We had no intention of publishing another post covering reactions to the airing of Jane Eyre on PBS. But
a recent comment on a previous post has triggered this final (?) post of the US blogosphere series:
Kimberweeme is not at all satisfied with the conclusion of the series:
I talked about this to some extent last week, so I won't recap all of that. I'll focus on what happened in the last two hours of this BBC mini series. It was something of a catastrophe. If you'll remember, I rather adored the first two hours and had high hopes for this segment. Even Melanie, who has read the book far more recently than I have and is something of an aficionado when it comes to the BBC mini series, praised the first half. I felt like I was on the right track, like I'd discovered another golden mini series. Unfortunately, such was not the case. The first three hours of this four hour production were wonderful. Then, the wedding comes and goes and the entire movie takes a turn. It's suddenly as if historical accuracy no longer means anything. There was a strange bedroom scene added, which is completely inappropriate to the time period, and does not fit Jane's character, even as seen in the movie, at all. I could have forgiven that, but the last eight minutes ruined the entire series. Again, let me say that I haven't read the book in ages, but I was fairly certain I remembered how it ended. That scene, the ending scene as I remembered it, came and went and there was still eight minutes to go! The screenwriter added an epilogue of sorts to the story. A completely unnecessary epilogue. There was absolutely no reason to add anything to the book, and I'm not sure why it was done. Frankly, I'm disappointed. The screenwriter for this, Sandy Welch, also wrote North and South. The ending of that one isn't quite kosher, but it's not such a departure that you feel like you're watching a cheap sequel to a classic work of literature. I expected more from Sandy, and she failed. Miserably. Charlotte Bronte is rolling over in her grave.
Nevertheless, it is true that the blogosphere has more positive than negative reviews. For instance, this one from
Votaries of Horror:
The 2006 series does a number of other things right, including the selection of material and the use of flashbacks. First, it is carefully, and faithfully, cut to a specific theme. This is the only way to handle those huge 19th century novels where a billion different ideas are presented at once (the plot of Jane Eyre is deceptively straightforward; there's a lot of meat on them bones). The series writers chose a rather modern theme--the search for affection by a young woman starved of any true affection for most of her life--and yet one in keeping with the book. Too often, historical scriptwriters choose modern themes that do not in any way resonant with their non-modern material. Jane Eyre being what it is, and Bronte being what she was, this particular modern theme in no way jars with the material or the setting. (Read more) (...)
All in all, the 2006 series is worth viewing--more than once, if you're me. I like the ending best of all the versions, including the 1983 version. It doesn't leave you quite as bereft (happy ending, okay, now everybody go home), and you get to see the kind of woman Jane Eyre becomes, surrounded by family, friends, and a great deal of affection.
Picture source: The Monomania Diaries.Categories: Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV
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