Tuesday, August 16, 2011

A Letter to My Fellow Lit Lovers

Dear Lit Lovers,

I have it! I sit at the computer with the satisfaction of knowing that the 2011 adaption of Jane Eyre now belongs to me, sitting on my bed with plastic wrap discarded. I feel as if a large weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. The movie is officially in my possession to watch over and over. *sigh*

That is all I have to say. I'm going to go watch it now, look at the deleted scenes, and take a peak at Cary Fukunaga's commentary. I'll get back to you later.

--Ari (aka Bonnie) 

3 comments:

  1. Confound New Zealand! You guys already have the dvd and it hasn't even come out in theaters here. Excuse me while I go and have a tantrum.

    But otherwise, I hope it's full of delicious extras! Enjoy =)

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  2. I finally got to see it yesterday on ON Demand. I would probably put it third of fourth on my list of favorite Jane Eyre adaptations. I felt that it was too short. I wish they had shown at least 15-20 extra minutes, especially at the end when Jane returns to Rochester and a few more scenes with Jane and Rochester. I also felt that if someone was watching the movie without having read the book, they would have been lost. Some scenes (apparently there are some deleted ones) should have been kept in. Overall, it was a good adaptation. Fassbender was very good as Rochester although I think he should have shown a bit more of the humor and playfulness of Rochester. He got the other parts of him right. As for as Waichaowska (I can't remember how to spell her name), she played a good Jane but at times perhaps a too bit poised. Jane does break down in tears in front of Rochester in the book in the "just because I'm poor, plain, etc" scene.

    I did like how they filmed it. The music and art direction were very good. The flashback device was good too. I understand the need for combining some scenes together but I felt that there needed to be a bit more. Overall, it was a good movie and I will be adding it to my collection in the near future.

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  3. Time was my main grievance with this movie as well. I think that had it been just half an hour longer then so much more could have been accomplished. Obviously (as I've said many times), it doesn't stop it from being my favorite, but at the same time there were some key scenes that should have been kept in. As for the ending; I think that it actually functioned very well with the movie. The more I watch it, the more I love the black out. The beauty of that scene just stands so well alone without having to follow up on the rest of the novel. On that point we may agree to disagree.

    Mia: yes, she was very reserved. I've watched the movie more than once now and just recently realized that there were tears coming down her cheeks during the proposal scene. With the lighting and the angle, they're hard to see, so when I first saw the movie I thought that she was a bit too composed as well. She wasn't the best Jane, but at the same time, I don't believe that there really is a "best" Jane because none of the actresses from other versions define the character for me either.

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