JANE EYRE
4 out of 5 stars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uOZQkKHOFE&feature=fvwrel
you can’t go wrong with a focus features film... ;)

now, before you roll your eyes and exclaim “BUT THIS WILL BE EXACTLY LIKE THE BOOK!!!” this time...2011 version of jane eyre gets a young/fresh cast with mia wasikowska (from tim burton’s alice in wonderland) as the titular jane and michael fassbender (from inglorious basterds and x-men: first class) as the prickly rochester. the movie starts with an upset jane running away from thornfield hall...ending up in the middle of the night, at the wet doorsteps of the rivers’ family home. st. john rivers and his sisters take jane in, and as they nurse her back to health, jane reminisces about her childhood, her schooldays at lowood school, then her job as governess to a young french girl named sophie valens, mr. rochester’s ward. she’s welcomed by the warm housekeeper, mrs. fairfax, whom jane mistakens as the owner of thornfield hall, but then meets the real owner when she scares rochester’s horse in the woods. from there, rochester is intrigued by jane’s plain beauty and spirit and wit, and eventually, falls in love with her. jane too falls for rochester, but there’s a secret that keeps them from getting married... (if you’ve read the book, you know what goes bump in the night has to do with rochester’s past!)

it’s beautifully done, and the repressed sexuality between fassbender and mia is actually quite good. fassbender is sexy and arrogant and such a man’s MAN, where mia personifies innocence, youth, and obedience. jane eyre is one of my favorite literary characters because she’s the perfect balance of someone who conscience of her own moral character as well as her love for a man whom she loves wholeheartedly. she stands by her virtues, and mia exemplifies just that in her character of jane. the scenery, the soundtrack, and of course, the acting is all great! how can you go wrong with fassbender and judi dench in a semi-period film?! :P