Movie of the week
This week I watched the 2011 version of Jane Eyre. Now, I should say I own three other filmed versions of Jane Eyre as well as three book versions (one an ebook -- it was free!) so you might say I love the story, and I will assume that everyone knows the story and I don’t need to worry about spoilers!
For one reason or another I never made it to the cinemas when this version was released (one of the reasons being the bad reviews it got) and now I’m deeply disappointed I didn’t, because I now think this is my favourite version.
The cinematography and direction is just gorgeous, especially in the opening sequences. It must have been fantastic on the big screen.
Jane’s childhood is shown in a series of flashbacks, and they’re very effective. It’s not like I don’t know what is going to happen, and yet I cried like a baby through most of the first half hour of the film. Her life at Lowood isn’t shown in quite as much detail as in some other versions, and instead the film focuses more on Jane’s time with St John Rivers (the last version I watched, the William Hurt one, glossed over this period rather quickly).
Jane is portrayed by Aussie Mia Wasikowska. She got really bad reviews for this if I remember rightly, but I rather like her. She does look much younger than she even is in real life, so that was rather unsettling until I got used to it, but for the most, I thought she was much better than the previous couple of Janes. I particularly liked her in the scenes where Blanche comes to stay, and thought she showed Jane’s jealousy and depression at Edward’s flirting so poignantly that I got all sobby again (okay, perhaps I was hormonal). Have to add the actress who played Blanche was a little boring.
Michael Fassbender plays Rochester and his first few scenes worried me. I didn’t think I was going to like him at all, but I did warm to him as the movie went on, and later realised that that was probably perfect for how the character should be portrayed, with just the right touch of bitterness.
Now, can I just gush a little about the other ‘co-star’. Now, I know you know Judi Dench is one of my favs, but still... She was easily the best Mrs Fairfax I have ever seen. The depth of emotions Dame Judi showed in the part was just unbelievably good. I have seen her give a lot of great performances over the years, but this would have to go into my top 5. She should have won an Oscar for it. She was just that brill.
The movie skips a lot of the Grace Poole misunderstandings, and most scenes with Adele, but really, it isn’t any the weaker for it. As I said, it does include more scenes with St John than usual, and he is played by Jamie Bell, who was apparently popular (the kid in Billy Elliot) but I had no idea. *snort*
So, all in all, I give this version 5/5. I really loved it, and would rec it to everyone. I shall now have to rewatch the other versions I have again.
For one reason or another I never made it to the cinemas when this version was released (one of the reasons being the bad reviews it got) and now I’m deeply disappointed I didn’t, because I now think this is my favourite version.
The cinematography and direction is just gorgeous, especially in the opening sequences. It must have been fantastic on the big screen.
Jane’s childhood is shown in a series of flashbacks, and they’re very effective. It’s not like I don’t know what is going to happen, and yet I cried like a baby through most of the first half hour of the film. Her life at Lowood isn’t shown in quite as much detail as in some other versions, and instead the film focuses more on Jane’s time with St John Rivers (the last version I watched, the William Hurt one, glossed over this period rather quickly).
Jane is portrayed by Aussie Mia Wasikowska. She got really bad reviews for this if I remember rightly, but I rather like her. She does look much younger than she even is in real life, so that was rather unsettling until I got used to it, but for the most, I thought she was much better than the previous couple of Janes. I particularly liked her in the scenes where Blanche comes to stay, and thought she showed Jane’s jealousy and depression at Edward’s flirting so poignantly that I got all sobby again (okay, perhaps I was hormonal). Have to add the actress who played Blanche was a little boring.
Michael Fassbender plays Rochester and his first few scenes worried me. I didn’t think I was going to like him at all, but I did warm to him as the movie went on, and later realised that that was probably perfect for how the character should be portrayed, with just the right touch of bitterness.
Now, can I just gush a little about the other ‘co-star’. Now, I know you know Judi Dench is one of my favs, but still... She was easily the best Mrs Fairfax I have ever seen. The depth of emotions Dame Judi showed in the part was just unbelievably good. I have seen her give a lot of great performances over the years, but this would have to go into my top 5. She should have won an Oscar for it. She was just that brill.
The movie skips a lot of the Grace Poole misunderstandings, and most scenes with Adele, but really, it isn’t any the weaker for it. As I said, it does include more scenes with St John than usual, and he is played by Jamie Bell, who was apparently popular (the kid in Billy Elliot) but I had no idea. *snort*
So, all in all, I give this version 5/5. I really loved it, and would rec it to everyone. I shall now have to rewatch the other versions I have again.