Mansfield Park
Adapted screenplay written and directed by Patricia Rozema

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“Rozema’s handing the entangled amours and social gamesmanship at Mansfield Park is delightful.”—David Ansen, Newsweek

Patricia Rozema’s 1999 adaptation of Mansfield Park was the last of the Austen film wave of the 1990s, and the one that deviated the most from earlier adaptation practice as well as from the novel. Rozema rewrote the character of Fanny to resemble Austen herself, and emphasized the social critique of slavery, class, and gender that is present in the text. Rozema’s retelling of Austen’s book anticipates more recent adaptation experiments such as Greta Gerwig’s Little Women (2019) and Bruce Miller’s successful Hulu series The Handmaid’s Tale.

Fanny (Frances O’Connor), born into a poor family, is sent away to live with wealthy uncle Sir Thomas (Harold Pinter), his wife (Lindsay Duncan) and their four children, where she’ll be brought up for a proper introduction to society. She is treated unfavorably by her relatives, except for her cousin Edmund (Jonny Lee Miller), whom she grows fond of. However, Fanny’s life is thrown into disarray with the arrival of worldly Mary Crawford (Embeth Davidtz) and her brother Henry (Alessandro Nivola). 1999, U.K., DCP, 110 minutes.

Cinema + Followed by a post-screening discussion with the director Patricia Rozema via Zoom led by Dr. Simona Bertacco, Comparative Humanities Department, University of Louisville as a presentation of the Global Humanities Lecture.