It was with a sense of anticipation and guilty pleasure that I took my seat in my local cinema to see the latest outing for Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë’s much-loved and much-adapted novel. I had purposely not looked at reviews. One understands the true meaning of the word critic when you know a book like the back of your hand so the expectation was great.
It is very hard for a director to take such a subject and one wonders why Cary Fukunaga did. This was a stunningly beautiful film that made great use of the landscape which stretched out, cold and vast, in direct contrast to the hot-headed and small Jane. Played magnificently by Mia Wasikowska our heroine was a proper plain Jane. She was nervous and demonstrated such passivity that I wonder how our feisty female students of today will find any affinity with our heroine. Ms Wasikowska should be confident of Bafta and Oscar nominations at least.
Rochester (played by Michael Fassbender), while not the pantomime gruff-voiced grump, seemed more human and rounded than characterisations of late (cf Timothy Dalton), and he didn’t hold any fear to this Jane – a mistake, I feel. There was less of a romantic build-up, more coldness between the pair, less contrast of character. The scene in which he drags Jane to church showed his true colours and felt back on track, true to the novel.
In terms of storyline, one has to remember that this is a version and, as we all know, is no replacement for the novel. But there is a real sense with this film that this is an impression of the book. So it begins with Jane’s escape from Thornfield Hall on the night of the wedding – as good a choice as any – with flashbacks from Jane’s point of view. As impression then, nothing was quite deep enough – the horror of Jane’s flight from Thornfield to the Rivers’ house was not harsh enough; Lowood was not awful enough, St John Rivers not pedantic enough, Bertha not mad enough.
In addition, why scriptwriter Moira Buffini decided to leave out Bertha’s pre-wedding day antics is a mystery, and why Mrs Fairfax (played with subtle humour by Judi Dench) was wandering the ruins of Thornfield Hall as Jane returned was a puzzle too. The sudden ending was a bit of an anti-climax. With the long sweeping shots of the landscape, Fukunaga could well have added a further 20 minutes and all would be well.
In short, you will encourage your pupils to watch as it never does any harm. But as ever, issue a health warning about plot!
And finally, during the first 20 minutes of the film I felt great affinity with Ink Pellet contributor Peter King, who wrote a piece about audience laughter in last term’s edition of the magazine. I found myself increasingly irritated by the witterings of an elderly lady behind me who seemed hell bent on letting the audience, such as we were, know that she had read the book by commenting about this and that. I am afraid I had to silence her with a hushed but firm ‘would you please be quiet!’ She did.
Image: Focus Features