Reviews @ Cheddar Arts

Jane Eyre

Tuesday, 24th January 2012 by Hayley Thorne, The Kings and Queens News Team

Vivid and cleverly reworked, the latest Jane Eyre film, manages the fine art of staying true to Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel, whilst breaking free from its shackles. With much of the earlier scenes filmed as flashbacks, the film opened to stunning shots of the Derbyshire countryside as a devastated Jane flees Thornfield Hall.

Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the film portrays the brutality of orphan Jane’s treatment by Aunt Reed, and later Lowood School, with the drama that previous adaptations have lacked. Jane’s solitude in the world, fitting with her isolation in the first scene, gives the audience an empathy with our heroine, played well by Mia Wasikowsa. Michael Fassbender, as Mr Rochester, also does not disappoint. After a dramatic entrance on horseback, the relationship between him and Miss Eyre is endearing, if occasionally somewhat restrained. Compelling viewing for the audience...

In a chilling contrast to the romance are the strange events that plague Thornfield Hall. Jane wakes Mr Rochester when she finds his room set on fire and attends to his house guest, Mr Mason, after a violent stabbing, both in the dead of night. It is soon revealed that the answer lies in Thornfield’s attic, where Mr Rochester’s mentally ill wife, Bertha Antoinetta Mason, secretly lives. Valentina Cervi, who plays Bertha, is particularly good for the part, with her dark hair and pale completion making her the perfect (and terrifying!) mad wife. At the film’s climax, she and Jane meet, leaving the bride-to-be distraught as she leaves Thornfield and wanders the countryside, before being taken in by three siblings. But is this really the end for our leading couple?

Highlights included Judi Dench’s role as Mrs Fairfax, which adds humour in places, and, as expected, Bronte’s wit shines through in the exchanges between our leading couple. Complete with a dramatic inferno and a heart-warming ending, Jane Eyre is described as “a must-see film” by one audience member. Well worth watching!