tom
Greg Sheffield … Young Edmund
Billie Piper … Fanny Price
Blake Ritson … Edmund Bertram
James D’Arcy … Tom Bertram
Michelle Ryan … Maria Bertram
Rory Kinnear … Rushworth
Catherine Steadman … Julia Bertram
Hayley Atwell … Mary Crawford
Mansfield Park, made as part of the Masterpiece Theatre arrangement, follows Fanny Price (Billy Piper) and her adventures in the upscale side of her family she was sent to live with as a young child. When the head of the household leaves, Fanny and the gang will play as they experience life, love and all sorts of odds and ends in the English countryside of Mansfield Park. It’s a film about class and wealth, with all the differences between, focusing on Fanny’s courtship by a wealthy young man.
And while the book is the weakest of the novels Austen wrote, the film is also one of the weaker translations of her materials. The source material is weak, making everything that follows weak as well. At barely over 90 minutes, the film really doesn’t have a chance to tap into the source material as well. It’s a Cliff’s Notes version of the story, not giving nearly enough time to develop the characters and the story.
Available at Amazon.com
Director
Jon Jones
Cast
Geraldine James … The Voice of Jane Austen (voice)
Michael Judd … Pastor
Julia Dearden … Mrs. Morland
Gerry O’Brien … Mr. Morland
Felicity Jones … Catherine Morland
David Brittain … Gothic Villain
Patrick Ryan … Gothic Villain
Sylvestra Le Touzel … Mrs. Allen
Desmond Barrit … Mr. Allen
David Sheehan … Cheeky Man
William Beck … John Thorpe
Liam McMahon … Sedley
Mal Whyte … Rude Man
JJ Feild … Henry Tilney
Myles Breen … Mr. King
Northanger Abbey, another Masterpiece Theatre piece, was the first of Austen’s novels to be published. Not the most famous of them, which would be left to “Pride & Prejudice” and “Persuasion,” and to a lesser extent “Emma,” Northanger Abbey follows the tale of Catherine Morland (Felicity Jones), and her adventures with Mr. and Mrs. Allen (Desmond Barrit and Sylvestra Le Touzel) to Bath. The novel, and film by proxy, follows Catherine’s adventures through the class system in Bath and all of the shenanigans therein.
The story itself is a bit of a parody of the style of gothic fiction, as Catherine dreams of being in a gothic novel while living in a realm in a group of people whose class she knows noting about. From a modest family, Catherine’s interactions with the group, coupled with her increasing jump into a fantasy land, make it an interesting concept but a flawed story.
It shows all the hallmark of a writer struggling to find her voice, and the film reflects it.
A/V QUALITY CONTROL
Presented in a Dolby Digital format with a full screen presentation, as the films were originally television projects, but the transfers are top notch. While the Persuasion DVD shows a lot of grain, and wear and tear, the other two films have solid presentations.
The Extras
None.
