Adaptatations from novels of brilliance are particularly difficult. And when you tackle novels so well loved as Jane Austen's, those difficulties can turn into absolute pitfalls.

Trouble is, everyone has their own definite ideas of just how Jane Austen's heroines should be played, whether they are Elisabeth, Emma or Fanny. Retell the novels too literally, and they drag. Take them apart, deconstruct them to hell and back, and the world will scream you down.

This BBC film production of Mansfield Park is adapted and directed adroitly by Patricia Rozema. The original period-feel is preserved. But while we must of course lack the verbal felicities and subtle wit of the original, this is made up for by a very pointed and at times wicked retelling of the original tale of claustrophobic girlhood imprisonment and thwarted love.

Part of the success is due to fine casting, with three standout actors in particular. First is Frances O'Connor as Fanny Price, playing her in a way which makes her genteel politeness in no way detract from her independence and high spirits. Then there is young American Alessandro Nivola as her amoral would-be lover Henry Crawford -- he is the quintessential spoilt English rich boy, without a whiff of his Transatlantic lineage.

Finally, as her guardian Mr Bertram, we are given the special treat of seeing playwright and occasional actor Harold Pinter at work, in one of his very rare and very fine roles. He dominates the screen in his every appearance; he is totally stunning in how he makes the character his own.

Another reason for the success of this adaptation is that while it stays very true to the novel 'Mansfield Park', it injects around the plot quite a few contemporary references of the politics and social life of the day, in particular to the way the British aristocracy of the time was being enriched by the sadistic slave trade -- which this adaptation shows as being ultimately brutalising to exploiter as well as exploited.

Yes, it's far more explicit than Jane Austen would have been. But it works brilliantly, fleshing out the period in a way which does nothing to belittle Jane Austen's imaginative creation.

It is, in fact, a masterful adaptation. As the director herself says in a short interview, a film is a very different creature than a novel, and it's not enough to just plod through the process of translating words to screen. She has done much more, and in the process has done Jane Austen proud. It joins my list of favourite Austen adaptations, alongside the Kate Beckinsale Emma and, of course, the classic Clueless.

This is a beautiful anamorphic transfer, with hardly an artefact present. Colours just glow in both interior and exterior scenes. The Surround sound gives warm presence to both dialogue, music and effects, but the emphasis at all times is as it should be -- on clarity of dialogue.

The special effects are, however, disappointingly dull. There are four Interview segments, with Patricia Rozema, frances O'Connor, Embeth Davidtz and Alessandro Nivola. These, infuriatingly, are each comprised of around eight or nine short segments of a few seconds or minute each -- meaningless little morsels. They're hardly worth the effort of tracking through them.

Then there's an on the set feature showing the director taking the actors through a few scenes including a key Ballroom scene. Interesting enough but hardly illuminating in any way. And finally, there's an anamorphic trailer showing a taste of what you are about to receive, if you watch it first.