New Jane a Worthy Heir to Brontë’s Classic
I’m not entirely sure Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre is entirely filmable. This piece of classic nineteenth century literature is a tough nut to completely crack, its tale of a woe, hardship, perseverance, tragedy and love one that has vexed countless directors, screenwriters and actors for nearly a hundred years. No one has ever gotten it completely right, and while some have certainly come close I don’t think the definitive cinematic version has still to this point seen the light of day.
Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska in Jane Eyre
© Focus Features
Of the versions I have personally watched (and, I have to admit, I’ve seen my fair share), director Cary Joji Fukunaga (Sin Nombre) and screenwriter Moira Buffini’s (Tamara Drewe) might just be the best one I’ve had the good fortune to get a look at yet. By and large they get the nuances of this gothic love story spot-on, crafting a moody and emotional atmosphere that is both sinister and enchanting. They dive right into the story feet first, never over sentimentalizing it or playing up the more melodramatic moments keeping the focus directly upon the title character just as they should.
And yet, I am not completely taken with this new Jane Eyre, in some ways no more so than I was when I watched the 1943 version with Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine or the 1996 one with William Hurt and Charlotte Gainsbourg. There is something keeping me from embracing the picture in full, certain tangents leaving me at arm’s length. While this new version has power it also has its faults, things that leave me in the cold even though I desperately want to warm myself inside the central couple’s romantic embrace.
Be that as it may, by and large I am perfectly happy with what Fukunaga and Buffini have come up with. They’ve changed some of the timing, jumping around the narrative in a way that gives the material a freshness and a new vitality that it hasn’t had for quite some time. They paint the pictures of young Jane’s (played by newcomer Amelia Clarkson) exquisitely agonizing school years with the briefest of brushstrokes, making her story of woe and loss all the more effective by doing it.
It also has the added effect of making her triumph into transforming herself into a positive, outspoken and intelligent young woman (played by Mia Wasikowska, The Kids Are All Right) even more celebratory. This is a role model for the ages, her journey to the home of Mr. Rochester (Michael Fassbender) one you can’t help but cheer. Additionally, this makes her naiveté towards men and to the world at large something even more fearful than it maybe otherwise would have been, book and film becoming almost equal in their tragic suspense as you wait for the shoe to drop as romance between mousy governess and scarred employer begins.
From a sheer visual standpoint, this Jane Eyre is amazing to behold. Fukunaga has used his British locations magnificently, production designer Will Hughes-Jones, art director Karl Probert and set decorator Tina Jones (The Edge of Love) combining forces to give the film an absolutely impeccable sheen of authenticity. Adriano Goldman’s (Conviction) is equally sublime, his use of light and his ability to showcase darkness without losing the focus on the people in the frame something close to extraordinary.
When it gets down to it I think my main issue revolves around Rochester. He is a dark character, a conflicted character, one filled to the brim with contradictions, and while Fassbender portrays him credibly I don’t think a film will ever do this man complete justice. You have to understand the reasons behind his secrets and you have to be able to forgive him for them because in most eyes his actions are nearly inexcusable. Brontë’s prose is so layered and multifaceted you can get an insight into the man that is complete, so when Jane ultimately makes her decision to return to him it is one that doesn’t just make sense but also one – at least on my part – the reader can’t help but applaud.
Not sure that happens in the movie. When Jane leaves and runs off to the care of St. John Rivers (Jamie Bell) and his two sisters a part of me couldn’t help but wonder why she wouldn’t just stay with him. There is love in his household that is true, honest and lay bare of all secrets. It is a love that does not hide past indiscretions; it is a love that will not judge what happened in days gone by.
The obvious answer of course is that he will never, could never, understand her the way that her former employer does. He is not her equal, and like Elizabeth Bennet must have her Mr. Darcy it just wouldn’t be right if Jane Eyre did not end up in the arms of her Mr. Rochester, all of his copious faults and hidden chambers of darkness be damned.
Maybe I need more time to digest this new interpretation of Brontë’s classic. Maybe I need to head to the theatre and pay for a ticket and see it again. Either way, what I will say is that Fukunaga’s Jane Eyre is the one that has come the closest to becoming the cinematic version I’ve always imagined possible. It is mysterious, yet luminous, sinister, yet seductive. It is a movie that has delved into the nooks and crannies of the author’s brain unlike any other before it that I have seen, and for that reason alone I do call it a triumph and a motion picture most definitely worth the time to experience for one’s self.
Film Rating: êêê (out of 4)
