Review of Jane Eyre (1997) by Walter M — 20 Jun 2010

[font=Century Gothic]"Jane Eyre" starts out with the title character as a girl being sent to a downscale school by her cruel relations for the crime of being strong willed. Despite a typhus epidemic and the death of her only friend, Jane Eyre(Samantha Morton) thrives there and is eventually promoted to teacher. Seeking to see more of the world than a grubby little school, she places an advertisement seeking employment which is answered by Mrs. Fairfax(Gemma Jones) to be a governess to Adele, ward of the mysterious Edward Rochester(Ciaran Hinds) at Thornfield Hall.[/font].

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[font=Century Gothic]The only other version of "Jane Eyre" that I have seen was the 1944 version starring Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine(not counting the plot points that were recalled in the wonderful novel, "The Eyre Affair" by Jasper Fforde) but this made for television version does seem rather pedestrian with some lapses in acting. Gemma Jones does a fine job but Ciaran Hinds does seem surprisingly somewhat miscast. But Samantha Morton singlehandedly raises the film to respectability.[/font].