It's hard to beat Jane Eyre

Another Australian Jane Eyre 2011 review:
The Australian:

Fukunaga, whose father is Japanese and mother is Swedish, was largely reared in the US. There he directed what is so far his only other film, the well-regarded Sin Nombre, a thriller set in Mexico that sadly hasn't received a commercial release in this country.
He wasn't the most obvious choice to direct this perennial love story but he has done an outstanding job, bringing an outsider's eye to capture details of Britain's class structure in the 19th century and a poet's vision to the beautiful, lowering landscapes.
This is the best adaptation of the novel since the 1943 version. (David Stratton)

PopSugar Australia:

Wasikowska embodies Jane with a mousy wig and bare face. As Jane, she's often quiet and pensive, but you can see the gears turning in her head as her feelings bubble beneath the surface. Fassbender on the other hand, isn't what you might expect from the Byronic Rochester; for one, he's much more handsome. Even so, Fassbender makes Rochester perfectly repellent and attractive at the same time. He's brash one minute, sympathetic the next, and dare I say, I found him more interesting than Jane. While the two actors together struggle to generate heat, Fassbender is often smoldering on his own.
Though Fukunaga could've played up the mystery of Thornfield more (Rochester's secret in the attic isn't nearly as intriguing as it should be), Brontë's gothic vibe is alive and well in the director's hands, and the scenery is gorgeously gloomy. As Jane plods through the sodden moors or stares out the window of Thornfield, you can feel her isolation and anguish. But I was left wishing that her romantic feelings and her happier moments were equally stirring. (Lauren Bradshaw)

The McClatchy Papers (the director is renamed Kukunaga, though), The Morning Call and  New York Times talk about the DVD release of Jane Eyre 2011. Like BAM's Blog:

But Fukunaga, 34, and his talented young cast bring fresh, thrilling energy to the often-adapted gothic tale. Every aspect of the multi-layered narrative is heightened: The mystery crackles with suspense, the romance smolders with sensuality, and the coming-of-age story flares with intensity. (...)
Despite its spring theatrical release date, Fukunaga’s dynamic “Jane Eyre” deserves to be remembered when awards season arrives. (Brandy McDonnell)

or HamptonRoads:

Visually, “Jane Eyre” packs a punch, hitting on all cylinders with its high-def transfer. Detailing in the ornate set and textured costumes is tactile. A desaturated, cold wash pervading much of the film adds to Jane’s constant isolation. Audio is sometimes quiet and words spoken softly are hard to make out. When layering a 19th century accent with the unfamiliar words and patterns of early English, it’s easy to lose the viewer. Consider using the subtitle option.
“[I wanted] to blend a classically romantic story and the elements of suspense,” says director Cary Fukunaga. “We featured the gothic elements of the story more.”
The bonus features are disappointingly short and rushed. Featurettes on the score, the lighting and the “look” play out more like extended trailers and offer little of consequence.
Luckily the commentary saves the day. Fukunaga details many of the technical decisions made while making the movie, introducing the viewer to ideas and concepts that filmmakers deal with on a daily basis. It gets a bit bogged down in the technicality at some points, but viewers with knowledge of filmmaking will be delighted. (Olivia Hubert-Allen)

and DVDTalk:

This latest exploration of Bronte's work (elegantly adapted by Moira Buffini, "Tamara Drewe") takes a decidedly sophisticated approach to the central love story, making the pairing of Jane and Rochester something enigmatic, uncomfortable, and taboo. Fukunaga transforms the story into a mystery of sorts, rearranging the events of the book to better pierce into the protagonist's spinning headspace, flawlessly capturing the internal spasms of a lady on the run from her past, fighting for the freedom she craves, trapped in a severe society that doesn't permit such luxuries. It's an unusual take on the material, but an enormously successful artistic choice, with legitimate suspense flooded back into the story, handled with tremendous care by the director, last seen guiding 2009's masterful drama, "Sin Nombre."
The picture isn't a classical romance in the least, with delicate candlelit cinematography on the hunt for claustrophobia and confusion, keeping the film in a state of suspicion, greatly enhanced by the skillful performances. Fassbender's Rochester is special curiosity, crafted into an antagonistic personality who is visibly charged by Jane's arrival. He pokes and prods, looking for an intellectual challenge in a sea of obedient employees (including Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax), finding Jane to be a remarkable development that flushes away his escalating distaste for life on his vast estate. Fassbender is itchy and vulnerable as the character, avoiding overt red beams of swoon to play a profoundly private churn of attraction. Wasikowska is equally as masterful, articulating the burden of Jane's life with glances and tremors, communicating a volcanic disappointment with the smallest of movements. It's an exceptional performance, portioned heroically by Fukunaga, keeping the pair in a harsh standoff position until the ice is ready to thaw. (Brian Orndorf)

Die Filmstarts (Germany) also publishes a positive review:

Bis zum imposanten Schlussakt hält Fukunaga das Niveau, schafft ein kunstvoll reduziertes, präzise durchkomponiertes Filmgemälde und begegnet seinen vielen „Jane Eyre"-Vorgängern mit bemerkenswertem Selbstbewusstsein: Ja, er ist der Richtige, um den klassischen Stoff über irrfahrende Seelen und einen besonderen Ort inmitten weiter, karger Landschaft ein weiteres Mal zu erzählen, das weiß er ganz genau und das lässt er auch sein Publikum wissen. Fukunagas Brontë-Adaption ist ein kraftvolles Kino-Essay über gesellschaftliche Schichtung und grenzüberschreitende Liebe, ein Film, an dem sich künftige „Jane Eyre"-Anläufe messen müssen – und der bestmögliche Grund, Mia Wasikowska und vor allem Michael Fassbender die Daumen für einen baldigen, ganz großen Durchbruch zu drücken. (Moritz Stock) (Translation)

The Ripon Gazette has an account of the restoration work being carried out at the Norton Conyers manor house with some fascinating new findings. Nevertheless the comment

During its history the house had been host to Charles 1 in 1633, James II and his wife in 1679, and Charlotte Brontë in 1839. 

is a bit confusing as it seems to suggest that Charlotte lived there for some time. As a matter of fact, there's a suggestion that Charlotte may have visited the house in 1839 which comes through Ellen Nussey remembering that Charlotte had described the place and knew the story of the madwoman confined to the top floor. Nevertheless there is no mention of this visit in any of Charlotte's letters and some scholars have suggested that the house was probably unoccupied in 1839. (More information about this here).

Caitlin Moran vindicates the role of public libraries is these times of economical cuts in The Times:

Everything I am is based on this ugly building on its lonely lawn – lit up during winter darkness, open in the slashing rain – which allowed a girl so poor she didn’t even own a purse come in twice a day and experience actual magic: travelling through time, making contact with the dead (Dorothy Parker, Charlotte Brontë, Richard Brautigan, Truman Capote).

The Edmonton Journal compares the climbing of the Kilimanjaro to Yorkshire's moors:

“It was sort of like Wuthering Heights,” said expedition leader Ben Webster, comparing the scene to the Yorkshire setting of English writer Emily Brontë’s novel. “We were walking the moorlands.” (Chris Zdeb)

The Boston Globe reviews The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan:

‘Reader, I ate him,’’ Jake Marlowe confesses in his journal, fracturing Jane Eyre’s famous line and signaling for sure that “The Last Werewolf’’ is not your typical horror story, nor is Glen Duncan your typical horror writer. (Nan Goldberg)

Slate analyses Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden:

Frances Hodgson Burnett's children's classic The Secret Garden, first published 100 years ago, starts out as the Wuthering Heights of children's literature. (KJ Dell Antonia)

Elizabeth Melton Parson's Blog didn't like the new version of Jane Eyre. Paperblog (in Italian) discusses some adaptations of Wuthering Heights. For Those About to Read... interviews author Trinity Faegen:

The romance between Jax and Sasha was really sweet and I just loved watching it develop. Were there any literary couples that inspired you to write this love story?
I read Jane Eyre when I was 10 and since then I’ve read hundreds of love stories. All of them – every single one – is inspiration.
Who are your favorite fictional couples of all time?
It’s still hard to beat Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester. There’s something about a tormented hero and a woman who can make him a better man.

Another Brontëite on Leonoticias. The Spanish writer Lourdes Ventura:

Al ser la única chica de una familia con nueve hijos, la vida de Ventura dio un vuelco cuando cayeron en sus manos tres diminutos ejemplares que todavía conserva de ‘Jane Eyre’, ‘Cumbres borrascosas’ y ‘El doctor Frankenstein o el moderno prometeo’, que se correspondían con los números 198, 199 y 265 de la colección Los Crisolines, de Aguilar. Los autores resultaron ser tres mujeres, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Brontë y Mary Shelley, respectivamente. «Para una niña de diez años como era yo entonces, leer una historia como ‘Jane Eyre’, protagonizada por otra niña incomprendida y aislada, y escrita por una mujer, fue tremendo. La lectura era mi mundo y esos libros cambiaron mi vida. Desde entonces me convertí en una lectora y rastreadora de obras de mujeres. Esos libros fueron el germen de mi actual biblioteca de escritoras, tanto de narrativa como de ensayo», explica. (César Combarros) (Translation)

In Комсомольская правда (Russia) we discover another Brontëite, the swimmer Елена Кононова:

Хобби: любит читать зарубежные романы. Одна из любимых писательниц – Шарлот Бронте. Еще любит слушать музыку  и танцевать. (Людмила БОРОДИНА) (Translation)

Categories: Brontëites, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, References