Review of Jane Eyre (2011) by Husna H — 01 Oct 2011

Cary Fukunaga's Jane Eyre is cold, austere, intelligent, and feels, for the twenty-first film adaptation, amazingly refreshing. It benefits greatly from his unshowy approach, creating environments around the well-known characters that convey their emotions cinematically. The use of flashbacks, whilst initially unsure, works beautifully to merge the various threads and themes of the story. Fukunaga's tendency to represent the aftermath rather than revel in the melodrama is also far more impactful. All the repressed emotion is left to the final shot, which is heartbreakingly beautiful.

Mia Wasikowska is stoic and proud and luminous as the straight-talking Jane. She has an envious ability to convey every thought in her eyes. Michael Fassbender's Rochester has just the right tincture of sternness and deeply withheld passion to make him a tragic but believable character. Every performance is sure, from Judi Dench's amusing and compassionate housekeeper, to Sally Hawkins' cruel aunt.

Perhaps things do happen too hastily, especially the divulging of Rochester's secret, but the story races along and draws you in. The cinematography is superlative, the vast, barren moors perfectly thematic in their portrayal of the wide space between class, and the solemn gloom of Rochester's home indicative of the secret and tragedy it holds.

Fresh, engaging and beautiful, this is quite possibly the best adaptation of the novel yet.