Wolfman, the Brontëite

Suddenly, both the Wuthering Heights project (do check this earlier post to see if you can have a try at playing young Cathy or young Heathcliff) and the Jane Eyre project seem to have got life breathed into them again. The casting-in-negotiations announcement made yesterday has reached a good many news outlets. One of them is an NBC San Diego blog - Popcornbiz - which comments on the new ensemble.

Just say the name "Jane Eyre" and you can feel eyes rolling and hear deep, huffy sighs. This is Hollywood, people, not tenth grade English class. So when we heard Charlotte Bronte's classic novel was being adapted for the screen--again--we were less than enthused.
But now that we know Cary Fukunaga is directing, we're all in.
Fukunaga’s first film, "Sin Nombre," which he wrote and directed, was one of the best, most tragically ignored movies of 2009. In fact, we can't think of a more impressive debut by a filmmaker in the last decade. If Fukunaga's on the job, this adaptation of "Jane Eyre," part of a multi-picture deal he was signed to by Focus Features when the studio picked up his stunning first feature at Sundance in 2009, is going to be outstanding.
"Alice in Wonderland" star Mia Wasikowska has already been cast as Jane Eyre and Michael Fassbender as the employer she falls in love with only to discover he harbors a dark secret. And yesterday THR announced that Jamie Bell, Dame Judi Dench and Sally Hawkins are in negotiations to join the cast as well.
Bell will play St. John, a clergyman who turns out to be Eyre's cousin, Dench will play Mrs. Fairfax, the housekeeper of Thornfield Manor, who disapproves of Eyre's engagement with Rochester, and Hawkins is Mrs. Reed, Eyre's aunt, who adopts her but abuses and neglects her until death.
Billy Elliott, multiple Oscar winners, Alice, an Inglorious Basterd and the man who directed a movie so beautiful we wept; these are the makings of a truly great cinematic experience. High School English never sounded so good. (Sasha Perl-Raver)

Another film already done, The Wolfman seems to be a good substitute while we wait for these new films. Or so you would think judging by the many reviews that have Brontë name-dropping in them (starting yesterday). From The Wall Street Journal:

Despite a solid conceit, a rather Brontë-esque Ms. Blunt, and sufficient computer effects to amuse James Cameron, this "Wolfman" is enough to make your hair fall out. (John Anderson)

And from The Colorado Springs Gazette:

The film, chock-full of dilapidated abbeys and stately mansions overrun by time and nature, is dripping with Gothic overtones. It’s “Wuthering Heights” with nasty claws and big, sharp, pointy teeth. (Brandon Fibbs)

Something tells us that won't be the last mention we see.

The Boston Herald reviews another film, Valentine's Day, and closes with the following statement:

Compared to this dreck, “Dear John” is “Jane Eyre.” (James Verniere)

Hang on, the Brontës in pop culture section is not over yet. The Vernon Morning Star reviews singer Leona Lewis's second album Echo:

You Don’t Care is an obvious nod to this resigned theme, and Lewis gets behind it just in case there’s any doubt. But it’s not all Heathcliff and Cathy up on the moors; she brings in some stray sunbeams on the nearly-there Happy and Love Letter. (Dean Gordon-Smith)

The crying politicians saga continues on the British news oulets. Spiked says of Gordon Brown:

There are also rumours that the PM never sleeps. And though he was once said to possess the sex appeal of Heathcliff (yet another dubious statement) it appears he’s more akin to the romantic hero in the violent tics department: it is claimed he kicked over a desk when told that the Revenue & Customs had lost a disc containing half the nation’s bank details, that he is abusive to his secretaries, and has gone through several mobile phones by hurling them against the wall. (Emily Hill)

A bit tabloid-y.

Simon Lelic picks his favourite fictional teachers for TES Connect.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - “There are several memorable teachers to choose from during Jane’s time at Lowood, but Mr Brocklehurst is the one who endures in my mind. The original demon headmaster.”

Also Sea Coast Online reports that students read Emily Brontë's poetry at Poetry Out Loud. And The Telegraph and Argus has an article on Keighley that might be interesting for anyone who's been there on their way to Haworth and is curious about the place.

Wuthering Heights is discussed on several blogs: Ad Nauseam (in Portuguese), My Corner and 101 Books in 1001 Days. Lejos del Futuro posts in Spanish about the Brontës. And finally, Citoyenne Bluestocking has uploaded a picture of the Jane Eyre manuscript on display at the British Library to Flickr.

Categories: Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References, Weirdo, Wuthering Heights