Full Jane Eyre (2011) reaction post
(I snagged this free poster at the theater yesterday. Here it is on my wall nest to my David Selby autographed Dark Shadows calendar :) )
I had to dash off yesterday before I could properly finish my Jane Eyre reaction post, but here I am now to remedy the situation. There will be spoilers, and not just of the plot point variety (as I’m fairly certain most people are familiar with the story anyways), but also details about certain choices the filmmakers made in presenting the story.
The skinny: I freaking loved this film.
As I was watching this movie I found myself wishing two things. First, that I was watching it on a computer so I could take screencaps. Right from the opening sequence (which was stunning!) every few seconds my mind was going click, beautiful screencap. Click, beautiful screencap. Click, click, click. This is hands down the most cinematic and visually stunning Jane Eyre I’ve seen. The other thing I was wishing was that I could have erased the story from my mind just long enough to enjoy the film unspoiled. How much would it have killed to watch this movie without knowing the big reveal beforehand, and without knowing how it would end? Of course I’m glad I read the book first, but just in terms of watching the movie, I’m jealous of anyone who got to experience it in that way.
One of the interesting things about this screenplay is that it presents events in not-completely-chronological order, a departure from the book that actually serves the film very well. The first thing we see is Jane’s desperate flight from Thornfield. This is a really effective way to establish a connection with the character right off the bat, and the photography of Jane in the wilderness is very dramatic and beautiful. The audience (if they don’t already know) are asking themselves what she’s running from, and why she’s so desperate and devastated. She’s taken in by the Rivers, and as she lies feverish, her mind starts to wander back over the past, and we experience the events of her childhood and of Thornfield as a sort of flashback.
Now, purists might not like the liberties taken with chronology, but I think the device works really well here. The time Jane spends with the Rivers always kind of kills the momentum of the story after all the Thornfield drama, and this is a way of breaking it up and making it interesting. It’s also a very dramatic way of introducing the character. And it really doesn’t change the story in any way, just kind of enhances our experience of it.
But, the most important thing in a Jane Eyre film is the performances, and these were awesome. While Michael Fassbender’s really too handsome for Rochester, he makes up for it by bringing all the necessary roughness and darkness to the role. (While Toby Stephens was a great Rochester as well, I thought he was just a little too charming.) And Mia Wasikowska was awesome too. I don’t know what she was doing in Alice and Wonderland if she had all this acting talent all along, but I’m just glad she brought her A game to Jane Eyre. Together, she and Michael had good chemistry. You really believed the characters were passionate about one another.
Of course the film had to condense the story considerably to fit into two hours. On the whole, this was done extremely well. My favorite scene in the book, for example, is the last time Jane and Rochester speak before she runs away. It’s a long chapter with pages and pages of lengthy dialogue. My favorite scene in the movie was the same one, even though it was only a brief exchange in the film. Though it was short, the script somehow managed to build all the intensity of that long chapter into it, driving all the important points of that pivotal and emotional scene right into my heart. I’d describe it, but I can’t do it justice. Go see the movie.
On the other hand, I think people less intimately familiar with the novel might have been wondering about a few things that were not explained explicitly or in depth. I don’t know though, not being forced to connect the dots myself.
A final word on the 2006 BBC version, only because that one is such a fan favorite and comparisons are inevitable. Both are good, but I prefer this latest film. The BBC one was mostly carried by Ruth and Toby’s chemistry, which was very enjoyable, but I think overall the performances and direction of this movie are better. That’s just my opinion.
So, yeah. I liked this movie. Don’t judge me, but I’m seeing it again tomorrow. (If a friend wants to see it and doesn’t want to go alone, is it not my duty as a friend to accompany her? Totally legit and valid, and not obsessive at all, no siree.) Between this and True Grit, I’ve pretty much gotten two dream adaptations of favorite books in the past four months. Now if only someone would make a movie of Villette.