Jane Eyre Conquers the US - Part III

And more journals talk about the new BBC's Jane Eyre:

Carmel Carrillo in The Chicago Tribune:

Ruth Wilson is the adult Jane, at turns severely plain looking (as written in the book) and glowing, usually in the presence of her employer, surly Mr. Rochester (Toby Stephens, who played the bad guy in the James Bond film "Die Another Day"). Wilson and Stephens generate more chemistry than any previous Jane and Rochester, and this adaptation allows them to be more physical than we've ever seen the characters. Their love, however, is doomed for now: Our
hero's first wife is alive and not so well, stowed in the attic by day and haunting the mansion by night. When Bertha catches sight of Jane in her wedding dress, she goes for Jane's throat. (Bertha is of Creole descent, and she curses in Spanish, using language that might have been heard on HBO's "Oz" but seems shocking on "Masterpiece Theater.") The adaptation sticks close to the book, but it's nevertheless over the top. Jane runs away from Thornfield Hall, escaping Bertha's wrath, and after further adventures, eventually reunites with Rochester. (...)

Matthew Gilbert in The Boston Globe seems to be concerned about some lack of chemistry between Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens... "the phony kisses scenario".

There's something unexpectedly potent and new about PBS's adaptation of "Jane Eyre." As the camera inches into the personal space of Charlotte Bronte's austere characters, it forces a sense of contemporary intimacy onto them. The two-part miniseries, which premieres Sunday night at 9 on Channel 2, closes in on their distance, pushing through their Victorian psychological roadblocks to discover a pair of warm, human lovers.
No, don't worry. There are no sex scenes between plain Jane and stern Rochester in this "Masterpiece Theatre," which was directed by Susanna White of "Bleak House" and written by Sandy Welch of "Our Mutual Friend." There is no "Reader, I slept with him." Ever respectful
of its source, the miniseries doesn't add on sexuality so much as it seeks and finds character depth and dimensionality. (...)
Stephens, the son of actors Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens , makes an edgy Rochester, and not a cold one. He projects a defensive cynicism born of tragedy and resignation; he's not just an emo hero who's fashionably removed. And he is complemented by Wilson's equally rich performance. Her Jane is modest, but not subservient. When she gives a trusting smile, at long last, it's unashamedly bright and strong. Together, Stephens and Wilson evoke an attraction
of minds without ever seeming cerebral.

But there is one serious problem with their pairing, and it undermines Part 2 of "Jane Eyre" next Sunday. For all their chemistry as a couple on the verge of love, Stephens and Wilson lack spark
once Jane and Rochester are involved. It's not uncommon in romantic movies and, sometimes, in romance: The wanting is more powerful than the getting. Once they commit , Jane and Rochester's rapport becomes shallow, their kisses unconvincing.Indeed, the actors obviously aren't kissing; they're doing some amateur mouth-on-chin fakery. Really, bad fake kissing is unforgivable in a story that has built up to physical contact with such caution. The sets are so
realistic and the writing is so respectful of incremental personality changes, but the kisses are phony? Bronte's hard-luck couple deserves better.

Kathy Blumenstock in The Washington Post focus on Ruth Wilson and Susanna White:

Actress Ruth Wilson remembers first reading Jane Eyre when she was 12, and she said she reread the 1847 Charlotte Bronte novel before auditioning for the BBC's new film version."
She goes on such a huge journey and has so many contradictions," Wilson said. "For me, the appeal of this role was being able to play every aspect of her, to touch on her self-consciousness, her self-doubt and her incredible sense of what is right and wrong."
Wilson, 25, in her first professional leading role, portrays the orphan Jane from her arrival as a young governess at a towering castle through her quest for happiness. The story includes intrigue and suspense as well as romance and self-discovery."
Jane is incredibly relevant, even now, because women are still striving to find an equal place," said Wilson, who laughed about her character's unglamorous wardrobe that provided long-sleeve warmth, if not style, during scenes in the castle. "Four shades of gray, and they went through the wars with me."
Director Susanna White called Wilson's take on the character "very modern, a real go-getter."
"To work with an actress straight out of drama school -- I knew I was going to ask huge things of Ruth," White said. "A lot of times we were shooting out of story order, and it was a big challenge for her."
White also said she read Bronte's tale as a teen. "It's one of those books that never left me," she said. "I really wanted to do justice to something I revered. There have been 26 screen versions of Jane Eyre, in German, Italian, French, the big American version, the Orson Welles version. What we've done is the woman's version; it's the first time a woman has adapted it. "Sandy Welch's screenplay updates Bronte's original story with some fresh elements and characterizations. The cast includes Toby Stephens as Edward Rochester, the master of Thornfield Hall, who employs Jane to care for his daughter Adele (Cosima Littlewood). With an arrogance tinged with sadness that masks a grim secret, Rochester catches Jane's eye from their first encounter, when he tumbles from his horse on the road and accuses her of being a witch who cast a spell on the animal. (That black stallion belongs to the musician Sting, White said.)
The director said she wanted the film "to feel epic and wild but to look quite painterly as well. We used a lot of long lens shots and we built very few sets because we wanted the locations to be real." (...)
Wilson's favorite scenes were "wandering on the moors, and the scenes where Jane was coming into her own," she said. "You got the sense of what she held forth."

The Hartford Courant:

It's a story that takes its time being told, with lovely vistas and furtive looks. At the same time, the direction by Susanna White of "Bleak House," on Sandy Welch's adaptation, keeps the tension taut.

Isthmus-The Daily Page

I’d never seen a TV show or movie that did justice to Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel Jane Eyre. But Masterpiece Theatre’s new adaptation (Sunday, 8 p.m., PBS) has changed all that.
Reader, I loved it. (Dean Robbins)

Categories: Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV