Jane Eyre, ad nauseum

So I caught the latest Jane Eyre adaptation, starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender. I’ve seen the iconic Welles version, and two BBC versions, one with Timothy Dalton and the other with Cieran Hinds. Having read and not cared too much for the novel (which I’ll delve into later), I was always willing to watch the film adaptations, if only to see how they would manage to make the characters, the plot contrivances, and the overall themes likable.

I can tell you that this is not a purist adaption of Eyre, but I believe that is to the film’s good fortune. The chronology is stirred up a bit, but not in an overly confusing way. There are also some judicious scene exclusions and amalgamations. The screenplay is very well done, and retains key elements of the book while effectively streamlining the story into something that can be delivered in a normal film length.

The cinematography is interesting as well. The director Cary Fukunaga eschews the standard pastoral framing that you unconsciously expect from British classics. There’s plenty of lovely shots that help make the countryside a character itself. But Fukunaga is not afraid of shadows, silence, or steady cam and hand held shots. I think it’s always interesting when a genre film, especially one rooted in a specific location, is handled by a foreigner to that realm. I can’t help but draw parallels between Ang Lee’s Sense and Sensibility and Brokeback Mountain: a BBC staple and the American West, through a non-native’s eyes.

Whatever the reason for his approach, Fukunaga’s treatment of the story is the best I’ve seen. The cast is stellar. I’ve been waiting to see Mia W. hit it big since I saw her stint on HBO’s In Treatment. She was (seemingly) effortlessly riveting in that role. Her take on Jane is traditional—I mean, you have to take your cues from the page, especially since the story is told in the first person—but Wasikowska does her character credit. Along with the good screenplay, Jane never seems like a doormat or an idiot. She’s an 18 year old girl who’s had a crap life, but her native intelligence and self respect have borne her through to become the inexperienced, socially awkward, but determined and thoughtful young woman we see.

I feel that this Rochester is the most relatable I’ve ever seen. He’s still a goading, spoiled jerk, but there’s so much more than autocratic despotism at work here. Fassbender’s Rochester is a man with incredible burdens, and you can almost see the weight of them on his shoulders. But before calamity befell him, this was an educated man with a good sense of humor and a willingness to love.

And the nexus where Jane and Rochester meet is where the film has its singular success—while staying true to the characters in the book, the film still delivers a believable romantic attachment between the two leads. Jane Eyre’s romance can be a little hard to take, between age and power issues, Rochester’s general asshattery, and Jane’s almost zombie-like composure. The film embraces rather than ignores those factors, and for the first time I found myself going, “Oh, I can see that happening.”

Rochester is old enough to be Jane’s father, and he plays with her emotions in sadistic ways sometimes. Jane is so unworldly and unloved that the slightest kindness from a man is liable to set her a flutter. But it works here, because these are such obviously damaged, lonely people that in a way they are ideal for each other. They are also a good pragmatic choice for each other. This is not a passionate love that erupts from first sight, it’s two people realizing they are safe with each other, and safe to be themselves with each other.

The film is not perfect, and there are moments where the individual actors seem a little lost or underdeveloped—with the exception of young (child) Jane and Rochester, but that’s not really fair because they get the best lines in the book and the most to actually do. The chemistry between Wasikowska and Fassbender is spot on, both wonderful and painful to watch. The director knows this, and there are two great scenes, the bedroom post-fire and the post wedding confrontation, which are primarily done as “American” two shots—shot is wide and continuous, with the characters facing each other in profile. Both those scenes are fantastic and I rewound them more than once to take turns focusing on each actor in the scene, as well as to enjoy the total experience. Top notch ACTING! and emoting in those scenes.



Question: Why does Jane always have the same damn hairdo in every freaking version? Also: niiiiice mutton chops there, Fassy.



Other things to enjoy are Dame Judi Dench rocking her role. I know it’s cliché to say that, but it’s not my fault that she kicks ass. And god bless her for it. Again, the director knows he’s got some good shit going on, and they give Dench’s Mrs. Fairfax a nice scene at the end that isn’t in the book. This is where purists start to howl, but really, it’s a wonderful moment and adds so much to the characters. The score is noticeably beautiful and evocative.

Also, FASSBENDER is my new favorite word. Get used to it. Nothing has been this much fun to say since Mustapha and the brief return of hassenpfeffer.

Well, all this Jane Eyre film watching made me decide to go back and re-read the novel. I’ve read it once only, in high school. I didn’t hate the book, but it certainly didn’t speak to me back then. I think it might have suffered somewhat from cross contamination with Wuthering Heights.

Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff and Catherine are a couple so detestable they find their literary equivalents only in Gatsby’s Tom and Daisy. Heights is just full of loathsome people doing selfish things that have horrific consequences. All the major players should have been shot 30 pages in, and the rest of the folks allowed to live out their normal lives free of the cancer of Heathcliff’s and Catherine’s “great love.” What a bunch of douchebags.

So, yeah. JE probably didn’t stand a chance. My fourteen year old brain could not comprehend why Jane put up with so much crap, from anyone. By the time she was hanging out with “Now I lubs you, Now I don’t!” Rochester, I was over it. I would let him burn up in his bed. Shit, I woulda thrown my candle into the mix. And this St. John overwhelming her with his force of personality? What personality? He’s a hottie with a hard on for Christ, specifically for dying in service to Christ. Isn’t that kinda like being Mel Gibson, thereby rendering one Not A Hottie? And the magical cousin coincidence? And everybody just being So. Damn. Overwrought. AllTheFreakingTime! Teens are supposed to love drama, but I just wanted to read Pride and Prejudice again. At least there was some personal growth in that book, besides the funny parts and biting social satire.

Also, you can sink Jane Eyre with two words: crossdressing gypsy. SRSLY—how the fuck did that make it past the editing table? That reminds me, has there ever been a film adaptation that included that scene? Or is it kind of like the United States and its treaties with the Native American nations—everybody just pretends it never happened? And by everybody, I mean the honkeys in charge.

Anyhoo, upon re-reading, I am forced to admit that Jane Eyre is a far more engaging book than I first gave it credit. For one thing, I am better able to place it contextually, and appreciate its very forward feminist tones. (I’m also able to recognize that Jane, for all her proto feminism, is still at the mercy of the personalities of the men in her life, and just chooses love instead of God. Which makes it less remarkable as a feminist tract, but kind of more remarkable as a product of Christianity and romanticized Pagan ideals.)

And, as I noted in the film review, I was able to see past Rochester’s imperiousness and Jane’s goggle eyed stupefaction to the underlying foundations of their relationship. They are damaged people. Rochester longs for personal salvation so much he’s willing to damn himself to get it. Jane longs to be valued, respected, and safe. She needs someone to finally think that she is good enough. The paternalistic overtones are less creepy in this regard—I mean, people really do have relationships like this precisely because they both need the acceptance that an age/experience imbalance provides.

What young girl hasn’t felt the odd but pleasing sensation of being an elder’s favorite? What older man hasn’t been at least intrigued when in the constant company of a young woman? Honestly, it’s a miracle anybody gets out of high school without getting arrested, teachers or students. There are entire Russian novels dedicated to this stuff. And Police songs. With my older eye, I can at least say, “Well, she’s 18 and graduated. He’s not a complete pedo.”

I can also now better see Jane’s independence and struggle for meaning. She’s smart, she learns to stick up for herself as much as she can, and she also correctly identifies that women get the short shrift, but suffer some of the same needs as men. Again, considering the time and her age, Jane’s POV makes more sense and seems a lot more rebellious than my initial impression.

To summarize: FASSBENDER!



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