This weekend I saw Jane Eyre, the new Joji Fukunaga film , starring Mia Wasikowska, who takes on the titular role. I'm familiar with the novel having read and deconstructed so many passages of the book during my impressionable, formative years, when I gravitated to all things literary, brooding, and romantic (which now = depressing!). I always found the Gothic sensibility of the novel and the mystery behind "Bertha" to be an alluring dimension of Bronte's perspective.
Ultimately, the story of Jane Eyre is about a woman who seeks to retain her individuality or "freedom", while not being held down by the attendant constraints of love and societal mores. Fukunaga's film is mostly a love story, and less of a story of transformation, but it's still a very compelling adaptation.
The film is at its strongest when rendering evocative atmospherics-the creepy castle, the dreary moors, the rain, the rain, the rain... The director paints a beautiful picture--really visually persuasive. His pairing of Jane and Mr. Rochester is comparable to recent depictions of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, minus the wit, humor and sunlight--and this is not a negative thing. To me, some places were slow and slightly underdeveloped; however, I would highly recommend seeing it.
Monday, March 28, 2011
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