Jane Eyre: A Film Review
If you would like MAJOR extra credit in English class, please complete the following assignment, due at 7:43 a.m. on Monday, October 31, 2011:
1) Watch one of the following 2-hour films:
Emma (1996), starring Gwyneth Paltrow
Sense & Sensibility (1995), starring Emma Thompson
Mansfield Park (1999), starring Francis O'Connor
Persuasion (1995), starring Amanda Root
2) Read the review below.
3) Write your own, similar review. (Typed, double spaced)
Jane Eyre: A Film Review
An orphaned governess. An aloof and mysterious employer. A lonely, rambling estate. The wild and alluring moors of England. These are the ingredients for a thrilling tale, set in the Romantic-era English countryside. One of my favorite books of all time, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, has been made into countless films, mostly shown on PBS or the BBC as a mini-series. But most recently it was made into a feature film by Focus Films in 2011 starring the effervescent Mia Wasikowska.
Because I have basically endured several of the film adaptations of this fabulous book, I was not particularly expecting to enjoy this latest version. But I was pleasantly surprised by this superbly cast and brilliantly edited movie. Mia Wasikowska was born to play the lead, and now that I have seen her truly inhabit Jane Eyre, it is difficult to imagine any other actress in the role. She matches wits with the appropriately gruff and by turns distant and magnetic Michael Fassbender as Lord Edward Fairfax Rochester. The two spar as intended, and Wasikowska masterfully portrays Jane's growing attachment to Rochester even as she believes they can never be together. Fassbender, for his part, blusters his way into her heart and finds himself unable to do without her. This, of course, leads to the fateful chapel scene where all falls apart, and although it is played rather hastily, I found the action to be quite true to the book.
The supporting characters, although they are clearly only subordinate to the two central characters, were all chosen perfectly for their roles. Dame Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax, the wise and helpful housekeeper, was a particularly great choice (although really, what role can Judi Dench not play perfectly?), and Jamie Bell as St. John Rivers also seemed a sublime selection. Every character, from Blanche Ingram, to Mrs. Reed, to Adele, to Helen Burns, was exactly as I had visualized for so many years of rereading this favorite classic.
In conjunction with the casting selections, the editing and directing choices support the original storyline, even in its abridged, two-hour format. In any feature film adaptation of a book, the loyal reader must lose something of value in the story, but in this case, there are no gaping holes in the plot or even seemingly insignificant details overlooked. Although the pace of the story is sped up, there are no significant moments or characters from Brontë's original plot that are left out. Even the intense symbolism of the tree under which Rochester proclaims his love and proposes, which is hewn in half by a bolt of lightning later, is not neglected, although it is reduced to a background shot with classy subtlety.
The tone of the book could be described as bleak, lonely, dark, mysterious, and emotional. Of course these adjectives are appropriate for a Romantic period novel, and they all translate directly to the screen in this film version. Eerie mist in the woods when Jane and Rochester first meet; wide shots of lonely moors as Jane runs away; Rochester's voice calling to Jane; the moment in the red bedroom when Jane, as a child, is terrified by the wind in the chimney: all are in perfect accordance with the effect of Bronte's prose.
Lest this review seem too glowing, I did notice that Pilot, Rochester's dog, is not nearly as critical to him as he seems in the novel. And the fact that the Rivers siblings are actually related to Jane doesn't make it into the film at all. However, this is not crucial to the story, and in fact is a plot point that has been criticized for years by those who feel that it wraps up all the loose endings rather too neatly.
This is a must-see film for Brontë aficianados, but will be enjoyed by a wider audience as well. Anyone who appreciates a good suspense story and a classic love story will embrace Fukunaga's brilliant version of Jane Eyre.
1) Watch one of the following 2-hour films:
Emma (1996), starring Gwyneth Paltrow
Sense & Sensibility (1995), starring Emma Thompson
Mansfield Park (1999), starring Francis O'Connor
Persuasion (1995), starring Amanda Root
2) Read the review below.
3) Write your own, similar review. (Typed, double spaced)
Jane Eyre: A Film Review
An orphaned governess. An aloof and mysterious employer. A lonely, rambling estate. The wild and alluring moors of England. These are the ingredients for a thrilling tale, set in the Romantic-era English countryside. One of my favorite books of all time, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, has been made into countless films, mostly shown on PBS or the BBC as a mini-series. But most recently it was made into a feature film by Focus Films in 2011 starring the effervescent Mia Wasikowska.
Because I have basically endured several of the film adaptations of this fabulous book, I was not particularly expecting to enjoy this latest version. But I was pleasantly surprised by this superbly cast and brilliantly edited movie. Mia Wasikowska was born to play the lead, and now that I have seen her truly inhabit Jane Eyre, it is difficult to imagine any other actress in the role. She matches wits with the appropriately gruff and by turns distant and magnetic Michael Fassbender as Lord Edward Fairfax Rochester. The two spar as intended, and Wasikowska masterfully portrays Jane's growing attachment to Rochester even as she believes they can never be together. Fassbender, for his part, blusters his way into her heart and finds himself unable to do without her. This, of course, leads to the fateful chapel scene where all falls apart, and although it is played rather hastily, I found the action to be quite true to the book.
The supporting characters, although they are clearly only subordinate to the two central characters, were all chosen perfectly for their roles. Dame Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax, the wise and helpful housekeeper, was a particularly great choice (although really, what role can Judi Dench not play perfectly?), and Jamie Bell as St. John Rivers also seemed a sublime selection. Every character, from Blanche Ingram, to Mrs. Reed, to Adele, to Helen Burns, was exactly as I had visualized for so many years of rereading this favorite classic.
In conjunction with the casting selections, the editing and directing choices support the original storyline, even in its abridged, two-hour format. In any feature film adaptation of a book, the loyal reader must lose something of value in the story, but in this case, there are no gaping holes in the plot or even seemingly insignificant details overlooked. Although the pace of the story is sped up, there are no significant moments or characters from Brontë's original plot that are left out. Even the intense symbolism of the tree under which Rochester proclaims his love and proposes, which is hewn in half by a bolt of lightning later, is not neglected, although it is reduced to a background shot with classy subtlety.
The tone of the book could be described as bleak, lonely, dark, mysterious, and emotional. Of course these adjectives are appropriate for a Romantic period novel, and they all translate directly to the screen in this film version. Eerie mist in the woods when Jane and Rochester first meet; wide shots of lonely moors as Jane runs away; Rochester's voice calling to Jane; the moment in the red bedroom when Jane, as a child, is terrified by the wind in the chimney: all are in perfect accordance with the effect of Bronte's prose.
Lest this review seem too glowing, I did notice that Pilot, Rochester's dog, is not nearly as critical to him as he seems in the novel. And the fact that the Rivers siblings are actually related to Jane doesn't make it into the film at all. However, this is not crucial to the story, and in fact is a plot point that has been criticized for years by those who feel that it wraps up all the loose endings rather too neatly.
This is a must-see film for Brontë aficianados, but will be enjoyed by a wider audience as well. Anyone who appreciates a good suspense story and a classic love story will embrace Fukunaga's brilliant version of Jane Eyre.
posted by Jennifer Payne at 8:55 PM
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