Jane Eyre
Director: Cary Fukunaga
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Freya Parks, Judy Dench, Jamie Bell, Amelia Clarkson, Holliday Grainger, Tamzin Merchant, Craig Roberts, Sally Hawkins, Sue Elliot, Simon McBurney
Based on the novel of the same name, written by renowned English writer, Charlotte Bronte, under the pseudonym “Currier Bell” in 1847, Jane Eyre follows orphan child, Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska), who is first cruelly abused by her aunt, then cast out, and sent to a charity school. Though she meets with further abuse at the school, she receives a thorough education, and when she comes of age, Jane journeys to Thornfield Hall, to become a mother-figure to Edward Rochester’s young ward, Adele, who she forms a close bond with. A fragile love is born between Jane and Rochester, as well, but his dark moods trouble her. When Jane discovers the dark secret that is hidden in Edward’s home, she flees and finds temporary refuge at the home of St. John Rivers.
Integrity and love are both powerful themes in this film, and nowhere are these themes of love and integrity more beautifully illustrated, than in the character of Jane Eyre, herself.
When Jane is a child, she is attacked by her older cousin, Reed, for taking a book that belonged to his father. When her cousin accuses Jane of stealing the book, and strikes her, Jane fights back and tells her vile cousin the truth of who really owns the book – not her cousin, but her Uncle Reed - after which, she beats him senseless and calls him a spoiled brat. Jane is punished for this infarction and locked in a “haunted room” …an experience that leaves her petrified. Afterwards, her Aunt tells the priest that Jane’s greatest sin is that of deceit, and she is an orphan. After Jane is dismissed by her aunt, she tells this cruel woman the unvarnished truth…that she does not love her aunt at all, and to say otherwise would be a lie. Jane goes on to tell her aunt that while she does, indeed, have faults, deceit is not among them. Jane tells Helen later that at her Aunt’s house, she was solitary and despised, and her aunt believed that Jane could grow up without one ounce of love or kindness.
Jane is also denied any form of love when she is sent to the Lowood school, to live. She is stripped of even the illusion of her childhood identity, and the notion that her family loves her or wants her, when she hears her aunt tell the headmaster that Jane is an orphan, and that once she arrives at the school, she must remain there, even during vacations, because her aunt no longer wants the responsibility of caring for her unwanted niece. Jane is also stripped of her childhood identity when she arrives at the school and is stripped of her fine clothes. She is harshly punished when she interferes with another student being disciplined, and the headmaster forces Jane to stand on a pedestal for an entire day, with no food or water, and he takes the punishment even further, by instructing the other children to shun Jane…to shun her and exclude her and withhold their friendship from her forever…once again, denying Jane any form of love, and once again, falsely accusing Jane of having the sin of deceit in her heart, to justify their cruel treatment.
Jane’s only friend, during her lonely, loveless childhood, is Helen Burns, the girl she tried to protect from being beaten. Helen returns Jane’s kindness, by secretly giving Jane a piece of bread, as thanks for Jane enduring this harsh punishment and going hungry, for her sake. When Jane confesses that she was unloved and unwanted as a child, Helen tells Jane that she is loved, and that there is an invisible world all around her and that she is protected by the spirits who dwell there. When Helen is dying of consumption, she tells Jane that she is happy because she is going home to God, but she also implores Jane not to leave her and Jane vows never to leave her friend and that no one will ever take Jane from her.
Although Jane’s childhood was spent, completely and utterly devoid of love and affection, save for her brief moment of happiness with Helen, as a woman, Jane finds love – both the expressing of and accepting of love – to be a conflicting notion…for while she shows a deep and unwavering devotion to both Rochester and his adopted daughter, Adele, and even to her aunt, when her aunt reaches out to Jane for help, Jane struggles to feel worthy of accepting love for herself. Rather than ignoring her Aunt in her moment of need, Jane, instead, shows her Aunt compassion when she visits her after her son’s tragic death…and when she learns that her aunt has twice wronged her, by disowning her and stealing her inheritance with a lie, rather than reciprocating the acerbity that was given to her as a child, Jane chooses, instead, to forgive her aunt and show her compassion.
When Rochester speaks to Jane of the beautiful woman who has captured his heart, Jane believes that he is speaking of Ms. Ingram, when it is Jane, herself, that Rochester is in love with. He vows to treat her as his equal, and he asks Jane to be his wife, and love him forever. The love that entwines Jane with Rochester is challenged when she learns his dark secret; that he is already married to a wife that he keeps hidden in his mansion. Although Rochester insists that his heart still belongs to Jane, her integrity will not allow her heart to be taken by him, and she rejects Rochester, saying that she must respect herself. Heartbroken and alone, Jane flees from Thornfield Hall to wander alone in the wilderness, until she is brought in from the icy rain, and adopted by St. John (Jamie Bell) and his sisters. With them, Jane finds the love and connection to a real family that her heart has been yearning for and she gains self-respect and even independence, serving as a humble teacher to the village children.
While both Rochester and St. John believe that Jane is their soulmate, and both ask for her hand in marriage, Jane initially rejects both men because they ask her to compromise her integrity and honor in the name of love. Rochester wishes to have Jane as his wife, despite already being married to another, and St. John wishes for Jane to accompany him to India for his missionary work, but Jane is unwilling to do so, because she does not love him as his wife…only as his adopted sister…and she does not wish to be trapped in a loveless marriage. In the end, while both men are vying for Jane’s heart, the better man finally won her heart.
I have always had a special affection for the classic stories. Jane Eyre is a classic love story with a solid cast of characters and an incredible, timeless storyline, which allows the film to stand out from other films of the genre. The stunning costumes and locations only serve to enhance the stylistic essence of the film. I would highly recommend this film.
© 2022 Keriane Kellogg All rights reserved
Director: Cary Fukunaga
Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Freya Parks, Judy Dench, Jamie Bell, Amelia Clarkson, Holliday Grainger, Tamzin Merchant, Craig Roberts, Sally Hawkins, Sue Elliot, Simon McBurney
Based on the novel of the same name, written by renowned English writer, Charlotte Bronte, under the pseudonym “Currier Bell” in 1847, Jane Eyre follows orphan child, Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska), who is first cruelly abused by her aunt, then cast out, and sent to a charity school. Though she meets with further abuse at the school, she receives a thorough education, and when she comes of age, Jane journeys to Thornfield Hall, to become a mother-figure to Edward Rochester’s young ward, Adele, who she forms a close bond with. A fragile love is born between Jane and Rochester, as well, but his dark moods trouble her. When Jane discovers the dark secret that is hidden in Edward’s home, she flees and finds temporary refuge at the home of St. John Rivers.
Integrity and love are both powerful themes in this film, and nowhere are these themes of love and integrity more beautifully illustrated, than in the character of Jane Eyre, herself.
When Jane is a child, she is attacked by her older cousin, Reed, for taking a book that belonged to his father. When her cousin accuses Jane of stealing the book, and strikes her, Jane fights back and tells her vile cousin the truth of who really owns the book – not her cousin, but her Uncle Reed - after which, she beats him senseless and calls him a spoiled brat. Jane is punished for this infarction and locked in a “haunted room” …an experience that leaves her petrified. Afterwards, her Aunt tells the priest that Jane’s greatest sin is that of deceit, and she is an orphan. After Jane is dismissed by her aunt, she tells this cruel woman the unvarnished truth…that she does not love her aunt at all, and to say otherwise would be a lie. Jane goes on to tell her aunt that while she does, indeed, have faults, deceit is not among them. Jane tells Helen later that at her Aunt’s house, she was solitary and despised, and her aunt believed that Jane could grow up without one ounce of love or kindness.
Jane is also denied any form of love when she is sent to the Lowood school, to live. She is stripped of even the illusion of her childhood identity, and the notion that her family loves her or wants her, when she hears her aunt tell the headmaster that Jane is an orphan, and that once she arrives at the school, she must remain there, even during vacations, because her aunt no longer wants the responsibility of caring for her unwanted niece. Jane is also stripped of her childhood identity when she arrives at the school and is stripped of her fine clothes. She is harshly punished when she interferes with another student being disciplined, and the headmaster forces Jane to stand on a pedestal for an entire day, with no food or water, and he takes the punishment even further, by instructing the other children to shun Jane…to shun her and exclude her and withhold their friendship from her forever…once again, denying Jane any form of love, and once again, falsely accusing Jane of having the sin of deceit in her heart, to justify their cruel treatment.
Jane’s only friend, during her lonely, loveless childhood, is Helen Burns, the girl she tried to protect from being beaten. Helen returns Jane’s kindness, by secretly giving Jane a piece of bread, as thanks for Jane enduring this harsh punishment and going hungry, for her sake. When Jane confesses that she was unloved and unwanted as a child, Helen tells Jane that she is loved, and that there is an invisible world all around her and that she is protected by the spirits who dwell there. When Helen is dying of consumption, she tells Jane that she is happy because she is going home to God, but she also implores Jane not to leave her and Jane vows never to leave her friend and that no one will ever take Jane from her.
Although Jane’s childhood was spent, completely and utterly devoid of love and affection, save for her brief moment of happiness with Helen, as a woman, Jane finds love – both the expressing of and accepting of love – to be a conflicting notion…for while she shows a deep and unwavering devotion to both Rochester and his adopted daughter, Adele, and even to her aunt, when her aunt reaches out to Jane for help, Jane struggles to feel worthy of accepting love for herself. Rather than ignoring her Aunt in her moment of need, Jane, instead, shows her Aunt compassion when she visits her after her son’s tragic death…and when she learns that her aunt has twice wronged her, by disowning her and stealing her inheritance with a lie, rather than reciprocating the acerbity that was given to her as a child, Jane chooses, instead, to forgive her aunt and show her compassion.
When Rochester speaks to Jane of the beautiful woman who has captured his heart, Jane believes that he is speaking of Ms. Ingram, when it is Jane, herself, that Rochester is in love with. He vows to treat her as his equal, and he asks Jane to be his wife, and love him forever. The love that entwines Jane with Rochester is challenged when she learns his dark secret; that he is already married to a wife that he keeps hidden in his mansion. Although Rochester insists that his heart still belongs to Jane, her integrity will not allow her heart to be taken by him, and she rejects Rochester, saying that she must respect herself. Heartbroken and alone, Jane flees from Thornfield Hall to wander alone in the wilderness, until she is brought in from the icy rain, and adopted by St. John (Jamie Bell) and his sisters. With them, Jane finds the love and connection to a real family that her heart has been yearning for and she gains self-respect and even independence, serving as a humble teacher to the village children.
While both Rochester and St. John believe that Jane is their soulmate, and both ask for her hand in marriage, Jane initially rejects both men because they ask her to compromise her integrity and honor in the name of love. Rochester wishes to have Jane as his wife, despite already being married to another, and St. John wishes for Jane to accompany him to India for his missionary work, but Jane is unwilling to do so, because she does not love him as his wife…only as his adopted sister…and she does not wish to be trapped in a loveless marriage. In the end, while both men are vying for Jane’s heart, the better man finally won her heart.
I have always had a special affection for the classic stories. Jane Eyre is a classic love story with a solid cast of characters and an incredible, timeless storyline, which allows the film to stand out from other films of the genre. The stunning costumes and locations only serve to enhance the stylistic essence of the film. I would highly recommend this film.
© 2022 Keriane Kellogg All rights reserved