The release of the new DVD edition of Jane Eyre 1944 (with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine, directed by Robert Stevenson) by Fox Home Entertainment (for Region 1) appears in several newspapers.Jane EyreEdmonton Journal* * *, 1944, Fox,
Given its pedigree, this A-list production of Charlotte Brontë's oft-filmed novel ought to resonate more, even when judged solely against other 1944 movies (Double Indemnity to Meet Me in St. Louis to To Have and Have Not). Yet even atop its impressive DVD extras (two commentaries, 168 hours of digital work on the print, much more), the movie has a lot going for it. Start with Bernard Herrmann's aptly brooding score and an imposing Orson Welles (as Rochester, opposite Joan Fontaine's Jane) in a putty nose shortly after Hollywood started blackballing him as a director. But here, also, in a single movie are the era's three premier child actresses: Peggy Ann Garner, Margaret O'Brien and a very young Elizabeth Taylor. The director was Robert Stevenson, a journeyman forced to dodge genius Welles' not-exactly-submerged wish to steer the picture, an episode addressed on one of the DVD's featurettes. Stevenson later became Disney's house filmmaker (Mary Poppins, That Darn Cat!). (Mike Clark)
Easily the best Jane Eyre movie out there, this 1944 Robert Stevenson production features Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine, Elizabeth Taylor and Agnes Moorehead as the central characters who will have their very lives thrust into chaos and turmoil when a young governess falls for a secretive man. Stevenson captures the best of Bronte's brand-name bodice-beating, but it's really the pitch-perfect cast that makes this exhausting drama so much fun -- well that, and the bits with the crazy lady in the attic. DVD features include commentary by Welles's biographer Joseph McBride. Rating 4 (Katherine Monk)David Annandale on UpcomingDiscs reviews the edition:
AudioCategories: Contest, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TVMono and stereo versions are, as ever in this series of releases, both on offer. The usual indiscriminate surround issues are there, but the volume in the rear speakers is sufficiently low that most viewers are unlikely to be bothered by the wraparound voices. The sound is, it must be said, quite rich for a remastered 1944 track, especially the music.
Video
A note prior to the beginning of the film essentially warns the viewers that the picture quality isn’t going to be perfect, but what’s on display here is pretty damn good. The blacks and contrasts are stupendous. George Barnes’ gorgeously atmospheric cinematography is almost perfectly preserved. There are, granted, a few shots where the grain is noticeable, but these are few and far between.
Special Features
There are two commentary tracks here. The first features Welles biographer Joseph McBride, who is joined by Margaret O’Brien (who plays Rochester’s young ward in the film). The second track has a broader focus, and is a round table moderated by the always interesting Nick Redman, here joined by historians Steven Smith and Julie Kirgo. Good stuff all around, and there is considerable discussion about how much, if any, influence Welles had on the direction, a theme that is picked up in the featurette, “Locked in the Tower, The Men Behind Jane Eyre.” A third track isolates the score and FX. “Know Your Ally Britain” is a propaganda piece Stevenson did for the War Department during WWII, and is an interesting curiosity. The other usual extras are here, too: restoration comparison, theatrical trailer, and photo galleries (covering production, storyboards and posters). On top of everything else, there’s a set of lobby cards packaged with the disc.
Closing Thoughts
Great package, even better (and still definitive) film.
** THE CONTEST IS CLOSED **Cinema Classics CollectionTo enter the competition, you only have to send an answer to the following question:
Jane Eyre (1944)
By Charlotte Brontë
Directed by Robert Stevenson
With Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine, Margaret O'Brien, Agnes Moorehead, Peggy Ann Garner, John Sutton, Sara Allgood, Henry Danell, Elizabeth Taylor.
Screenplay by Aldous Huxley, Robert Stevenson and John Houseman
Produced by William Goetz
Contains:
Four Lobby cards.
Leaflet with information and curiosities about the film.
Features:
Available Subtitles: English, Spanish
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
Full Screen Feature (Black & White). Aspect Ratio 1.33:1
SPECIAL FEATURES
Audio Commentary by Orson Welles Biographer Joseph McBride and Actress Margaret O'Brien
Audio Commentary with Film Historians Nick Redman, Steven Smith and Julie Kirgo.
Isolated Score & F/X Track
Locked in the Tower: The Men Behind Jane Eyre Featurette
Know Your Ally Britain: United States War Department Film. Directed by Robert Stevenson
Restoration Comparison
Original Theatrical Trailer
Production, Storyboard and Poster Galleries
Film School Rejects talks about Jane Eyre's box office projections:Jane Eyre is likely to have a decent weekend, as well, as it expands to 90 screen nationally. If it’s able to hold onto the $17,000 per screen average it picked up last weekend, it will be able to bring in over $1 million now. Don’t expect that, but it’s something to watch. (Jeremy Kirk)The estimations of Box Office Mojo are optimistic:
Domestic Total as of Mar. 25, 2011: $1,181,000 (Estimate)Rotten Tomatoes: 84 % Fresh (7.4/10) Reviews:80 (63 Fresh / 13 Rotten)
There have been so many movie versions of this enduring tale, you’ve probably seen at least one already. Go again. This is one of the best. It’s true to Charlotte Bronte’s beloved novel and still puts a slight modern touch to it. And best of all both Jane and Mr. Rochester are portrayed perfectly. (Volkmar Richter)Mountain View Voice (and others) (3 and a half stars):
Just when you think the umpteenth adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's beloved 1847 novel couldn't possibly add anything new to the library of cinematic classics, director Cary Joji Fukunaga proves you wrong. (...)Video Hound's Movie Retriever:
Reader, a new generation will most likely enjoy discovering this enduring classic on the big screen. (Susan Tavernetti)
Of course it is not possible to properly translate a 400 page novel into a two-hour movie. There are always cuts, and creative decisions to be made to convey the essence of the story. And very cleverly, screenwriter Moira Buffini has done just that. Jane's bitter and abusive childhood is recalled by a number of well-placed, and well-acted flashbacks. (...)The Scorecard Review (8 out of 10) (audio here)
We just finished the Hollywood awards season, but I think Adriano Goldman (Sin Nombre) should be clearing his calendar for next year. There are moments in Jane Eyre that made me feel like I was watching a Vermeer or Rembrandt come to life. The use of shadow and candle light were beautifully executed. And the sense of desolation conveyed in the lighting and capturing of the moors was palpable. (Bernie Tague)
Fukunaga and the team behind Jane Eyre put their own twist, while keeping the core. They realize their is a reason to tell the story their way. So for now, unitl I see a couple other adaptations, this is my Jane Eyre and I am quite pleased with it.YNN (3 out of stars) (includes video interview with Mia Wasikowska):
"Jane Eyre" is well crafted by director Cary Fukunaga, who makes a effective tradition in the follow up to his Latin gangster film "Sin Nombre." Art direction, costumes and cinematography are strong points of this smart film which caters more to an art house audience than a that of mainstream melodrama. (Victor Diaz)Miami Herald:
The script is necessarily truncated from its expansive source material — Brontë wrote a fairly hefty novel — but in Fukunara’s (sic) hands you never feel like you’re missing a thing. (Connie Ogle)BrandonFibbs (3 out of 4 stars):
This is easily the most spiritual of the adaptations. Fukunaga mines the Gothic horror elements of the novel better than any of his predecessors, evoking phantoms, ghouls and specters—of course, the only demons here are secrets, clamoring to get into the light. It is also the most blatantly feminist. (...)Sun Sentinel:
The result of all this fussing is neither stiff and inflexible or radically divergent and reimagined. It is exactly as it should be—a dynamic romance that rings true with the most important critic of all, our heart.
La adorable Wasikowska encuentra un insustituible compañero en Fassbender (Inglorious Basterds), quien brilla como el cínico, adorable y recatado Mr. Rochester.Love Buzz likes the movie even if she doesn't like the original book much. Univisión (México) gives the film a 9 out of 10. Trailblazer Carson High School, Movie Moxie and Reel Reflections also liked the movie.
Además de relatar con gran maestría una historia de amor imposible, Fukunaga se esfuerza en recrear el ambiente y la atmósfera característicos de la Inglaterra victoriana de aquellos días. (Hernando Olivares)
I have no beefs with what's on the screen in this newest version, but I do with what's missing as a lot of key "filler" material that helps frame - and give purpose to - characters and their complicated emotional entanglements. (Michael Poulos)Slackerwood:
Jane Eyre is naive, since she has lived a good portion of her life in a secluded all-girls school. But both Buffini and Mia Wasikowksa make this character someone who can stand on her own two feet, a woman who could understandably be essential to the true happiness of a certain haunted man.The Oregonian:
Jane Eyre has flaws, though they aren't many. The shaky-cam at the start of the film is a bit much. Then some of the scenes from this kinetic beginning reappear in the middle of the movie, which just seems repetitive instead of whatever feeling the director was going for. Some facets of the story get short shrift, but the overall pacing is just right. (Elizabeth Stoddard)
Is it dreary, stingy and strained? Well, yes: it’s “Jane Eyre,” after all. But it’s also robust and full-blooded and forceful: it’s “Jane Eyre,” after all. And besides, if time has taught us anything about film adaptations of “Jane Eyre,” if you don’t care for one, another one will be along in five years or so which you might prefer. (Shawn Levy)Voir:
Qu'apporte à la vingtaine de films et téléfilms inspirés de l'un des chefs-d'oeuvre de la littérature romantique gothique cette adaptation de Cary Joji Fukanaga (sic) (Sin Nombre)? Rien de plus qu'une fidèle, élégante et sage lecture du riche roman introspectif de Charlotte Brontë.(Manon Dumais)
Sometimes adaptations of great literature sound precisely like Adaptations of Great Literature, and this is that kind of movie.This adaptation also strips the complexity out of the central relationship. Rochester is so much infinitely more simpatico with Jane than any other character is—and he's just so damn sexy—that there's never any doubt that the two are meant to be together. (Jay Gabler)Borderstan:
My main problem with the current Jane Eyre is that it skews the narrative in order to introduce the Rivers family of two sisters and a brother early, and so to make the brother central in offering refuge to Jane. He ought to be — and he ought to be more sternly demanding than he is in the film. (...) Nevertheless, Fukunaga and Wasikowska and Fassbender convey most of what makes Jane Eyre such an enduring masterpiece. And the film enriches the story with images– landscape, costume, the shadows and gleam of a great mansion, and the characters themselves–that the mind’s eye can only approximate. Even so, we lovers of Charlotte Brontë’s novel want to say: “It’s the story of an orphaned and rejected girl finding love at last, and without surrendering her independence of spirit. Don’t make it so confusing.” (Mary Burgan)St Paul Pioneer Press:
I'm positive Fukanaga digs Jane Eyre, but I'm still not sure he's into "Jane Eyre." He mishandles the big fat secret, making it a big fat bore. And other than a few amusing costumes (in general, the more ruffles and flounces a character wears, the nastier she is), Fukanaga doesn't seem to care about anyone who is not named either Jane or Rochester.Canoe (3 out of 5 stars)
As those maybe/kinda/possibly lovers, Wasikowska and Fassbender are wonderful together. They have a joking flirtiness that seems just right for a time when public kissing would have been as off-limits as public nudity today. But when those two are not on-screen, all of the eyre goes out of the movie. (Chris Hewitt)
On salue la fraîcheur et le naturel de Mia Wasikowska, sur le visage de laquelle on sent des mélanges de Cate Blanchett et de Nastassja Kinski. On aime aussi le couple qu’elle forme avec Michael Fassbender, leurs âges respectifs (20 et 33 ans) étant cohérents avec le roman original.
On déplore, par contre, la réalisation conventionnelle, à de rares exceptions près, de Fukunaga qui rend encore plus obsolète cette histoire vieille de 150 ans et à laquelle on a du mal, parfois, à s’identifier.(Isabelle Hontebeyrie)
Évidemment, les relents d’interdits entourant la liaison sentimentale entre Jane Eyre et Rochester devraient en principe constituer le pivot émotionnel du récit. Or, cet élément se révèle étonnamment lisse, reléguant ainsi cette adaptation au rayon de tous ces films «à costumes» un peu fades, correctement faits mais desquels n’émane aucune passion. Même s’il insère parfois dans sa mise en scène quelques éléments suggérant l’attirance douloureuse liant les deux êtres, Fukunaga n’a visiblement rien voulu céder au romanesque, ni au lyrisme. (Marc-André Lussier)And .Nick.Burns, My very own Pensieve.
Fukunaga and Buffini's Jane Eyre is not a god-awful abomination, but its many failings are made all the more sad by the things it got really right. (...)LeCinema:
What with all the shimmering candles and foreboding secrets, Jane Eyre should have been breathy and over-the-top; instead, the finished film is a bloodless snooze. (Jamie S. Rich)
Très loin de l'admirable effort réalisé par Robert Stevenson en 1944 (qui mettait en vedette Joan Fontaine, Orson Welles et Elizabeth Taylor, sur un scénario d'Aldous Huxley et une trame sonore de Bernard Herrmann), celui de 2011 laisse froid malgré sa propension à impressionner la rétine. À force de vouloir en mettre plein la vue, le metteur en scène en oublie cette chaleur humaine si importante, celle qui donnait de l'âme à des films à costumes tels «Atonement», «Tess» ou, dans une moindre mesure, «Bright Star» et «Never Let Me Go». Lorsque l'amour finit par ennuyer, c'est qu'il y a un problème quelque part. (Martin Gignac)---
It shouldn't be a surprise that 2011 has brought us yet another film adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 proto-feminist novel Jane Eyre. The story of a young girl shaped by hardship, taking control of her destiny in an oppressive brutal world, is as modern as anything contemporary literature and film has to offer in this century. The issues Brontë wrote about, including the subject of free will, are as real today as they were when the story was first written.The Washington Post discusses the PG-13 rating of Jane Eyre:
Free will is scary. Exercising it can lead us to the very fringes of society and sanity. Scary yes, but what's the alternative? Servitude. Lack of creativity. An uninteresting life that by example gives a tacit "yes" to those who accrue their power thanks to people who don't ask questions, have no imagination, and are afraid to follow their heart. The questions Brontë's protagonist asks are questions that any modern young woman will at some point have to address either privately or, especially in this day and age, in the public eye. (Chris Pecker)
This darkly emotional film is darn good and likely to appeal to literary-minded high-schoolers. There’s nothing in this “Jane Eyre” that’s inappropriate for middle-schoolers. Most already know the story: Edward Rochester takes to Jane’s innocence, and she falls in love with him. But when he tries to wed her, his mad first wife proves a moral impediment. Jane flees. Eventually, though, she is drawn back to Thornfield Hall.The Derby Telegraph looks into some of the Derbyshire locations used in the movie, particulary Haddon Hall:
THE BOTTOM LINE: The atmosphere in the film is decidedly dark and chilly. The students at Jane’s childhood school are beaten, underfed and freezing. Her best friend there dies in the night. The sexual charge between Jane and Mr. Rochester is quite apparent, though never explicit. After an incident with the madwoman in the attic, a visitor has a bloody gash in his neck. (Jane Horvitz)
Dramatic scenes for a new big-budget adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre have been filmed in the Derbyshire countryside.Time Magazine interviews Mia Wasikowska (Jane's Heir):
Both Haddon Hall and the grounds of Chatsworth House feature in the romantic movie, starring Jamie Bell and Dame Judi Dench, and set for UK release in September.
And now the film's director and its crew have told of the delights and pitfalls of filming in the county.
Chatsworth was used as the setting for the first meeting between Jane and her eventual husband, Edward Rochester.
The crew found a spot at top of the gardens to set the scene where Rochester's horse rears as Jane suddenly appears and startles it.
Director Cary Fukunaga said the eventual shots were worth it but that the film crew found themselves at the mercy of the weather – including freezing rain and high winds.
He said: "What the audience won't know is that we were thick with mud, and that visibility was down to 100 yards."
Adriano Goldman, the man behind the film's cinematography, said consistency in the filming was tricky.
He said: "We always tried to shoot outside when the light was best, but we had to be consistent with the mood that Cary had established from the beginning.
"So when there was no fog we'd have to bring some in using special effects."
Haddon Hall and its surroundings were used as the set for Thornfield Hall, the venue for much of the story, because of the way its features have been preserved.
Production designer Will Hughes-Jones said the hall held a lot of secrets that helped with filming.
He said: "We were walking around with custodians of the building, and said how we needed a secret door for the cast to go through.
"One of the custodians said, 'Like this?' and pulled back a tapestry – and there was a secret door.
"You can get lost in Haddon Hall for hours. It can feel dark and frightening, but then again, when the sun is shining on it, it's a beautiful place."
Mr Fukunaga said the craggy rocks around the hall gave it a "darker and more oppressive look".
Janet Blackwell, manager at Haddon Hall, said filming days were long and hectic but enjoyable.
She said: "From the moment the trailers arrived in the car park, there was a real buzz about the place.
"Once filming had finished, and the props all cleared out, Haddon seemed quiet." (Chris Mallet)
What they'll find in Fukunaga's film is a realism both disconcerting and exciting. This is not just because Wasikowska's entire makeup routine consisted of applying moisturizer and having her eyebrows brushed. ("It is not the role to be vain with," she says. "I hope that people can still see the beauty in her.") What feels so radical is the contrast between her Jane and Michael Fassbender's sensual, very adult Rochester. When Wasikowska learned Fassbender (of Inglourious Basterds and the upcoming X-Men: First Class) had been cast, she thought, But he's a man. I've only acted with boys. Seeing them together deepens the understanding of the power dynamic at work in this romance, of what it took for Jane to resist him. Her strength is her self-respect, which Wasikowska relished. "You put her in modern-day society and she'd thrive," she says. (Mary Pols)Music Films Daily interviews Sky Ferreira who happens to like the film:
Have you seen any good films recently?Houston Chronicle says about the film:
Jane Eyre was good, that just came out with Mia… I don’t know how to say her last name, Mia something. (...) Jane Eyre was really good, I think that was the last movie I watched that was really good, in the last few weeks. (Nathan Bohatch)
In an innovative twist, this version begins Jane's story at the end of the book, with Jane looking back on her life, and lacks the often overblown elements of other adaptations, like a puffed-up Welles bellowing "Jane!" over the moors.Monsters & Critics runs a contest connected to the film:
Though he may indeed be an actor's director, he is a trained cinematographer and worked closely with his director of photography, Adriano Goldman, to praised results. At a recent Q&A, an audience member raised her hand not to ask a question but to compliment Fukunaga, saying scenes popped like Vermeer and Caravaggio. Fukunaga grinned sheepishly.
In one of the film's scenes, Jane Eyre expresses displeasure with her sketches, lamenting, "I imagine things I'm powerless to execute."
So far, for the young director, that seems not to be a problem. (Sara Brickman)
Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender star in the romantic drama Jane Eyre and M&C’s giving away a $50 movie theater gift card and other prizes from the film – in theaters now! (Patrick Luce)Another contest related to the release of the film:
To celebrate the release of Jane Eyre, Vintage Books and Focus Features are pleased to present the Jane Eyre Gothic Story Competition for Young Writers. Enter by submitting your own gothic short story for the chance to win a trip for two to visit “Brontë Country,” in Yorkshire, England, including economy roundtrip airfare, four-star hotel accommodations for four nights, a trip to visit the Brontë sisters’ Parsonage, and a guided walking tour of Brontë Country.The deadline is May 16, and the official rules are here.
I can see it might be quite fun to present Aunty Mabel (she's always been a laugh) with a saucy tome such as Fever in France where she's the star. But to kick Jane Eyre and Rochester out of bed so you can replace them with Jane Doe and Mr Rogers from down the road – are you serious?The Mancunion is also indignant about an online poll where J.K. Rowling is at the top and Charlotte Brontë is nowhere to be seen.
The whole point of Jane Eyre is ... the character of Jane Eyre. Have we so lost sight of great literature, are we so irredeemably self-obsessed that we have forgotten why characterisation matters to literature and why it is at the heart of so many great novels? To wrap yourself into the leaves of a book and to believe in and engage with a character that lives – really lives – in the imagination of writer and reader is a literary pleasure hard to describe. I still believe in the imagined reality of Charlotte Brontë's heroine. The very name Jane Eyre brings to my mind the subtle anger and determined stoicism of that character. In a nutshell, Jane Eyre is not about you, just as Tom Sawyer is now and forever always will be Tom Sawyer and no one else.
An online survey of the Top Five female authors (albeit a survey with very few votes), has placed Sophie Kinsella and J K Rowling in its Top three. When considering the ‘Top’ authors, it seems that some people have forgotten the greats, the classics, the timeless masterpieces, in favour of those with recent places on bestseller lists and Hollywood success. Can we really brush aside the likes of Virginia Woolf, Mary Shelley and Charlotte Brontë, whose greatest works have endured centuries and show no signs of losing popularity, to make room at the top for Becky Bloomwood and Harry Potter?Well - surely it's mainly young adults and teenagers voting, hence the trendy authors. We don't think this sort of poll is anything to go by.
Included in the collection are editions signed or annotated by Ms. Rice, and many have her library markings on the spines. The collection showcases her love of literature and writing and reveals a true intellectual curiosity — classic philosophy, the Brontës, biblical archaeology, and Louisiana history are just a few of the subject areas represented.Hollywood Reporter reviews the film Juliets:
None of documentary filmmaker Shen’s previous output (not even “Baseball Boys” which swept the board at 2009 Golden Horse Awards) can prepare us for the irresistibly sexy film language and narrative artistry of “Two Juliets.” In a seaside village in the 80s, a vaudeville performer’s daughter Julie (sizzling singer Lee Chien-na whose family runs genuine vaudeville shows) and a puppeteer’s son (River Huang) are forbidden to love because of their fathers’ feud. A mental asylum becomes their love nest — or prison?A hilarious comment is found in the transcript of a recent NPR programme:
This vignette comes closest to “Romeo and Juliet”’s plot yet its ending has a wicked sting that subverts the Bard’s motif of undying love. The atmosphere is as fantasmagorical as Victorian Gothics like “Jane Eyre” and “Wuthering Heights.” The narrative structure, which traverses two eras and connects two love-lorn women, has the sophistication of a feature length film. (Maggie Lee)
To mark LeBron James' arrival in Miami, NPR member station WLRN and its newspaper partner, the Miami Herald, are sponsoring a contest - a poetry contest. [...]Taylor Swift's song You Belong with Me is again likened to Jane Eyre by The Phlog - a Boston Phoenix blog.
[Michelle] NORRIS [host]: Thats pretty good. But most people I guess actually do know who LeBron James is.
Mr. GRECH [Dan Grech, radio news director of WLRN Miami Herald News]: Yeah. We had one - that was a haiku. And we had one person write in who said that LeBron James sounded like a character out of Wuthering Heights.
NORRIS: Now I can't get that image out of my head with those mutton chop sideburns.
Mr. GRECH: Exactly. LeBron James.
Fassbender and Wasikowska breathe life into their breathless passion, Brontë's exquisite dialogue and her character's socially enslaved soul searching for freedom. Judi Dench is dependably amusing as the gossipy yet kindhearted housekeeper who prefers Jane's high-born company because she doesn't feel she can speak to other servants like equals. Fukunaga and his cinematographer Adriano Goldman and artistic crew breathe supernatural life into everything else--from the terrifyingly sudden and eerie flutter of a bird or billow of chimney smoke, to a dream of Rochester suspended in a doorway of night and silently falling snow. Fukunaga's Jane Eyre is profoundly stirring -- everything a Jane Eyre movie should be, and more. (Christine Champ)The Globe and Mail (3 out of four stars):
[M]ajor, exceptional talent is rare by definition, and, being rare, is easy to spot but hard to describe. Still, to see it is to realize instantly how few have it. Mia Wasikowska has it in abundance.(...)The Boston Herald gives it a B+:
Typically, though, it’s the casting of Rochester – Orson Welles, George C. Scott and William Hurt have each had a turn – that makes or breaks any rendition of Jane Eyre. But this isn’t typical. In fact, in my perhaps conventional view, Michael Fassbender seems miscast here, simply because he can’t escape his good looks. (...)
No matter. The female half is like nothing seen in any previous adaptation. First, Wasikowska plays Jane at her correct age – a mere 19. More important, she embodies that passion/repression battle in her body language, in her every gesture and nuance – open and honest one moment, clenched and timid the next, impelled by her nature to be defiant, compelled by society to be compliant.(...)
What’s more remarkable, she does this too: Given the autobiographical threads in the novel, Wasikowska seems to be playing not just Jane Eyre but also Charlotte Brontë, that other woman who struggled to find a balance between the prototypical feminist and the eminent Victorian. Yes, thanks to the actor, we actually catch a distinct glimpse of the creator within her creation. But surely that’s fitting – two such rare talents deserve each other. (Rick Groen)
Fukunaga’s adaptation is often superficial and overwrought, fussy about costumes and pre-Raphaelite compositions. But his cast is fabulous for the most part, especially the leads. (James Verniere)Gapers Block:
I was so greatly impressed with this version of Jane Eyre that I couldn't wait for characters who leave the screen for a time to return. The screenplay by Moira Buffini is sharp, clear, and emphasizes the strong qualities in each of its characters. The direction is strong and confident, the acting is superb, and the reworked story remains perfection. There are a lot of strong movies out this week, but this might be the best out there. (Steve Prokopy)CBC News gives it 'four bonnets out of five':
Still, it's when the story returns to Jane facing off against the cantankerous Rochester that the film blooms. Much of the pleasure comes from their verbal sparring matches, with Rochester stunned to find someone who doesn't cower before him. Fassbender (who did some stunning work of his own in the amazing movie Hunger) makes a fine Victorian idol. With his jutting chin and high forehead, he resists the temptation to succumb too soon to Jane's charms.The Toronto Sun:
As the supposedly plain Jane, Mia Wasokowska is a far cry from the polished heroine of Alice in Wonderland. The steeliness in her gaze both distinguishes her and draws Fassbender's poor Rochester in.
Compared to other versions of Jane Eyre, Fukunaga draws out the suspense and keeps the couple glowering at each other until that moment in a sun-drenched meadow when everything changes.
Credit also goes to the playwright Moira Buffini, who managed to condense Brontë's novel but retain much of the original's baroque language. (Eli Glasner)
Readers, I loved it. (Liz Braun)The Gwinnett Daily Post gives it 3 1/2 stars:
Even with her two impressive breakthrough 2010 performances (“Alice in Wonderland” and “The Kids Are All Right”) Mia Wasikowska (pronounced vah-shee-kof-ska) is an unlikely choice for Jane. Usually played by older brunettes, Wasikowska — with her severely pinned-back, dishwater-dull, mousy blonde hair and flattened, grayish porcelain complexion — is a perfect fit. With two required exceptions, Wasikowska voices no emotion for the duration yet is able to deftly display the silent strength, unwavering resolve and put upon nature of the character Brontë so elegantly imparted to the printed page. (Michael Clark)The Seattle Times gives it 3 1/2 stars out of 4:
And yes, Janeites will miss much that has been trimmed; an argument could be made that a screen "Jane Eyre" is better suited to television, where the story can be told in a more leisurely fashion. (The recent four-hour BBC version, starring Ruth Wilson, is a lovely one.) But every key scene is here, glowing in beautifully rendered candlelight and shadows and mist, celebrating Brontë's poetic language and Wasikowska's soft-spoken fire. Look at how Jane fingers a piece of lace, or gazes at the first room that's ever seemed to welcome her — touches of beauty, in a life relentlessly plain, for a heroine who somehow knows that she deserves joy. (Moira Macdonald)The Boston Globe also gives it 3 1/2 stars out of 4:
The new “Jane Eyre’’ apparently stars Mia Wasikowska in the title role. If you’re looking for the long, blond, post-adolescent gazelle of “Alice in Wonderland’’ and “The Kids Are All Right,’’ you’ll search in vain. This Jane has dull brown hair and a hard, level gaze; she suggests nothing so much as a lethal mouse. How does an actress make herself appear shorter? I have no idea, but I do know this is one of the better Jane Eyres I’ve seen onscreen, a conception that forsakes movie-groomed glamour for a plainer, less compromised beauty. [...]The National Post's Ampersand gives it 3 stars:
Instead of the usual Miramax trappings — the clip-clop of enameled horse-drawn carriages, the topiary vanishing into morning mist, the dresses, the estates — “Jane Eyre’’ avails itself of stark Derbyshire locations and rough-hewn people and props. Fukunaga and his cameraman, Adriano Goldman, use shallow focus to isolate Jane from the luxuriant backgrounds and to lend the story the indeterminacy of a dream. The sound design pays great care to the creak of the trees. Don’t come to this hoping to get your period-movie freak on.
Instead, the drama is where it should be, in Jane’s growing certainty and in the recognition of same by her employer. “Jane Eyre’’ is really about a woman carving a moral and psychological place in an uncaring world — how this “creeping creature,’’ in the words of one upper-class character, is actually a “rare, unearthly thing’’ to herself and anyone else astute enough to notice.
Wasikowska’s portrayal is so flinty yet so finely calibrated it seems freshly felt. [...]
Those shock waves carry over to the audience. For all its period details, the movie feels perched momentously on the threshold of a sense of self-worth that feels strikingly modern. Fukunaga may have made the first “Jane Eyre’’ to draw the connection between gothic and Goth. (Ty Burr)
“I will show you a heroine as plain and as small as myself,” Brontë told her writerly sister at the time of writing, and nearly 150 years later, Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) has finally shown us Brontë’s perfect heroine. As the exceedingly plain Jane, Wasikowska is, quite simply, sublime. A revelation. She manages to be simultaneously mousy and luminous, offering a well-timed smirk and a terse riposte to Rochester’s interrogations that balances respect with subtle insolence.Willie Waffle from The CWDC gives it 3 1/2 waffles out of 4:
I often find the leads in these unevenly matched, but thanks to Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre), my inner incurable romantic can now die happy. The hipster director, 33, manages to move convincingly from the Gothic things that go bump in the night to “you transfix me, quite.” [...]
Enter Michael Fassbender (Centurion, Hunger), who registers a 9.8 on the Rochester swooniness scale. He smolders convincingly, and matter-of-factly enough. [...]
There’s only so much wiggle room from the source material (it’s often scene-for-scene of previous screen Eyres) but thanks to fine chemistry between the leads, familiar passages and scenes feel fresh and ring truest. Interpreting the poetry of Brontë’s prose, cinematographer Adriano Goldman makes the most of natural light — the muted cold shades and flat light of the exteriors contrast with warm chiaroscuro interiors. These are often moodily bathed in the Rembrandt-like amber of flickering candlelight or flames. (Nathalie Atkinson)
Luckily, Wasikowska and Fassbender deliver the fight, the dialogue and the melodramatic plot twists. Fassbender is saddled with a character who, to put it bluntly, is a big jerk. He starts off at such an extreme, the audience has to wonder how he can make the brusque man into a romantic lead, but Fassbender takes us there small step by small step without over doing it. He shows us how Rochester can have a rough side and a lovey dovey side.Willie Waffle has also interviewed Cary Fukunaga, Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender on video.
Meanwhile, Wasikowska shows some guts not many in Hollywood have. She takes on a role where her character is called plain, ugly, and worse for almost 2 hours, which is just fine here, since she brings out Jane's fierce and determined personality traits in the face of people who couldn't care less about her feelings.
Plus, I love the way Fukunaga captures the vast loneliness and isolation the characters experience.
This version, adapted by Moira Buffini and directed by Cary Fukunaga, is, above all, a handsome production. It plays the novel's beats with a special kind of dexterity, shifting from the Gothic horror of those sounds and murmurs and laughs in the dark night of Thornfield Hall to the evolving relationship between the heroine and her employer, and if the condensing of the source material to incorporate as much as possible within it means a certain lack of overarching focus, it is not for a lack of understanding or atmospheric interpretation. This Jane Eyre knows its characters and how the bumps in the night become very real bumps in Jane's road to happiness. (Mark Dujsik)It's Just Movies:
The settings in “Jane Eyre” are beautiful, but one major problem with the movie is the lack of light. Almost every single scene is lit by a few candles and although this may be to help set the somber and mysterious mood of the film, I found others complaining that certain scenes were hard for them to see what was going on. However, I thought the way it was lit and shot gave it the feeling of a thriller at times and helped during slower times in the story. I enjoyed and was taken aback at the emotionality in the story when it seemed to start off so cold and desolate. There are a few scenes where the two leads just explode with heart-wrenching emotions as they discuss their feelings for each other and their possible future together. (Adam Poynter)Reel Film News gives it a B:
I really enjoyed Mia Wasikowska’s performance in this film. She did a very good job and impresses me as a young actress. She did a very good job in Alice in Wonderland and continues to impress me here. Michael Fassbender also does a very good job in this film. The two of them have excellent chemistry in this film. I genuinely felt as though there was a connection between the two of them. (Bill Ayres)D Magazine:
Wasikowska shows a great sensitivity for her character, bringing to it a balance of tight-hearted reserve and a burning streak of muzzled ferociousness. She is reminiscent of a young Oliva Hussey, who could capture in a quiet gaze that volatile mix of burgeoning intellectual energy and clumsy sexuality — cloaked in a subdued beauty — that makes a type of young woman mind-numbingly irresistible to a certain kind of man.
Michael Fassbender’s Rochester is that man. Fassbender is a born action hero, virile and uncommonly in control even when he pushes himself to display emotional vulnerability. His Rochester succeeds best when he struggles to keep the character’s inner turmoil under wraps, bumbling and blundering his way through romantic profusions. Despite this movie’s gothic coloring and dramatic verbosity, adaptations of Jane Eyre succeed and fail based on the viability of this central relationship. In this latest version, it sizzles. (Peter Simek)
If there’s a frustration about the film, it is that Fukunaga, for all his focus on Brontë’s gothic elements, keeps the tone of the melodrama too mild for such material, which includes, in addition to the attic horror, a mysterious conflagration. The love story, while engaging, is low on passion.The San Francisco Chronicle prefers Zeffirelli's take after all:
Still, if this isn’t the ultimate Jane, it is an intelligent, entertaining big-screen movie featuring a compelling heroine, literary credentials and a winning story that should satisfy “Jane Eyre” devotees and newcomers alike.
It’s also a chance to meet a terrific new Jane in the form of Wasikowska. Splendidly unglamorous and radiating acuity and decency, she’s ideal for this character. Her exchanges with Fassbender’s formidable Rochester are among the film’s highlights. (Anita Katz)
[Mia Wasikowska] has a piercing, all-seeing look that seems to suggest a whole moral universe, a lifetime of deprivation and loss, spent at the mercy of people at their most vicious and perverse. But when she turns away, the spell breaks; and in emotional moments ... she's good, she's perfectly acceptable, but there's an extra something, a depth of soul or an understanding that's lacking.The Denton Record-Chronicle gives it 3 stars:
In a similar way, this latest adaptation of the Charlotte Brontë novel is careful, respectful and even enjoyable, and yet dry, singularly humorless and played without the lavishness of spirit that makes sense of Gothic melodrama. The essence of the Gothic, after all, is in its suggestion of the nightmare, the primitive and the Id, and of pent-up, bottled-up sexuality. These are hinted at in architecture but usually expressed more fully and dramatically by the sky and the elements. (Mick LaSalle)
The story needs only a few rural settings, none of them as elaborate as those found in the pomp and dress balls of Pride and Prejudice. The film stays in a sort of sepia-toned haze, as if color would ruin the mood. Even when spring sports green grasses and blooming trees, the color remains dull and hardly noticeable.The Arizona Republic gives it 3 1/2 stars:
Wasikowska is a fine young actress, and she makes a plausible Jane, although she might not fit some people’s idea of what Jane would look like. But who could? As Rochester, Fassbender, whatever his age, adequately conveys the sense of mystery and despair that his character demands. (Boo Allen)
On the other hand, the constraints of time - the relative brevity of even a leisurely paced film, and the ever-growing distance between the Victorian setting and contemporary audiences - inevitably do violence to the story.The Washington Post gives it 2 1/2 stars out of 4:
On the page, "Jane Eyre" is a full life, chronicling the title character's upbringing in a hostile home and an oppressive boarding school before settling into the Gothic romance. Fukunaga and screenwriter Moira Buffini ("Tamara Drewe") condense the material into a frame-story structure, with flashbacks to young Jane (Amelia Clarkson, excellent) deftly defining the stakes for an orphan girl clinging to her position on the bottom rung of high society.
Wasikowska ("The Kids Are All Right") proves her chops in her first genuinely challenging role, solving the puzzle of how to suggest the depth of feeling that hides underneath her proverbial stiff upper lip. It's a fine performance despite the giggle factor every time someone repeats that her character is a plain Jane; dour costumes and makeup hardly disguise the elfin beauty that earned the actress her breakout role in Tim Burton's "Alice in Wonderland." (Kerry Lengel)
Still, if Jane and Rochester’s encounters never quite achieve the passionate flames of mutual comprehension that Charlotte Brontë so famously celebrated in her 1847 novel, that doesn’t detract too much from “Jane Eyre’s” illustrative pleasures. Fukunaga, who made an astonishing debut in 2009 with “Sin Nombre,” proves just as adept at evoking the Derbyshire landscape as Mexican gangland, setting Jane in an arrestingly windswept, rain-drenched moor.Metro Canada:
Inside Thornfield Hall, his attention to detail never flags; no movie in recent memory has exploited 19th-century lighting implements with as much rich, lambent luster.
“Jane Eyre” purists will applaud Fukunaga’s decision to allow Jane the time to set up housekeeping with St. John Rivers (Jamie Bell) and his sisters, an interlude that serves as a sort of bloodless mirror image to her time at Thornfield with Rochester, his ward Adele (Romy Settbon Moore), their faithful housekeeper, Mrs. Fairfax (Judi Dench), and — sorry, what was that sound in the hall? As alert to “Jane Eyre’s” classic Gothic elements as to its heaving romance, Fukunaga infuses his heroine’s world with mysterious spirits and puffs of smoke, so that when Thornfield’s apparition finally appears in the flesh, the scene is of a piece with a darkly enchanted world.
Only one sequence, late in the movie, threatens to jar fans of the book by taking artistic liberties, but that’s the only visible sign that Fukunaga has compromised in acquitting “Jane Eyre’s” chief duty, which is to capitalize on the popularity of the “Twilight” franchise. With its air of gloom and glower, eroticism of desire and restraint and whiff of mortal danger, “Jane Eyre” could be read as the foundational text for all ’tween-oriented vamp-and-wolf narratives that came after it. If this “Jane Eyre” turns out to be the Brontë gateway for girls who came of age with Bella Swan and her moodily difficult love interest, that’s all to the good: Ladies, welcome to the original Team Edward. (Ann Hornaday)
Of the films based on Charlotte Brontë’s beloved 19th-century novel of madness on the moors, this may be the most realistic. It’s bleak, slow and grim, like life in those forbidding stone piles where Jane has spent her sad life. The deadly artifice of society threatens her as much as her escapes into the harsh natural world outside. Wasikowska isn’t up to playing the steel-willed literary heroine and seems mismatched with Fassbender’s dark magnetism. Sally Hawkins, who brutalises Jane as her smirking, sadistic aunt, gets under the skin more than the fog and rot and mistrust. (Anne Brodie)Sobering Conclusion gives the film 3 1/2 stars out of 5:
I had gone into the film most excited about the direction of Cary Joji Fukunaga, who helmed the excellent “Sin Nombre“. While I knocked him for seeming to stretch that film too much, it’s easier to see why “Jane Eyre” runs nearly two hours, netting the film a 3.5 out of 5. And although this too can feel a bit slow at times, and the disjointed storytelling at the beginning seems self-indulgent, the acting, cinematography and production design should allow most into period piece films or with a particular affinity for the novel to get what they want out of this experience.(Ian Forbes)Past the Popcorn:
What makes this movie, however, are the performances. The movie is by far at its best in the dialogue scenes between Jane and Mr. Rochester, played by Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender, two actors who are definitely on the rise. (Jeff Walls)Toronto Film Scene:
Although the performances are consistently rich and hypnotic, there are a few things in this movie that aren’t so well done. The biggest overarching problem is the film’s inability to stick to a certain mode, which made the pace rather uneven. It’s as if the director couldn’t quite decide what vibe to go for with this adaptation; how to strike a balance between sticking to the eerie and disturbing plot points and making the characters relatable. (Dasha Kotova)FanBolt:
It's a fantastic story though, and the casting was superb. Michael Fassbender was able to be creepy... yet incredibly sexy and tempting at the same time. Mia Wasikowska managed to come across as a plain Jane - which in real life she is anything but. Hair and makeup certainly helped here, but Wasikowska managed to retain an innocence throughout the film that translated to the audience feeling just as unexperienced as she was.torontoist (4 out of 5 stars):
My only complaint was that it felt too edited, especially in the beginning. I think if the story had been told in order, it would have had a much greater effect on the emotions of the audience - especially those of us who are new to the world of Jane Eyre. (Emma)
Like J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek reimagining, Cary Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre takes a well-worn story and strips it down to its most essential elements. As Abrams narrowed in on the relationship between Kirk and Spock, ditching most of the hard sci-fi techie argot, Fukunaga sheds the dusty period piece upholstery that you’d expect to hang heavy over a film like this, instead developing the stifled romance between the strong-willed governess Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska) and master of the house Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender). (...)Mostly negative
Fukunaga’s Eyre may be dull, but it’s pleasantly dull—slow-moving but consistently captivating. With its pitch-perfect casting and lively script, this Jane Eyre may well appeal to an audience beyond the twelfth-grade English student trying to pass a quiz on Brontë’s novel by hurriedly watching the film version the night before.
The screenwriter Moira Buffini has restructured Brontë's narrative so that the story begins near the end, and then flashes back. This works well. What is lacking? I hesitate to use the most hackneyed two words in English, but: character development. The 1944 Robert Stevenson version of "Jane Eyre," a wild-eyed, visually striking black-and-white affair starring Joan Fontaine (post-"Rebecca") and Orson Welles (more effective in his uncredited design contributions than in his performance), has many flaws but its screenplay manages a gradual and convincing coming-together of the main characters. This latest version radically condenses the process. Here, it's one scene and bam: love, hard and fast. Brontë wrote of the "cord of communion" between Jane and Rochester, pulling them toward one another almost against their will. The movie gives that cord a strong yank early on — too strong, I think. (Michael Phillips)Pegasus News:
But the structure of the film mostly serves to blunt any emotions that might have built up had the story been told chronologically. Jane gains strength and independence as she grows older despite the many obstacles put in her way. By employing flashbacks and flashforwards, there's never a “present” for the audience to grasp on to (even during the long stretch Jane spends as a governess), so any relationships she builds feel fleeting at best, inconsequential at worst. The ending of Jane Eyre all but requires the audience to be truly invested in the proceedings, and the filmmakers somehow lost track of that goal along the way.Negative
The acting in the film ranges from serviceable to quite good. (Alex Bentley)
There is no doubt that "Jane Eyre" has been an influential work in the annals of fiction, Charlotte Bronte's novels holding the same lingering, centuries-long impact as William Shakespeare's plays. For this latest cinematic treatment, however, a handsome production with elegant cinematography, art direction and costume design can only go so far in a subjectively meager period piece. Largely bereft of creativity or even a speck of courage to deviate off the path of the norm, this "Jane Eyre" feels strikingly unnecessary. Why watch the same tale spun for a tenth time when you could be watching one of the previous nine?Mia Wasikowska and Cary Fukunaga speak to several media outlets:
Despite their drained (if entirely pleasant) demeanor during our conversation, the energy in the room improved when Wasikowska and Fukunaga spoke about some of the specifics of the filming itself. "I'm constantly surrounded by women on this film," Fukunaga said.The Boston Phoenix:
"Even in the development phase, I had a lot of women commenting on my interpretation of it. And there was this scene where originally Jane and Rochester have a moment of hugging and kissing. The girls wanted this bodice-busting moment where he literally picks her up off the ground and puts her on the saddle. And I was like, 'That's terrible, that's cheesy.' I wanted to do something more original where she hugs his leg, which is interesting."
Wasikowska gave him a not-so-convinced look. "You guys all react that way, but it's in the movie!" (Nina Metz)
You are the plainest Jane Eyre I have ever seen on screen. But you're not plain at all in real life. How did you manage that.GateHouse News Service:
Wasikowska: The reality of the situation is that Jane wouldn't have had access to make-up. And she had to wear her hair in a particular way, and there just wasn't realistically any reason why she would have had make-up.
That didn't stop your Jane Eyre predecessors from looking made-up. Wasikowska: Well, I got no-make-up make-up. I love make-up that changes your appearance in ways so people don't go, "Oh, she's wearing eyeliner!"
Fukunaga: Daniel Phillips [Jane Eyre's make-up and hair designer] and I had a lot of conversations about the hair and the style of hair. We had to pick a time period to set the film in, along with the production designer and the costume designer, and we picked 1843. Which would have been about five years after Brontë really wanted to set the story, or four years, because the book was written in 1847, and it seems like it takes place 10 years before. Except that the clothing style of the '30s was just awful. Every woman looked like a wedding cake. I was not interested in doing that. There were a few characters that had that, in the sense that by 1843 not everyone had updated their style. But since Jane would have been making her own dresses, and her school, I felt she could have kept it somewhat contemporary.
Likewise for the hairstyles, we were looking for - oftentimes they were very tight to the head? We loosened it just ever so slightly? Sometimes people loosen it lot more because it's actually more pleasing, but in this case we didn't necessarily want it to be more pleasing, so we kept it down, sort of mousy, looped under the ear. There was one time when we gave her sort of ornate hair, and that was for the wedding. So that's the hair she had when she escaped. It's a bit more romantic. So that was a choice as well.
I was struck by the absence of artificial light at Thornfield. How did you manage that?
Fukunaga: We did use artificial light, but it was all very minimal, obviously, we were shooting at a very low f-stop. When you shoot anamorphic, and oftentimes period and epic films are shot anamorphic, you get a beautiful separation, because you can shoot what you want to focus on and everything else goes out of focus. We shot spherical, and in order to achieve a similar play with the focus, we wanted to shoot fairly open, so we shot at f/1.4 almost all the time, even during daylight, and it creates a very interesting effect. So, that's what we were doing, like using candlelight and pushing the stops. (Jeffrey Gantz)
“If you take away the period settings and the costumes, at the core, it’s a story about a young woman who is trying to find a connection and find love in a very isolated world. And I think that is very relatable,” said Wasikowska, adding that finding the heart of Jane Eyre wasn’t nearly as difficult as finding room to breathe –– literally.The Chicago Sun-Times has also spoken to both of them. Hollywood Outbreak has an audio fragment where Mia talks about her admiration for Jane Eyre.The National Post's The Ampersand tries to find the swooniest of all Jane Eyre adaptations. The Chic Spy lists five reasons why Jane Eyre should be an Oscar contender. The Vancouver Sun and Time Out Chicago have also talked to Mia. USA Today has a couple of suggestions on travelling to 'Yorkshire in search of Jane Eyre'.The Baltimore Sun announces a pre-screening for this weekend (the film opens in Baltimore in April 1):
“The things that they wore (in the Victorian era) were so uncomfortable. You can’t bend down very far; you can’t lift your arm very high. I know everybody says (the costumes) are painful, but I didn’t really understand how painful until I did the movie.” (Al Alexander)
Baltimore audiences won't have to wait too long for "Jane Eyre," after all. Not only is it slated to open April 1 at the Senator, but it will also be this weekend's entry in Cinema Sundays at the Charles.An Associated Content user, The Singing Critic and Punch Drunk Critics have given Jane Eyre 2011 3 1/2 stars. WBEZ91.5 publishes a podcast reviewing the film. JayFlix, L.A.Melbox, Kulturblog and Three Cheers for Darkened Years! post about the movie too.
Series host Jon Palevksy cautions that only series subscribers are guaranteed a seat, leaving "about 100 tickets that can be sold Sunday morning." So follow his advice, get there early, and enjoy the pre-film coffee, bagels, schmears -- and schmoozing.
he box-office opens at 9:45 a.m. Showtime: 10:30 a.m. Loyola University's Mark Osteen will introduce the film and lead the after-screening discussion. (Michael Sragow)
I know what you're thinking: Man, we haven't had a new Jane Eyre adaptation in at least a week! Director Cary Fukunaga ("Sin Nombre") comes to the rescue with his take on Emily Brontë's (sic) enduring novel. (Rene Rodriguez)Finally, another Jane Eyre contest. This one hosted by iVillage Book Club and Focus Features:
From cherished classics to the hottest beach novels, we want to hear what you’re reading. Join us to discuss this month’s recommended reading, Jane Eyre. Chime in each week with your thoughts, then head to your local theatre to experience a bold new vision of the film starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender, in select theatres now.Categories: Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV
Each comment to our special weekly question will be counted as an entry for your chance to win a Kindle or a Book Club Kit including DVDs of our favorite books to film from Focus Features! So get reading and join in on the discussion now!
Message Board sponsored by Jane Eyre, now playing in select theatres. Join in the discussion for your chance to win!
Actress Mia Wasikowska, portraying Jane Eyre in the latest adaption of the novel, stumbled through the frigid moors in northern England in the film's opening scenes. Wasikowska is soaking wet and her character is on the verge of death. There’s little cinematic trickery in this scene.On WBUR (On Point) we can also listen to another Cary Fukunaga interview:
“They told us they were going to give her a wet suit to wear underneath the costume because it’d be so cold, but as you can tell, her…corset is very tight…so there’s not a lot of space for wet suit,” said director Cary Fukunaga. “They basically gave her what I thought looked like a body condom.”
The teenaged actress nearly suffered hypothermia, but she eagerly kept working on the scene. (...)
Michael O’Conner (sic), who won an Oscar for his work on The Duchess, handled the costumes in the film. The novel is set in the 1830s, but Fukunaga said his adaptation diverges from that time period by moving ahead ten years.
“Neither one of us liked the wardrobe from that era,” he said. “It’s a time of fashion that should have been forgotten; big, poofy sleeves with triangular Valentine card-looking tops and horrendous hairdos.”
Fashion improved greatly in the following decade, he said. (Anthony Karge)
Hollywood loves this story, and its setting on the windswept moors. It’s been put on film 18 times in a hundred years.The conversation contains some blunders though. The worst one is changing the sex of Jean Rhys or saying that Charlotte Brontë never married...
Now, the hot young indie director Cary Fukunaga takes his turn. And it’s terrific.
This hour, On Point: we talk with director Cary Fukunaga about his compelling new “Jane Eyre.” (Tom Ashbrook)
I had the pleasure of chatting with the young, gifted and visionary director as well the super talented Wasikowska and Fassbender about their outstanding performances in the best rendition of Jane Eyre yet.Minnesota Public Radio also has an audio interview with the director. Screencave publishes an interview:
Check out what they had to say about working together on the classic story, challenges onset and other exciting projects in the works. (Jenny Karakaya)
Have you heard peoples reactions to it yet?Jessica Winter in Slate asks herself why there are so many movie adaptations of Jane Eyre, and which one is best? She classifies the adaptations according to the degree of Rochester creepiness (!):
CF: The reviews are just starting to come in. I haven’t even watched it with an audience yet. It was sort of found in the writing, found in the shooting, it was also found and finally defined in post. We kind of went back and forth from different versions of horror or not, and I was kind of fighting to keep more horror in, but I do agree that it was taking away from the relationship. So it was a balance, a balance that was sort of not the lowest common denominator but something where you wanna make sure Jane wasn’t lost and the love wasn’t lost. In the end that was the most important.
The most famous line in Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is "Reader, I married him." Depending on the reader, it may also be the most puzzling, given that I is a wealthy young woman and him is a one-eyed, one-handed, pushing-40 grump who proposes to a nanny half his age only to admit at the altar that he's already got a wife and she's locked in his attic. Dreamy! Yet in a 2009 poll by British romance publisher Mills and Boon, readers voted Edward Rochester the "most popular hero in literature," ahead of the likes of Heathcliff, Rhett Butler, and Colin Firth. (...)The Sisterhood comes in defence of Rochester (creepy or not):
However much we might adore him—and in the end, don't we love Rochester because we love Jane?—our hero is, objectively speaking, a bit of a creep. Thus the success or failure of any Jane Eyre (the below list is a mere sampling) hinges on how well the film minimizes its inevitable Creep Factor. (Read more)
He’s hardly a conventional hero and his flaws are deep. But since I’m one of those die-hard feminists who is extremely fond of Rochester and finds his dynamic with Jane compelling, I felt I had to make the case for their love.(...)The Globe and Mail announces the film and the journalist discusses the current value of the novel:
The source of that connection, of the string that ties them together, is their shared position as outcasts. They both hate convention, and they seek refuge from a merciless world in each other. Rochester’s trouble arises from being a second son who was tricked into marrying a woman with a history of insanity in her family. His hand was forced by his family’s relentless need for money. Older and wiser, he now sees right through the hypocrisy of the genteel people who want to associate with him only because of that money. Like the orphaned and abused Jane, he has been beaten down by social rules and exactly like Jane, he has reacted by being caustic and rebellious rather than submissive. They are natural allies. The problem Brontë pinponts, though, is that even with their intense connection Rochester still has power over her due to his gender and social status. Although he loves Jane because she is his equal, he doesn’t know how to not flex his power. (Sarah Seltzer)
In the preface to the second edition of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë took it upon herself to rebuke the “timorous or carping few” who dared to criticize her art.Zap2It compares Joan Fontaine to Mia Wasikowska:
“Conventionality is not morality,” she wrote. “Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last.”
In essence she was saying: If you think my book is offensive, you can stick it up your bloomers.
As it turns out, in the long run, she needn’t have been so defensive. For school children and adult readers the world over, Jane Eyre remains a classic that can be found on class syllabuses, nightstands and well-stocked e-readers to this day. (Leah McLaren)
he women who've played Eyre are as familiar as they are numbered -- both Charlotte Gainsbourg and Samantha Morton have tackled the part -- but none were as iconic as Joan Fontaine in the 1944 version alongside Orson Welles.The San Francisco Gate talks about Cary Fukunaga directing Jane Eyre:
How will young Mia stack up against Fontaine? We've broken down their vital stats, including headgear, in attempt to see who has the edge[.] (Mikey O'Connell)
For his latest project, in lieu of immersive time-travel, presumably the hands-on director's preferred mode of research, Fukunaga lived with "Jane Eyre" - which he hadn't read before he got the job - marking it up with highlighters, pens and Post-its and working with screenwriter Moira Buffini to strike the right balance between the novel's gothic and romantic strains. In an innovative twist, this version begins Jane's story at the end of the book, with Jane looking back on her life, and lacks the often overblown elements of other adaptations, like a puffed-up Orson Welles bellowing "Jane!" over the moors. (Sophie Brickman)Vulture has prepared a montage with other 'already married' scenarios:
Though its latest movie adaptation, starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender, only hits theaters today, Jane Eyre is such a staple of high-school classrooms (and Masterpiece Theater) that most everyone will know what's coming: a crazy wife, locked in the attic, who shows up just in time to stymie the wedding of Jane to Mr. Rochester. He's already married? Harsh! ... but not uncommon. (Amanda Dobbins and Sarah Frank)Victoriana Magazine discusses the Brontë country tour package contest organised by Focus Features and VisitBritain.
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