Jane Eyre

When I get out to the movie theater, it only seems like a good idea to include that in this blog. With my parents in town, Steph and I took a night and saw Jane Eyre. Steph is a great admirer of the Brontes, and I found this story very captivating when Steph and I read it together as newlyweds some 10 years ago. Since it has been ten years, the details of the novel are somewhat sketchy in my mind, though the overall structure of the story is so memorable that it is easy to remember the big picture.

The question of books being made into movies is always a good one. What makes a good movie adaptation? If a film leaves things out, does it ruin the movie?

In some cases (The Lord of the Rings is a good example), the scope of the book is allowed to translate to film through multiple volumes, so the epic nature of those books is done very well. In other cases (like The Chronicles of Narnia films), even though the proper time is allowed for the epic nature of the saga, the films are so poorly realized that it makes a fatal flaw. In other adaptations, the scope of the book cannot be realized in the time alloted, so decisions must be made to abridge the plot. This either goes well or not. To me, what makes or breaks a film in this instance is character realization. In this adaptation of Jane Eyre, the characters are realized brilliantly, so the film works very well as a 2 hour adaptation. Also, the script doesn't ignore any major blocks of the plot, so it still is a well integrated story, even though lots of details are left out.

The film tells the story of an orphaned girl in England who is poorly treated first by her foster mother and then her school. She finds a home with a wealthy land owner where she becomes his young ward's instructor. She falls in love the the master and they are to be married, but he has a secret....

Not only are all the characters brilliantly realized, so are the visuals. Here, the haunting beauty of the Moors is on full display. (As a side note, Stephanie and I visited the place where the movie is filmed, and we actually got lost on a country road). The film also evokes the darkness of the story-lots of candles and dark passages in the mansion. I also thought the structure of the film is brilliant. It tells the story in a different order from the book, but the story is preserved in a marvelous way.

The movie works for two reasons. First, because it realizes and is true to the Bronte vision. The filmmakers know the story and the characters, and it is clear that they sought to make that a reality on screen. How many times do filmmakers fail to do that with books? Second, all the performances are first rate. The young lady who plays the title role truly captures this famous character. The actor playing Rochester also evokes the darkness and good heart of that character. And Judi Dench brings along a gravitas to the role of Mrs. Fairfax...she brings a great tone to this film. It was a good date night for Steph and I.