Description: Academy Award(R)-winner William Hurt (1985 Best Actor -- KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN; SMOKE) leads an all-star cast in this story of passion and intrigue! Jane Eyre (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is a young woman whose will to overcome a life of hardship leads her into a passionate romance with a handsome -- and mysterious -- gentleman (Hurt). Swept up in the possibility of a happy new life, Jane is shattered when terrible, untold secrets from his past are revealed, threatening to tear her and her lover apart forever! Also featuring the talents of Anna Paquin (THE PIANO), Joan Plowright (ENCHANTED APRIL), and sexy Elle MacPherson (SIRENS), this enduring tale has captivated moviegoers everywhere, just as Charlotte Bronte's classic best-seller has entertained for generations!
Amazon.com: Franco Zeffirelli (Romeo and Juliet) and screenwriter Hugh Whitemore strip away a bit of the familiar romanticism of Charlotte Brontë's novel and come up with a more plain but somehow quite interesting film adaptation. Charlotte Gainsbourg (The Cement Garden) makes for an oddly appealing but deliberately unlovely version of Jane (previous actresses have included Susannah York and Joan Fontaine), and William Hurt is excellent as an equally revised Rochester, brusque and self-involved but not the totem of torment and charisma we've seen before. The story clings to the usual chapters in the book, but with Zeffirelli shaping the principal characters to reflect their cautious perceptions of one another--rather than to a Hollywood notion of grand passion--the film has a wonderful accessibility. Great support from Joan Plowright, Billie Whitelaw, Anna Paquin, and the rest of the cast. --Tom Keogh
Jane Eyre This is by far the best Jane Eyre movie yet. I had to own this classic. My 13 year old Grandaughter was here for a visit this summer. We watched it together and now she has fallen for it too. My husband also agrees that is is very well done. Love it!
Bleh Jane Eyre is one of my most beloved classics. Everyone has different tastes and takes on Bronte's wonderful literary work, so when offering my review on this adaptation to it, its of course based upon my opinion and perception.
For me this adaptation lacks Bronte's Jane Eyre on so many levels. The romance is tepid. The passion is lackluster. The gothic feel you get when reading the book and following Jane through the dark halls of Thornfield Hall is totally nil here. Having a dark room lit with candles doesn't constitute "goth." I don't recall a convincing scene of the budding romance either.
Mr. Rochester is a combination of so many extremes of emotion in the book. He's funny, witty, mischievious, dark, brooding, tormented and quite the rascal - sometimes all within the same scene! William Hurt is none of the above in my opinion.
Jane in the book is quiet and reserved, but her mind is racing and moving with emotion and I just didn't buy that it was happening with Charlotte Gainsbourg's portrayal. The book goes through extreme highs and lows which is why you can't put the book down once she meets Mr. Rochester. This adaptation never quite pulls that off and just flatlines for me from beginning to end.
My favorite version of Jane Eyre by far is the 1983 Timothy Dalton/Zelah Clark version. It is truly the book brought to life. After that if pushed for second choice, it would have to be the more recent Masterpiece version.
83' Dalton/Clark version:
When watching the 83' Dalton version, AT FIRST you'll want to throw something at your TV because it is broken up into 30 minute episodes the way the series ran on television and is shown almost as a stage play. But it doesn't take long to overlook the stagey feel of it because in filming it this way (whether intentional or not) you truly are transported into the dark ambience and mystery of Thornfield Hall. There are shadows at every turn and you find yourself becoming apprehensive as if you were walking those dark halls of echoing laughter along with Jane.
Also, a hearty pat on the back to the casting director of the 83' version for the absolute BRILLIANT casting of Timothy Dalton as the dark, passionate, poetic, tortured, mischievious and introspective soul that is Mr. Rochester. Charlotte Bronte would've been so proud! He is no longer a character in a book when seeing this version because Timothy Dalton IS Mr. Rochester. At first I couldn't understand the casting of Zelah Clark but was soon won over by her reserved but sharp portrayal and unearthly appearance. She truly embodied Bronte's post-Helen Jane as she was able to assert herself without compromising her station and position the same way the book's Jane did. Her acting was incredible too because you felt her emotions as she went through stages of a wide-eyed developing crush, her attempts to supress her feelings for her superior, her fears of the mysteries of the dark hall, her pain when discovering the truth, her resolve not to rebel against her conscience, then following her heart. Other more modern day Jane portrayals have been far too impertinent for Jane's position in that time period and way more experienced than a Jane whose life's experience consisted only of Gateshead and Lowood. Bronte fans will truly appreciate and understand how this 25 year old version still stands the test of time. You can literally open the book and follow it along and believe me, that is a good thing! Bronte's beautifully written words are not at all lost in this version and Timothy Dalton's delivery is far superior to all Mr. Rochesters cast before or after him.
Masterpiece Theatre 2006
For a more overtly demonstrated "passion" that in my opinion defies the period and post Helen Jane, but is beautifully filmed is the Masterpiece Theatre version. It takes quite the liberties with Jane's moral dilemmas. In some cases dismissing them altogether which when understanding the book's Jane, knows this changes who she is completely. In this version, neither character really has to guess or question the other's feelings or motives the way you do in the book and the 83 version, thus not as suspenseful in my opinion. However, the actors (not necessarily Bronte's Jane and Mr. Rochester IMO) are still VERY good in spite of the rewritten material they were working with.
With all that said, this William Hurt version just doesn't do it for me - on any level.
Very short and very poor I won't take a long time writting this review. Simply put, this film is horrible in my opinion because (1) it leaves out so many scenes that are vival to understanding Jane's passion, (2) its acting is far from superior, (3) its sets are no better than in the 1983 BBC Jane Eyre, and (4) the film costs as much money as many of the other Jane Eyre versions that are considerably more accurate and better produced.
Now, for people who have read the novel "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte, they realize that a man named St. John Rivers plays an important role in the novel. In this film, St. John and his sisters all but eliminated. The same situation of elimination occurs for many other minor characters. The dialogue from the novel that is kept is combined and changed from classic English to modern American. I am sorry if people have a problem hearing the long discussions Jane and Edward have together. However, for a literature fanatic, this Jane Eyre version is much to short - lacking in intelligence.
I personally recommend the 1983 Jane Eyre version starring Timothy Dalton as Edward Fairfax Rochester, and Zelah Clarke as Jane Eyre. The BBC film keeps nearly all of the dialogue and many of the scenes. The BBC 1983 film is far more intelligent and insightful into the struggles Jane Eyre faces.
Saint Jane the Plain Jane Eyre is by far the most modern and cinematic of the Great Eight novels by the "Austen/Bronte Team" simply because it boasts a woman protagonist who never leaves center stage, who has the grit, complexity, intelligence, and character to infuse any length movie with utterly fascinating rhythms. This movie seizes on one of those chords and strums it relentlessly. The result is a pretty good souffle but one that's missing a few key ingredients.
Anna Paquin as the young Jane is surprisingly emotionless and squinty; she makes clear that the film will keep Jane's passion out of the mix. We will get all the stoicism and forbearance imaginable. This Jane Eyre is a saint, one who endures all, overcomes all, and forgives all. She laughs only once when the young executor of her estate chases his wind-blown hat.
She falls in love with the self-centered and distractingly irritable William Hurt as Mr. Rochester as the result, it seems, of a handshake, and the movie is at great pains to convey the fact of her lovesickness in every scene thereafter.
Charlotte Gainsbourg, the adult Jane, is visually astonishing. She is at turns homely and forlorn, then radiant and winning. She always seems to be calling on some inner reserve of courage and strength, and as a result her acting is so restrained I wondered at times if she was still breathing.
Despite all that, I enjoyed the movie, was moved by it, and, most important, I did come to care about gritty Jane and her flawed but ultimately gallant beloved. It is a testament to Bronte's genius that the movie holds together while opting to explore only one facet of fascinating Jane Eyre.
An enchanting movie! If you are a hard core Jane Eyer fan (as I am) this movie may rub you the wrong way. It does lack a few key scenes that were described in the novel, however, for pure entertainment it is good. Do not watch this and expect a perfect rendition of the novel, but it is a well done and lovley movie.
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