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Summary: One of the worst adaptaions ever
Comment: This is one of the worst film adaptations of a book, overall, I have ever seen. For example, in Cather's novel, Jim's grandfather is an understanding peacemaker and appreciates Antonia's strength and independence. In the film, he's a grouchy snob who looks down on Antonia for being a foreign farmer! It's as if the writers never read the novel but instead scanned badly-written crib notes. The only parts worth watching might be Jim and Lena during Jim's University days.
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Summary: Pretty Scenery Can't Save This Terrible Film Adaptation.
Comment: If you have read Willa Cather's beautiful novel about her friend James Burden and his devotion to the immigrant girl he fell in love with at the turn of the 20th century, beware of this movie. It only takes the romantic part of the book and makes James older from the start, incorporates fistfights, and makes the characters into different people than the ones you recognize in the book.
The poetic language of the story gets lost in a half-baked Cold Sassy Tree style, only worse. At least Cold Sassy Tree maintained a bit of charm. This film adaptation of Cather's work doesn't even maintain its dignity, and Jason Robards, unfortunately, couldn't even save it. All you will recognize from the book is some of the dialog when the writers felt like using it, and the main characters' names. Just like To Dance with the White Dog, this is another TV movie brought to video that violates a great novel and should be put out of its misery. Skip it and read the book as it is far more rewarding.
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Summary: My Antonia: Movie vs.Book
Comment: In our opinion, many parts of the movie were portrayed differently from how we pictured them in our minds. The movie seemed to be trying to draw teenage viewers with unneccesary fighting and added romance, and it didn't really keep the spirit of the book. Many key scenes and characters (i.e. Jake) were not included in the movie. One scene that was very symbolic and important in the book was the rattlesnake scene, which was not included in the movie. The plot was changed too, for example, Antonia and Jim got romantically involved in the movie, whereas in the book, Antonia thinks of Jim as a little brother. Also, many of the characters' personalities in the movie were drastically changed from those in the book. One of the things that we liked about the movie was the images of the cornfields and the winter prairie. Overall, this movie was very disappointing and did not capture the feel of the book.
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Summary: great movie, true to the novel
Comment: I was fortunate enough to see this movie during a literature class in school. I really loved the novel My Antonia and the movie really brought the book to life. Neil Patrick Harris seemed perfect for the role of Jim Burden, and the actress who portrayed Antonia also seemed exactly as I pictured her. I would definitely encourage people to read this novel first (and more of Cather's books) and then check out the movie. It's well worth it.
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Summary: I am in this movie!
Comment: My three kids, my wife, and I were all "extras" in this movie. It was filmed mainly at the Stuhr Museum in Grand Island, Nebraska. Annie Pavelka (the real Antonia) lived about 40 miles south of Grand Island. Although this is not one of the classic films of all time, it is one of my favorites because of our experiences.I believe this adaptation is fairly close to Cather's classic. I had my doubts when I heard "Doogie Howser" would be one of the stars, but he really did a pretty nice job. Jason Robards was very good in the film, as was Eva Marie Saint.
"My Antonia" is one of my favorite novels as Cather paints a wonderful picture of Nebraska in the late 1800's. This film does a nice job of carrying forward that portrayal.
My guess is that this film will become a staple of high school Academic Decathlon teams across the nation as "My Antonia" is the novel for study in the Language and Literature portion of the testing.
