Fall in love with Haworth

Jane Eyre's Region 1 DVD/BluRay release is scheduled for tomorrow, August 16th:
Sacramento Bee:

"Jane Eyre" is the latest filming of Charlotte Brontë's classic romance. It's dramatic and enthralling and stars Mia Wasikowska as Jane and Michael Fassbender as the brooding Rochester. (Jim Carnes)

The Salt Lake Tribune:

Grade: A- (...)

Director Cary Joji Fukunaga ("Sin Nombre") uses subtle strokes to capture the class tensions in Jane’s story, and lets the romance smolder without burning out too fast. Extras include deleted scenes, featurettes, and a commentary track by Fukunaga. (Sean P.Means)

Los Angeles Daily News:

The latest version from Cary Joji Fukunaga ("Sin Nombre"), from an intelligent and lively script by Moira Buffini (the funny, offbeat "Tamara Drewe"), is one of the best adaptations of books about the 19th century heroine to come around. It is neither a dull exercise in honoring the original nor an out-of-time attempt to update it for today's audience. It is a hybrid, capturing both the spirit of the novel and the emotional appeal that makes it continue to resonate with modern fans. (Rob Lowman)

The New Yorker:

“Jane Eyre” has inspired more than a score of adaptations for the big and small screens, starting in 1910. The latest version, directed by Cary Fukunaga, stars Mia Wasikowska as the smitten governess and Michael Fassbender as Rochester, her tormented employer. (It will be released on DVD on August 16th.) David Denby noted that the film was “largely shot in available light” and wrote that “at times, the lovers seem to be fighting not only against a malignant fate but against the dying of the light. Yet this austere production has fire enough; it captures the elemental Brontë passions yet again.”

DVDFile:

Combining a fantastic cast and brilliant set pieces Fukunaga has crafted a unique tale in the genre of Victorian romanticism. Australian actress Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland, The Kids Are All Right) plays the part of the eponymous Jane to an absolute perfect balance, trading between the delicate youth and tempered resolve of her star-crossed character. While this portrayal in and of itself would have served as a feather in any actress’ cap it is all the more impressive when you consider that she highlights a cast of Hollywood and UK heavyweights that would make even the most closeted of Anglophiles titter with glee. Michael Fassbender is a bundle of trapped rage and frustrated privilege in his role as the lord of the manor, Mr. Rochester.
As ever, Fassbender lends a touch of thinly-veiled danger to his role that is perfectly juxtaposed with Wasikowska’s overt delicateness and waif-like charm. The dance and interplay between the two characters is mesmerizing to watch as they trade waspy flirtations and barbs. Apart from the two lead characters, Dame Judie Dench is ever impressive as Rochester’s housekeeper. With practiced ease she offsets her elder-stateswoman gravitas with an easily-embarrassed nuance and charm that allows her to blend in with the tapestry of the film and not steal the show entirely. (Finnian Durkan and Mike Restaino)

Movie Examiner:

Jane Eyre - Rent-it - Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) may earn herself an Oscar in her portrayal of Jane Eyre, a governess for a wealthy man who has made her life, until now, completely drab and dreary.  (Ryan Pratt)

Calgary Herald:

Cary Fukunaga directs this update on the Charlotte Brontë classic with a steady hand and an unflinching eye. It-Girl Mia Wasikowska (The Kids Are All Right, Alice in Wonderland) wears the period dress with conviction and infuses her character with an emotional truth that immediately makes her real. This Jane Eyre pays homage to Brontë's heroine and her unflagging strength in the face of adversity. (Katherine Monk)

ICv2:

Altogether better, though no less Gothic (in a more traditional sense), is Cary Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre (Universal, “PG-13,” $29.98, BD $34.98), a superior adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s Victorian classic.  Michael Fassbender, who played Magneto in X-Men: First Class, is Rochester, while Mia Wasilkowska (Alice in Wonderland) is great in the title role. Those who enjoy solid literary adaptations will love this Jane Eyre.

ScreenDaily informs about the weekend box office results of the film in Australia:

Jane Eyre opened in Australia on an excellent $905,000 from 149 [screens]. (Jeremy Kay)

The figures given by Sky News are slightly different:

7. Jane Eyre - $814,132 (Universal)

More reviews: Chessnoid, The Vermilion and Area Voice, The Film Yap, Dance in Your Mind.

Colin Philpott, director of the National Media Museum,  recommends visiting Brontë country in the Yorkshire Post and the Belfast Telegraph's travel guide is devoted to Haworth:

Having fallen in love with Haworth and its spectacular surrounding countryside on my first visit to West Yorkshire, it's easy to see why one of its most famous inhabitants — Emily Brontë — was crippled with homesickness when forced to leave her beloved moors.
The author of the literary masterpiece, Wuthering Heights, bade a sad farewell to her home on several occasions, to go to school, albeit briefly, to teach in Halifax and to attend a boarding school in Brussels with her sister Charlotte. But the most reclusive of the three Brontë sisters only ever felt at peace when walking the moors with her dog Keeper.
And it's to these wild and windy moors — the backdrop for Wuthering Heights — and the postcard-pretty village of Haworth, that thousands of tourists make a pilgrimage each year, to follow in the footsteps of Emily, Charlotte and youngest sibling Anne.
The Brontë Country, which straddles the West Yorkshire and East Lancashire Pennines, is rooted in rural Haworth, a quintessentially English village with cobbled streets, flower-fronted houses, quaint tea-rooms and quirky vintage shops. (...)
After Emily's untimely death, Charlotte wrote: “My sister Emily loved the moors. Flowers brighter than the rose bloomed in the blackest of the heath for her; out of a sullen hollow in the livid hillside her mind could make an Eden. She found in the bleak solitude many a dear delight; and not the least and best loved was liberty.”
If you ever visit Haworth and Emily Brontë's cherished moors, I guarantee you'll understand. (Read more)

The Dorset Echo tells about an upcoming auction at Dorchester's Duke's Auctioneers which includes a Brontëana item:

There will be a selection of clothing, bags and accessories on auction on Tuesday, September 27.
There will also be a good example of patchwork, which was worked by Ellen Nussey, a close friend of the Brontë sisters.
Miss Nussey met Charlotte Brontë at Roe Head School when Charlotte was 15 years old.
The patchwork is bright and in good condition and is being sold with several provenance letters, including one from The Brontë Society relating to when it was on loan to them.
Deborah Doyle of Dukes said: “Anything relating to the Brontë sisters is highly collectable.
“Although this piece was not worked by them, followers of the Brontë’s all know how important Miss Nussey was to the girls and it is sure to create huge interest worldwide.”

Slugger O'Toole is not à la page with Brontë news:

It seems that zombies are doing well at the moment: long may it last. As the reviewer on Amazon suggested here next we need Wuthering Heights and Werewolves. (Turgon)

As a matter of fact we already have it.


The Unspeakable Truth praises Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights in Indonesian; Reads for Keeps is reading Jane Eyre; Anna The Bookworm reviews Agnes Grey; Gwennewclearthepoet's Blog presents her story Charlotte Brontë and Me; Refúgio dos livros (in Portuguese) reviews Wuthering Heights.

Categories: Agnes Grey, Brontëana, Haworth, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Music, Wuthering Heights