Directed by Cary Fukunaga. Starring Mia Wasikowski, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, and Judi Dench.
Adapting a book into a film -- and making the film both good in its own right and good in comparison to the source material -- is never easy. However, there's a special place in the realm of "based on the book by" for those written by authors like Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë... they just work. Perhaps its their cinematic settings in, often, Northern England, or their emotional plots, witty characters, and complex relationships. Plus, there's enough distance from the books that you rarely hear upset about something being changed or left out the way you hear people nitpick the latest Harry Potter film.
This latest version of Jane Eyre is no exception to the grand tradition of adapting 17th and 18th century books into films and TV series. I read the book Jane Eyre almost two years ago, when I had exhausted Jane Austen's works and was searching for something in the same vein (although it's not actually that similar). It's more difficult to grasp, somehow, than Austen. Jane Eyre is a very different heroine from Elizabeth Bennet, Woodhouse, or any other Austen ladies. She's a tortured soul, trapped in a life with no light at the end of the tunnel, and facing a darker story than the gals from Sense and Sensibility or even the suspicious chica in Northanger Abbey could ever handle. Still, there was something about the book that I felt I never could grasp. I couldn't imagine the story playing out in my mind's eye... the emotions weren't coming across right... character motivations were getting tangled up somehow.
Cue the movie. I was, rightly so it turns out, really looking forwards to seeing this story played out. Though the language in the writing is classic, I wanted to get past that and understand the heart of the story... the soul of Jane Eyre. This film version did an excellent job of making sense of the story for me. In Jane Eyre, happy endings seem impossible. Jane grows up unloved and unwanted by her aunt and cousins. She moves onto a school where her one friend dies. She moves onto a position as a governess only to have more trouble mar her path. In short, not a happy story. But, Jane is not an unlikable character. She's stoic, sure-footed, and decent hearted, despite all the forces in the world trying to make her otherwise.
Newcomer Michael Fassbender (also coming to theaters soon in the new X-Men: First Class) does an excellent job as Mr. Rochester. Judi Dench, as always, is fabulous. Mia Wasikowski (also seen in a diverse group of films that includes Alice in Wonderland and The Kids Are All Right) continues to prove herself as an excellent young actress. In fact, she alone makes this movie sing -- the other actors just back her up.
This was a movie I was expecting to like, and I wasn't disappointed. It's a great film to curl up with, particularly for fans of the genre or book. It's nice to see continued interest in these types of films (take the Keira Knightley led Pride and Prejudice from a few years ago) and I hope it continues.
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