Well, my goodness, Charlotte, take a few Prozacs and you might feel better. Maybe read a little Austen to perk you up.
That said, sure, fine. This is a lovely, dark, stormy rendition of the dark and stormy romance of Miss Eyre and the rich, morose, Mr. Rochester. Sort of Cinderella for those of us who call ourselves “melancholy” or “deep” when we mean unhappy and lonely.
Literature teachers will break all the copyright laws showing this one to their classes. The deeply melancholic among their female students will be on the edges of their seats, while the remaining 90% of the class will be passing notes or sleeping. No one will read the book anymore.
My audience was all former English teachers in their fifties and sixties. That is, me.
Of course I loved it on that level, but now that I’ve reached that stage in life where I don’t do the morose introspection, poor-me thing very well anymore (my house is too large, my children too wonderful, my husband too sweet), this does little more than remind me how bad I used to feel when I was young and deeply melancholic, unloved, and underappreciated.
Fact is, after I got a prescription for anti-depressants, I felt a lot better.
The movie is harmless. A baby could see it. Of course, he’d cry all the way through. The end is plain and small. Mr. Rochester looks like Tom Hanks after four years on the island (minus the musculature and with clothes on) and Jane looks as dull as ever.
“Well, class, and how did you like the film? Class? Class? WAKE UP!!!!”
Why I Like Jane Eyre
Disclaimer: I am not a good writer, but will try not to stress about this too much even though awesome writers may be reading this.
I think Jane Eyre is one of the best books I have ever read and every girl should put it on their “Must Read” List. (Everyone has one of those right?)
I did not find this movie overly dark, or depressing in any way. You are thinking,”Umm, did you see the movie? It is abuse, death, and tragedy with a backdrop of thunderstorms and eeriness.” Yes, there are plenty of not-so-awesome things that happen to Jane throughout her childhood, and they seem never ending, but isn’t that just life? Don’t we all have sad, unfair, or horrible things happen to us? The real story is in our reaction to all the bad, how we get through it and what we do in the aftermath. Jane says herself in the movie that she does not have a “tale of woe”.
Casting thoughts…
Mr. Rochester. I don’t know. What was with the emaciated-ness? While he physically did not fit the role for me, I thought he played the character well. Maybe his lack of masculinity was on purpose? I would have preferred a big monster of a man though. Still, much better than Timothy Dalton I must say.
I LOVED JUDI DENCH. Nothing much to add to that…
Sinjin – (It took me the whole movie to realize that this was the boy from Billy Elliott.) I did not find him creepy until it was made clear that he viewed Jane as a tool to assist in his quest for martyrdom. I liked him prior to that, and then very quickly did not, which is exactly what we are supposed to feel for him.
I am trying to think, why do I like this story so much? Do I really enjoy EMO-tional, gothic, stories of tragedy? Do I really want to sob on the couch with a box of tissues and a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream? NO!!!!!!!!
I see Jane as a great role model. She IS Perseverance. She does not pity herself, she becomes stronger. She is pissed off at the conventional role of “woman” that she is in. She longs to see the world, but when given the opportunity to travel, she refuses to do it in a way that would be untrue to herself.
My favorite scene is when Rochester is begging her to stay and pretty much be his mistress after she finds out about crazy-demon-wife. This situation is timeless, and I think the world could take a lesson from Jane. Yes, she loves him, and his wife isn’t really a wife to him anymore, but it goes against everything she believes in. She will not disrespect herself. (Fist-pump in the air and a “you go girl”.)
If you want to read about tragedy, and how to do all the wrong things with your angst and self-pity, go read Wuthering Heights. If you want to know how to be an awesome, independent, self-respecting woman, read Jane Eyre.