Jane Eyre movie

I think it was Lisa who first said that she went to see the new Jane Eyre movie and liked it. I heard a few raves here and there but trusting Lisa, I thought this would be a fun film to watch with friends. This particular version was just released on DVD this past August and so I picked up a copy and invited the ladies from church over to watch it with me. One gal brought her collection of tea cups so that we could sip tea while watching it. We had a fun time of fellowship (and some yummy food) and then settled in to watch this classic story on film.

I hadn't read the book since 2008 so far as I can tell. (You can see my review of Jane Eyre here.) My memory was a bit sketchy as to the story line (further solidifying the argument that you should re-read classics often!) but I had the general idea. From my general idea I would say that the film followed the book remarkably well. Of course, the BBC's involvement likely had something to do with it. They generally remain true to the books they choose to depict on screen.

This particular DVD is marked as being distributed by Universal Studios and is rated PG-13. The only reason for that rating, that I could tell, was that Jane walks past a painting of a nude a few times and the camera zooms in on it, examining the figure in more detail. (Pointless.) Otherwise, the rating would be based on the subject content involving Mr. Rochester's former wife. But there is nothing explicit about this relationship on screen so beyond the nude painting I can't think of why it received the rating that it did. PG would probably be more accurate. It's not like Bronte cursed incessantly or anything.

I'll assume you are familiar with the storyline and so I won't go into that. I'll just say that given the two hour length of the film, they did a good job at highlighting the basic story without leaving anything out, to my faulty memory.

Although the movie was released in theaters in 2010, the film has a 1980's/90's feel to it (in my opinion.) I was expecting to see maybe a Keira Knightly adaptation (which kinda worried me and freaked me out, honestly) but I should have figured that a movie starring someone named Mia Wasikowska held more promise than anything with Knightly. Clearly Wasikowska isn't worried about her Hollywood-easy-to-pronounce-and-say-for-stardom-sake name. She's more of a no-name kind of person - (at least as far as I know . . . which really isn't saying much) - which means you are promised better acting and clarity of character. When you don't have a name (or as big of a name) you are more likely to allow people to do thinks like this to your hair:



I don't think Knightly would have gone for it so easily. It's a hair style that makes one look very plain (and weird) indeed. Which is the point of Jane Eyre to some respects. This hairstyle was the talk of the ladies after the show. I suggested we all go to church the following Sunday with our hair twisted in skinny locks and swooped around our ears, to highlight those two particular features on our faces. Strangely no one went for this. (I didn't either, just in case you were somehow still wondering if I did.)

(Again, I should point out that Wasikowska could very well have A Name in Hollywood that I am not aware of. Obviously I don't see many movies in the theater. Unless she'd starred in something that had C.S. Lewis' name attached to it, I could easily have missed her.)

I didn't hate Mr. Rochester nearly enough in this film. He was too playful and not mean enough. But he went blind at the right time so all is well.

I did hate St. John a little more than I felt I ought to have but his attitudes and actions still made her marry the right guy in the end so, again, all is well.

Other than the movie feeling older than it actually is, I have no complaints and only praise for this particular adaptation. (I think maybe the Timothy Dalton version is better but I'd have to re-watch it to see. Then, too, it's longer so it can capture the essence of the story a bit better.) I would love to watch the Dalton version again but not before I re-read the book, which I would also love to do.

When I presented Jane Eyre as a reader's diary I documented my emotions towards the book more than anything else. After seeing the movie and reading my original thoughts it makes me quite eager to revisit the tried and true story. Lingering on old thoughts I had about reading it makes it sweeter somehow and I would really like to re-engage with Bronte. But in the meantime, this new film is a quick fix and I do recommend it without very much reservation at all (barring the nude picture scene.) I also highly recommend that you gather friends together to watch it with them because it's more fun that way.If you're game, drink some tea while you watch. That may or may not affect your feelings towards it.