Rating: PG-13
Starring:
Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre
Michael Fassbender as Rochester
Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax
Jamie Bell as St. John Rivers
Sally Hawkins as Mrs. Reed
Simon McBurney as Mr. Brocklehurst
Amelia Clarkson as Young Jane
Imogen Poots as Blanche Ingram
Sophie Ward as Lady Ingram
Valentina Cervi as Bertha Mason
Su Elliot as Hannah
Holliday Grainger as Diana Rivers
Tamzin Merchant as Mary Rivers
Craig Roberts as John Reed
Lizzie Hopley as Miss Abbot
Jayne Wisener as Bessie
Freya Wilson as Eliza Reed
Emily Haigh as Georgiana Reed
Sandy McDade as Miss Scatcherd
Freya Parks as Helen Burns
Edwina Elek as Miss Temple
Ewart James Walters as John
Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax
Georgia Bourke as Leah
Sally Reeve as Martha
Romy Settbon Moore as Adele Varens
Eglantine Rembauville-Nicolle as Sophie
Rosie Cavaliero as Grace Poole
Joe Van Moyland as Lord Ingram
Hayden Phillips as Colonel Dent
Harry Lloyd as Richard Mason
Ned Dennehy as Dr. Carter
Joseph Kloska as Clergyman Wood
Ben Roberts as Briggs
Directed by Cary Fukunaga
Special Features:
Deleted Scenes
A Look Inside Jane Eyre
To Score Jane Eyre: Cary Fukunaga and Dario Marianelli Team Up
The Mysterious Light of Jane Eyre
Feature Commentary with Director Cary Fukunaga
My Scenes
BD-Live
pocket BLU App
And More!
Other Info:
Widescreen (1.85:1)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Spanish Language
French and Spanish Subtitles
Running Time: 2 Hours 1 Minutes
The Details:
The following is the official description of the film:
“Mia Wasikowska (‘Alice in Wonderland’), Michael Fassbender (‘Inglourious Basterds’) and Academy Award® winner Judi Dench (‘Shakespeare in Love’) star in acclaimed director Cary Fukunaga’s daring new adaptation of the timeless romance. When orphaned governess Jane Eyre (Wasikowska) arrives at imposing Thornfield Hall she’s intrigued by her brooding wealthy employer Rochester (Fassbender). His dark moods and the strange occurrences in the house lead her to discover a terrible secret that he had hoped to hide from her forever.”
“Jane Eyre” is rated PG-13 for some thematic elements including a nude image and brief violent content.
Mini-Review:
It’s a bit unfair for me to review this movie because Victorian dramas are of little to no interest me. They just aren’t my thing. But my wife absolutely loves them and is a big fan of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, etc. So I decided to give “Jane Eyre” a try. Plus it had Magneto and Alice in it, so I figured what the heck.
As the movie began, I have to admit that I was pretty lost. Despite doing my best to follow the dialogue and what was going on, I was hard pressed to be able to explain the plot. After about 45 minutes, I gave up and looked up the novel synopsis on Wikipedia. Yeah, that’s sad, but I’m man enough to admit it. Once I read that synopsis, I was much better able to follow the story.
I did like a couple of things about this film. First of all, I liked the mystery of Rochester’s deep, dark secret. The build-up to the big reveal was interesting. I also liked the performances by Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska. They made it easy to forget that they were actors and you started following them as their characters. I’m also impressed that they could deliver the period dialogue that they did. Some of it was so complex that after one scene, I had to turn to my wife and ask, “So what did they just say?” Even knowing the plot of the story, I found the dialogue to be quite complex. So I had respect for the actor delivering it. I also liked the supporting cast that consisted of Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax and Jamie Bell as St. John Rivers.
All of that being said, I still found the story utterly dull and the plot quite dated. I just can’t get into stories where the female lead is trying to marry the rich nobleman. It’s essentially a 150-year-old soap opera. It’s also a bit hard to believe that Rochester and Jane are madly in love. There just didn’t seem to be any spark between them. Maybe that’s because we’re seeing the Victorian version of love, but oh well. And I have to say that after reading the novel synopsis on Wikipedia, I’m disappointed that the movie didn’t feature the happy ending of the book. The movie needed to be about 5 minutes longer and feature that and I feel like it would have been better.
Overall, though, I know this movie wasn’t made for me. It was made for fans of Jane Eyre and fans of period dramas. And I do believe they’ll enjoy it. Despite the fact that I rated this a 5.5 out of 10, my wife gave it a 7 out of 10.
The Blu-ray has a solid offering of bonus features. You get the standards like a feature commentary with the director, deleted scenes, and ‘making of’ featurettes. There is also a featurette on the score and another brief one on the lighting used in the movie. There’s plenty here to keep fans of the movie happy.
