Jane Eyre was published in 1847 and interpreted in film around sixteen times beginning in 1915 only a few years after the medium took hold. There were also nine TV versions and half a dozen musicals, a radio show two ballets and a symphony that share the title. So it stands to reason that this is a pretty popular classic that has been rehashed in film alone for almost a hundred years. Pretty neat. Of course not all the versions are heralded as classics themselves. The great Orson Wells did his take on it in 1944 with Joan Fontaine and Elizabeth Taylor acting to a screenplay by John Houseman and Aldous Huxley. Pretty big names; but the people who love the book don’t love the movie, or apparently, any of the movies.
This one has its deficiencies too, but as a movie it’s okay. There is a lot left out, particularly the motivations that are fully formed in the book. This is a classic story told with modern storytelling techniques, time shifts and rearrangements that contemporary people seem to be comfortable with, but not true to classic writer’s desires.
I liked that I didn’t recognize the actors, they were fine. The film had a cold look to it, even when you were looking at a fireplace you felt cold, hard to do and very nice effect. The environment was cold and remote feeling, everything was made of stone and it was a good looking flick. But not completely engaging. I was pretty well glued to the screen, it was interesting to watch but I never got any emotional involvement with the players. I got more out of the story by talking about it later with Deb (who read it) than I got from watching this or the Wells version. Both of them skated over what sounds like some essential plot points that left me as cold as the old English countyside.
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