Jane Eyre 2011. Day 4

Current status:

TOMATOMETER

• All Critics
• Top Critics

86

Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 43
Fresh: 37 | Rotten: 6

Cary Fukunaga directs a fiery and elegant adaptation, while Mia Wasikowska delivers possibly the best portrayal of the title character ever.

AUDIENCE

77

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 11,268

Metacritic:
Metascore: 78 out of 100
Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critics

New York Times:

Average Reader Rating

4.5 rating, 51 votes

IMDb:

242 IMDb users have given a weighted average vote of 7.5 / 10

Demographic breakdowns are shown below.

Votes	Percentage	Rating
112	46.3%	10
29	12.0%	9
37	15.3%	8
16	6.6%	7
15	6.2%	6
7	2.9%	5
3	1.2%	4
2	0.8%	3
2	0.8%	2
19	7.9%	1

And reviews of the film keep on coming.

Positive

Shooting the Script gives the film an A-:

Fukunaga’s gloriously Gothic vision of Jane Eyre is breathtaking. With its mysteriously fragmented storyline, cutting back and forth through time, and its eerily ethereal tone, playing much like a ghost story, the film transcends the typical costume drama, becoming a richer and a bit more intriguing baroque piece. (Adam-Scott)

The two reviewers from Reeling Reviews give the film an A- and a B- (on the basis that it isn't a 'guy flick').

The material is ripe for delirious melodrama but Fukunaga uses a restraint that allows the characters and their reactions to extreme situations to shine through. Wasikowska is quiet, keeping to her station, but her reactions to Rochester's wooing when alone show the bloom of first love and she is never cowed in coversation. Fassbender is incredibly sexy as the man raging against a fate he cannot unburden himself of yet shows an ironic decorum in polite society. They make their unlikely romance believable. Judi Dench resists overdoing Fairfax, making her gossiping feel like the natural need for conversation with the younger woman. As young Jane, Amelia Clarkson establishes the resolve and willingness for forgiveness that will be part and parcel of the adult. "Creation's" Freya Parks is an angelic Helen Burns without being cloying. Sally Hawkins ("Made in Dagenham") and Craig Roberts are hissable as Jane's aunt and her odious son (Fukunaga turns up the volume in their home which has the result of making Lowood almost tolerable in comparison, a good choice). When finally revealed, Rosie Cavaliero's ("Vera Drake") Grace Poole is more human, less cliched Victorian lunatic, than has been seen in prior versions. (Laura)

The Beachcomber:

Jane Eyre kept me engaged in every detail, making me wonder what will happen next. This movie blew my mind; it had a bit of everything. I never thought I would like a romantic drama but this movie has changed my opinion. Not only was it that genre, but it was funny and suspenseful, and I wouldn’t dare miss a single second of it. Jane Eyre: amazing, breathtaking and inspiring. (Jocelyn de Santiago)

Mostly positive

Girls on Film thinks it has taken 'a century to get Jane Eyre right':

In two hours, Fukunaga -- working from a script by Moira Buffini -- manages to tell all the important twists of the novel without short-changing any part. We see Jane's terrible upbringing, her first friend, her times at Thornfield Hall, finding family and ultimately, happiness. He doesn't make Jane weak, nor flighty, nor uber-serious. Wasikowska's Jane shows strength intermingled with a dry sense of humor. She's standoffish, yet warm, wise beyond her years. And it's that aspect that appeals to Rochester and makes age irrelevant. Wasikowska is young, but she can evoke the pain of life. [...]
It took a century to get to this point, and I imagine, can make even further strides in the future. Though beautiful, the film does have its flaws, most notable the palpably dimmed chemistry between Fassbender and Wasikowska, who are great at flirting, but not so much at evoking the intensity of finally realized passion. (Surely due to self-imposed walls in the actors.) Perhaps a future installment will get it all right. (Monika Bartyzel)

Mostly negative:


New York Magazine:

But this one has Mia ­Wasikowska, hands down my favorite plain Jane. And she is amazingly plain. Her mousy brown hair is pulled tightly back, and she’s dressed to conceal her figure. You have to look twice—and listen—to see her beauty through the eyes of Rochester (Michael Fassbender), who knows at once that he has found the woman who will liberate him from “the mire” of his thoughts. Wasikowska’s Jane is as watchful as only a damaged soul can be, and, when challenged, frighteningly fast. Fassbender plays Rochester as a wolf caught in a trap and dangerously unpredictable; Dame Judi Dench, her vowels plebianized, is the chattery housekeeper. Directed by Cary Fukunaga from a stripped-down but elegant script by Moira Buffini, this Jane Eyre is a little drab and not much helped by the occasional subjective, hand-held camerawork—which plays like a visit from the Blair Witch. But it’s worth seeing for ­Wasikowska, an actress so young yet so formed. (David Edelstein)

The Atlantic:

It is a disadvantage to the film that we lose the majority of Jane's early years. For me, one of the best parts of "being more like Jane" is that Jane herself can so often not live up to her own strict moral code. One of the high points of the film comes when she is a girl of ten being taunted by an older male cousin. She leaps upon him flailing and kicking with all her might. It is this Jane that forms the many complexities with which so many readers have strongly identified. The character of Jane Eyre was revolutionary for her time because she was confident and dutiful without being didactic, and when she comes into her own as a woman it is through her distinct understanding of her life's experiences.
While the Jane of the film is quick with a clever retort, too often she comes across as the kind of smart alecky young woman we have come to accept as shorthand in popular culture for "tough"—think Juno by way of Angela Chase. When the audience-members at the movie theater laughed at Jane's one-liners and rapid-fire conversation with Rochester (as they did throughout the movie) I wanted to remind them all that the real Jane, my Jane, spoke this way because she believed in honesty and in her own intelligence, whereas this Jane seemed concerned with one-upmanship. To me, she is more Omar from The Wire than Veronica Mars. By the time Jane implores Rochester to see her worth despite her plainness and littleness in the film, I had nearly come to find her, dare I say it, a bit insufferable. I sunk low in my theater seat, uncomfortable. It felt a bit like having a falling out with a very good friend. (Leah Carroll)

Video interviews with director Cary Fukunaga: The Chic Spy, ArtisanNewsService, PopSugarTV.

About.com has talked to both Mia Wasikowska and Cary Fukunaga:

It's not that hard to believe that many would try to compare Fukunaga's Jane Eyre with something along the lines of Twilight. But with a strong character like Jane Eyre, there's one thing that separates the character from other stereotypical female romantic characters. "I think what makes Jane Eyre different in terms of a romance story is that she's the one dictating the terms of the relationship, not him, and that's rare," said Fukunaga. (Rebecca Murray)

StyleBistro has a brief article on a recent Q&A with both of them after a screening of the movie at the San Francisco Film Society.

The Province has also talked to Mia:

Wasikowska says there's something timeless about Jane, despite the fact that she's a product of early Victorian England.
"She's a modern character. You feel that if you put her in our society now, she would thrive. Lots of people connect with the things that she stands for. She puts herself first. She's not going to sacrifice who she is for somebody else in a relationship.
"It's such an important role for women, because Jane is sort of born with this inherent sense of self-respect, yet there's nowhere that it obviously comes from. She didn't have a loving upbringing, but she's born with something inside her that believes she deserves to be treated well, she deserves a good life and she deserves to be loved. I thought that was really important." (Jamie Portman)

GlobalGrind lists '7 Stellar Things You Should Know About Jane Eyre Star Mia Wasikowska'. One of which is:

Mia is also a photographer and she would take pictures during her down time on set of "Jane Eyre.""I liked also taking pictures in between because sometimes the most interesting composition is when you’re sort of in the center of something and then there’s all this attention that is focused on you and you have like a camera in your face and a boom above your head and often that is the perspective that isn’t seen, which is what I try to do with my photographs."

According to Mia Wasikowska Online, the actress is featured in this week's issue of The Big Issue magazine (Australia).

Salon has an interview with Michael Fassbender:

So many actors have played Rochester over the years, from Orson Welles to Charlton Heston to, I don't know, Timothy Dalton. Did you watch any of them do it?
I figured, you know, that I'd be the first to really get a take on it. No! Just kidding! I watched all of them, really, or as many as I could get my hands on, from Orson Welles through Toby Stephens [in the acclaimed 2006 British miniseries]. I liked Toby Stephens the best, actually, out of all of those I've seen.
Orson Welles really hams it up in that role, as I recall.
Wow! [Stentorian Orson Welles voice.] "Jane! Jaa-aane! Jaa-aaa-aane!" Whoa! Slow down! At one point I was also involved in "Wuthering Heights," actually. And I watched Laurence Olivier's Heathcliff. And again, I was like: Whoa, shit! OK, Olivier was great, and Orson Welles -- they are who they are. But, shit, this has dated, I gotta say.
I really liked this version of "Jane Eyre" a lot. But the other side of that is that it has a lot of unexpected and raw qualities, and some people will really hate it.
Which is good, you know. It's always better to have people that love it or hate it. The worst thing is indifference, you know. If you're stuck in the middle you may have made a bad film. Maybe that's unfair -- anyone who manages to get a film made in the first place, that's a real achievement. (Andrew O'Hehir)

There's also a video interview with Michael Fassbender on ArtisanNewsService.

Screen Junkies has a caption contest with this Michael Fassbender/Rochester still from the movie:

To celebrate the release of Jane Eyre, we’re giving away a $25 movie gift card, soundtrack sampler, bookmark, journal, and a pencil! Even if you hate movies but loooooooove scribbling down your deepest, darkest secrets, you’re in luck. I don’t imagine you hate movies though, or you’re visiting this site would be pure sado-masochism.
All you have to do is post the funniest caption you can muster in the comments section for the still frame below.
Contest ends Wednesday at 11:59PM EST. The winner will be announced via Twitter, Facebook, and on the site. (Col. Hans Longshanks)

Do head over there and give it a try or two!

A Bit Fairy Tale, Roving Reads, The Ocean on the Shoulders discuss the movie. And Abigail Fox Design takes a look at the interiors used for the film

And don't forget that today's the day if you want to bid for a Jane Eyre 2011 prop/costume!

Categories: Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV