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.

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

With many of the movies I write about, I feel like a drop in the bucket. So many people have written and reflected on them that anything I have to say is superfluous. However, it still is fun to talk about some of my favorites...even when I'm just a face in the crowd.

Invoking Star Wars, for many of us, is sort of like invoking George Washington and the cherry tree. It is such a part of our consciousness that it becomes part of us and how we think. For me, it is now taking on a new dimension as my kids have begun to become immersed in this world. I want to do two things: first, I want to talk about both me and my kids and how they have grow to love these movies, and I want to share a favorite scene.

Why do these movies mean so much to me? For me, it's the simplicity of them combined with the complexity. The stories are simple, but the pacing of the films is complex. If you take a look at Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope, the action never lets up. When the film came out, the pace of the movie was new. I have heard people say that the first time they saw the film, they immediately got in line to watch it again because they were so enthralled.

A couple of weeks ago, while on vacation, I popped in the original movie and watched it (again), but with my kids. Now, Wesley is playing with Stormtrooper Legos, and my kids are role playing around the house. I love telling them that I did the exact same thing at their age with their aunt and with my friends. Then it hits me. This is why these movies mean so much. Of course they are wonderful to watch and tell a captivating story, but even more, what they do is they make us want to be a part of their world. We wish we could inhabit these peoples' roles and their world. How many movies can we truly say that about? Meanwhile, the story is simple enough that they have no problem following the story.

For a favorite scene, I have to go with Luke Skywalker gazing on the twin suns of Tatooine. Everything I love about these movies is in this scene. There is the corniness of Luke pouting by kicking the dirt as he leaves the dining room, knowing his uncle has once again squashed his dream. There is the magical way the John Williams' score evokes the yearning that Luke feels. And there is the visual...the haunting picture of this young boy who looks to the stars and dreams of something bigger. Those of us who know where he ends up going know that with the adventure comes pain and triumph. But in the end, even when we live out our dreams, they are always more complicated than we think. George Lucas was able to catch this youthful yearning in this movie and in "American Graffiti" so well that he secured his place in the American movie pantheon with these two movies.

But maybe I am letting these movies make me too cerebral. In the end I love this movie and the other movies because they are AWESOME!