Jane Eyre

Let me preface this post by saying how much I loved Jane Eyre when I first read it in high school for my AP English course.  I was so excited by the book that I proceeded to bring in the soundtrack from the musical of the same name. 

I love Jane Eyre because of it's darkness, suffering, complicated romance, and really difficult ending.  It's a novel in which we are rooting for Jane despite her misfortunes (and there are many).  I also love Jane Eyre because in many ways it's the antithesis to Jane Austen novels.  In my senior English class we talked about how Charlotte Bronte hated Jane Austen and mocked her shmaltzy romantic comedies with the suffering of Jane Eyre.  She also made it very clear that her title character, Jane, was a direct jab at Jane Austen.  I also feel there are so many darker layers in Jane Eyre, especially with the Bertha, Mr. Rochester's first wife.

The new movie adaptation of this novel came out this past weekend and I truly loved the film.  It was dark and the cinematography was absolutely breathtaking (it makes me miss England!).  It is shot very darkly clearly emphasizing the dreariness of the title character and the hopelessness she feels through out the novel.  I also found Mia Wasikowska to be a great pick for Jane.  I liked her interpretation of Jane as very cold, held, and pragmatic.  However, she was a bit difficult to like as my friend pointed out.  And the intimate scenes between Jane and Mr. Rochester were a little awkward.

This film is great because it doesn't shy away from the darkness of the novel.  However, I feel that with any film adaptation details are lost.  My friend had not read the novel beforehand (for shame!) and found it both frustrating and a little confusing to watch.  I, on the other hand, was waiting to see how they would interpret Bertha and how Mr. Rochester's proposal to Jane would play out.  So clearly the story was a little difficult to follow for an unfamiliar audience member.  That said, because the nature of the novel requires the narrator's voice the dialogue was also at times difficult to balance with the silence of the film.  This was a very quiet film.  There were a lot of scenic wide shots and a lot of action shots and not necessarily a lot of dialogue.  I liked this a lot because I feel it gave the sense of "reading" the film, like reading the novel.  However, because the dialogue was so heightened it contrasted with the silence and almost seemed to mock the romantic dialogue normally seen in a Jane Austen novel.  Whether or not this was intentional was difficult to pinpoint.

This film adaptation was smart.  It didn't just tell the story of Jane Eyre it also heightened the stylistic aspects of the novel by making the misery and loneliness apparent through cinematography and silence.  I like that this film made me think even though I knew the novel.  It didn't just carry you along through a nice romantic story.  You, like Jane, had to fight to feel the emotion and fulfillment at the end.  I found myself very absorbed in the film but also interpreting it intellectually much more than other films and I believe this was because the film allowed you to think for yourself.  The silence gave me time and the different styles gave me the foundation to question and make my own decision on the actions on the screen.  The film is in some ways a clash of stylistic themes, but it is also a highly enjoyable and intellectual piece of film, much like the novel.

"I am no bird; and no net ensnares me; I am a free human being with an independent will."
- Charlotte Bronte,  Jane Eyre