Jane Eyre: chick flick, eh?

Jane Eyre 2011 seems to open today in South Africa (and Iceland) and so a few local newspapers comment on it. The Independent Online gives the film 4 stars:

At the film’s centrepiece is the incredible (although admittedly stilted) smouldering connection between the principal leads. It’s powerful, dramatic and enthralling. And although this latest version of Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 novel may stray from a fully faithful account of the original, it is nevertheless an engaging (if much-abbreviated) adaptation. (Kavish Chetty)

Artslink has a couple of reviews. The first review, despite giving the film a 6/10, is not too keen on it:

I wish I could call this film a great turning point for me; that I have at long last seen the light and converted to that great cause of the Gothic romance but, alas, it wasn't and I haven't. Don't get me wrong, there was plenty to appreciate about the film and it clearly worked for many of my fellow critics – a group who are clearly far more open minded than I. If, indeed, your boat is set afloat by the very sight of damp English countryside and even damper posh Englishmen – not to mention all the meaningful glances and poignant near-touches – prepare yourself for a treat.
Joke as I may, the damp English countryside is magnificently shot, the script is sharply honed and the acting by its four principals – Jamie Bell, Michael Fassbender, Judy Dench and, best of all, Mia Wasikowsa who offers up yet another stellar performance in a very young career full of them – is very, very impressive. It's a classic tale full of all the unexpected love and (mostly) unarticulated desire that is the bread and butter of the genre, peopled by some fairly complex characters and themes.
For me, though, I didn't buy the burgeoning romance at all and, whether it's the fault of a lack of chemistry between Fassbender and Wasikowsa or simply that I was never convinced by the characters, it landed up feeling very artificial and forced to me. It felt more that these two characters had to fall in love for the narrative to work than a depiction of a real romantic and, for that matter, physical relationship.
Jayne [sic] Eyre is a technically accomplished and immensely elegant film, but I don't know if it wasn't that exact elegance, that very pristine and immaculate but ultimately sterile sheen, that isn't ultimately the film's fatal flaw or if I simply have an incurable blind spot for Gothic romances. Either way, however much I may admire and respect the film, I can't really say I liked it. (Ilan Preskovsky)

The second review is more enthusiastic:

It is stylish, elegant and it observes the period of the time with a keen eye and a fresh lens. Mia Wasikowska, who left her mark as Alice in the reworking by Tim Burton of “Alice in Wonderland,” inhabits the pivotal role of Jane Eyre with luminescence, while the handsome Michael Fassbender makes a commanding Edward Rochester who slowly warms to Jane’s many charms. He comes across as a realistic and prosaic entity.
But it’s Wasikowska’s reading of the title role, with its myriad nuances and moods, that wins you over, and when she penetrates beneath the skin of her character she is skilful enough to imbue it with profound textures. [...]
The task of translating a beloved work of classical literature was certainly a daunting one, but what Fukunaga has produced here is not, thankfully, a radical updating of the story. Nor is it a stuffy, middle-class study of morality. It is a vigorous, compelling interpretation that works splendidly on all levels. [...]
“Jane Eyre” is highly recommended. (Peter Feldman)

Back in the US, the Daily Sundial gives it 3.5 out of 5 stars:

There is a dysfunction in Gothic love stories that is comforting and relatable. It’s for the same reason soap opera’s are so popular. We’re told it’s okay to love the person who hurt us, or pine after confusing love. But this adaptation spent so much time in the dark psychology of Jane’s self-sufficiency, that when the sun shone over the couple as they confirmed their love for each other, it was hard to stop thinking, and start feeling.
Also, much of the movie was hard: rocks, barren trees, wind, rain, snow, boarded up windows, cold floors, windy rooms, vast isolated countryside, all to make you feel alone and without relationship to anything or anyone at all. In the words of Jane Eyre, everything was “muted.”
And toward the end as Eyre collapses on a rock, after a fight with Rochester, I was hit with the realization that, in life, a broken heart has nowhere soft to land. Not even at the movies. And after walking out of the theatre I had no impulse to share the experience with anyone. (Sharon Hardwick)

The Newton Patch considers it a 'mom-approved film' suitable for mother's day, but fortunately Channel 3000 is there to help debunk the myth:

We landed at our wonderful Sundance Theater in Madison with tickets for "Jane Eyre."
"Chick Flick," Tom [husband] said with resignation when it was the only movie that fit our time window.
It never occurred to me that Tom had never read "Jane Eyre," a book I thought all high schoolers in the 1960s and 1970s had to read before graduation.
By mid-movie, Tom was sputtering outloud, "The missionary guy is going to force her to marry him!"
"SHHHhhh," I said. We are not old enough to get away with talking aloud in a movie theater in the afternoon.
I was watching the acting and the photography. Tom was engrossed in the limitations on women and men in England in the late 1800s.
I told him that the movie had a secret and for those who have not read or seen Jane Eyre, I will not spoil it for you. When the secret played out, Tom was glued to his seat.
After the movie, he said, "I am not sure I can walk."
Chick flick, eh? (Ellen Foley)

Focus Features shares a picture of

Focus CEO James Schamus along with friend David Lee [...] in Taichung City in Taiwan to grab a photo op for the film at the Jane Eyre Motel. We believe their motto is “The Place to Get Moor Love any Time of the Day". (Peter Bowen)

The film is reviewed on the blogosphere by: The Literary Omnivore, Rampant Cinephile's Blog, Pursuing the Truth, Citizen Charlie and Footprints in the Sand.

And now on to the other Brontë film of the year: Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights. An anonymous reader has kindly alerted us to the fact that the movie might yet bee screened at Cannes (maybe at the Film Market?). According to this tweet by Rob Sharp:

Just quit FilmFour pre-Cannes party. Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights appears somewhat bleak...

Surely 'bleak' should be a good thing here, right?

NewsTime goes back to the 1939 adaptation of Wuthering Heights to tell an anecdote about Vivien Leigh:

She was seeking the role of Isabella in William Wyler’s “Wuthering Heights”, but, according to one of her previous co-stars, Robert Taylor, she certainly had her eye on Scarlett, for she had read and loved Mitchell’s novel. (Digby Ricci)

According to The Star, this is also the adaptation that inspired Kate Bush to writer her famous song:

her most famous song, Wuthering Heights, was not wholly based on the Emily Brontë novel as most believe but rather on the film version starring Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberone [sic]. (Sharil Dewa)

We had always heard that it was the 1970 adaptation that had inspired her though.

Another Brontë-related song these days is Stevie Nicks's Wide Sargasso Sea. According to the Washington Blade,

Several songs start slow but then blossom in unexpected ways — the rugged, jangly beat on “Wide Sargasso Sea” doesn’t kick in until the second verse. . . (Joey DiGuglielmo)

The Mirror has an article on a teen model who died in strange circumstances and one of whose favourite books was apparently Wuthering Heights.

The Gaston Gazette quotes from a teacher who has

found that books such as “Brave New World,” “Wuthering Heights” and “Jane Eyre” can create interesting discussions and are really thought-provoking.

The Montreal Mirror also mentions the Jane Eyre moment in the play The Book Club.

In full regalia, the heroines from The Scarlet Letter, The Great Gatsby, Madame Bovary, and Gone with the Wind fight it out in the literary salon before the “back to the future” act three resolution, with even Jane Eyre making a phantom appearance or two. (Neil Boyce)

The Baptist Press highlights the influence of King James Bible in the writings of many authors such as the Brontë sisters.

Native Audio Grrrl discusses the 'Heathcliff/ Cathy/ Edgar Love Triangle' and Me Under Construction posts briefly about April Lindner's Jane. Finally, Amanda White from Contemporary Naive Art has written to let us know that she has now completed her beautiful Haworth Parsonage collage.

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