For many, including myself, Charlotte Brontё’s Jane Eyre is considered required reading.
The novel operates as a darker, eerier and more rogue version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Much like P&P, Jane Eyre has also seen its fair share of film interpretation. While on the page Jane Eyre brims with passionate emotions and a scary mysticism that culminates in an unexpected twist that separates the novel and its writer from the majority of 19th century literature, film versions are often lacking in the gothic elements that make Jane Eyre so damn good. While the latest Cary Fukunaga helmed version isn’t as dark and deliciously eerie as I would have liked, it does succeed in reintroducing a generation to the classic.
Mia Wasikowska is everything you’d expect in Jane. Her looks are adequately subdued underneath a hairstyle that makes her ear’s a feature, but still manages to display all the desires and tempered passion that make Jane such a formidable heroine. Michael Fassbender’s Rochester is my favorite, however. Convincing as a brute asshole, even when he yields he manages to retain that manly fervor that makes him so attractive to our Jane.
While their paring initially seemed off, he is formidable and she very meek, it’s one that makes sense within the context of the story. As the film progresses, she hardens and he softens, and they’re time on screen together resonates with true chemistry.
The film’s atmospheric qualities are lovely. The hollow sounds of the wind, grey undertones to everything, even moments in the sun seemingly filmed through gauze make the film’s environment adequately dark. The story, however, seems in a rush to get to its ending. Jane Eyre’s huge reveal is sprung much too soon, opportunities to ramp up the anticipation clearly missed, making Jane Eyre less thrilling than it could be.
Jane Eyre is available on dvd in the US and hits UK theaters September 9th.
Sarah McBride, pop-culture enthusiast. Her thoughts on music, film, lit and life can be found at sarahism.com. You can follow her on twitter @sarahism.