My Antonia

For me, "My Antonia" is sacred ground. This film isn't perfect (especially when they try to create unnecessary romance), but often brings the novel alive in a way that doesn't really match my own imagining of it, but is powerful enough in its way. Above all, Elina Löwensohn is perfect as Antonia (if again not quite the woman I pictured, nor quite like Anna Pavelka, the real-life model). She really has a compelling energy and above all the cheerful life force that carries "Our" Antonia through so many trials. The film is necessarily a little telegraphic, given how much there is to fit in, but does a respectable job with the allotted time. But above all it is Löwensohn (who has never stopped working since, yet seems to have never broken through) who anchors the film. (Oh, and years ago my friend Endre Hules told me he was shooting a Willa Cather piecel; for some reason, I thought it was "Oh Pioneers". But here he is as Russian Peter :) ).

Willa Cather's novel "My Antonia" captures the pioneering spirit in America as the country began expanding. The life in the prairie was told in great detail by Ms. Cather. With "My Antonia", she gave us a look what it was like to be a settler in a strange land where everything seems to go against you.

This film, which was shown recently on cable, had a look of a movie made for television. As directed by Joseph Sargent, who has worked extensively in that medium, the movie takes us back to the Nebraska that Ms. Cather wrote about.

We are shown two different families living in the Nebraska of the last part of the XIX century. The Burdens, who evidently have been around for quite a while, are seen in sharp contrast with the immigrating Shemardas, who came from Bohemia. The Burdens have taken roots in their land whereas the Shemardas are trying to make a living in their property, without much success. Jimmy Burden likes Antonia, the young woman who is his neighbor. They form a bond that seems to be sealed, but life intervenes. Jimmy can never make his mind about the love he feels for Antonia and destiny never let them consummate that love. At the end, we watch as Jimmy goes back to visit Antonia, who has her own family and appears to have made it, after all.

Elina Lowensohn makes an impression with her Antonia. This actress should be seen more often. She is always an interesting figure in whatever film she is in. Neil Patrick Harris was a product of television. As such, he is at a disadvantage playing opposite Ms. Lowensohn. Besides, he doesn't seem to register much emotion. Mr. Harris has been doing theater lately, which might help him in the acting department. Jason Robards Jr. and Eva Marie Saint play the older Burdens, and Anne Tremko is fine as the Swedish beauty, Lena.

We would recommend to read Ms. Cather's novel, which is a fine piece of work in the American literature.

I watched this film late in the day and it was worth it. This film provides love, obsession,romance and a little sense of seduction from the lovely Anne Tremko who plays Antonia's friend.

This film is unpredictable and provides dramatic scenes by when Jimmy(Neil Patrick Harris)is forced to move away and reunites with Antonia 20 years later. By then Antonia and Jimmy have already built a family. This film is about deep mutual relationship that exists between Antonia and Jimmy.

You will really enjoy this one and it's a film that's worth watching with realistic backgrounds and great acting. This film will arouse you with emotion and sentimentality. You may have a glimmer of a tear falling from your eyes at the end.

This dramatization follows the novel faithfully, and is a tribute to its producers and to the cable network who aired it. Although Willa Cather had intended that her works not be filmed, I believe that she would have been proud of this production. Most persons agree that Antonia Shimerda is one of Cather's most memorable heroines. I found the casting for the role of Lena Lingard to be uncannily on target for Jim's sweetheart. Willa Cather stands alone, in my opinion, for her ability to create characters that you not only feel you know, but do not want to give up when you have finished the book. In my case, I choose to re-read them several times.

In many ways a book can be made into an excellent film. This of course, was not one of those occasions. As boring as the book was, the film version was even worse. There were so many inaccuracies. So many in fact; I could not keep track of what was in the movie that was not in the book and vice versa. It was like a nightmare. First of all, the introduction in the book where we learned that Jim and the author met on a train out west was not in the film, so as a viewer, I was lost. Another thing I noticed right off was the fact that in the film, Jim's grandfather has no beard, yet in the book, Jim talks about his grandfather's long white beard. The storyline itself in the film was so far out of whack; it did not follow the book very well at all. There were points in the film that occurred before they did in the book, quite a lot of them. In the book, Jim's grandfather seems to be jovial, but in the film, he is shown to be a wretched old man. Also, in the book, when the reader learns about Pavel being hurt and his imminent death, the grandmother encourages Jimmy to go, as well as making sandwiches. In the film however, the grandfather tried to persuade Jimmy not to go. At Christmastime in the book, Antonia's father stays for dinner with the Burden's, but in the film, says he must leave, and does without eating. By this time, I was starting to wonder where Jack was at. He was nowhere to be found in the film. In the book though, he comes with Jim from Virginia. Towards the end of the film when Jim returns to visit Antonia and her husband and children, the narrator states that it has been fifteen years since he last saw her. In the book, the time between when Jim last saw Antonia and when he goes back is set at twenty years. The film could have been much better, but the quality shines through a television film and keeps on going, causing dullness. The acting was mediocre, both by Jason Robards and Neil Patrick Harris who I have seen much better work from. The scenery and cinematography of the film were most likely the best part.