Jane Eyre (1997) (TV)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Robert Young

Writers:

Charlotte Brontë (novel) and
Richard Hawley (writer)

Release Date:

19 October 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Charlotte Bronte's classic novel is filmed yet again. The story of the Yorkshire orphan who becomes...

Plot Keywords:

Orphan | French | Governess | Gentleman | Clergyman

Cast

Deborah Findlay	...	Mrs. Reed
Laura Harling	...	Young Jane
Joanna Scanlan	...	Bessie
Ben Sowden	...	John Reed
Barbara Keogh	...	Miss Abbot
David Gant	...	Mr. Brocklehurst
Emily Joyce	...	Miss Temple
Gemma Eglinton	...	Helen Burns
Ruth Mitchell	...	Miss Scatchered
Dominique Belcourt	...	Anna
Samantha Morton	...	Jane Eyre
Gemma Jones	...	Mrs. Fairfax
Timia Berthome	...	Adele (as Timia Berthomé)
Hermione Gulliford	...	Sophie
Ciarán Hinds	...	Edward Rochester (as Ciaran Hinds)

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-8 (video premiere) | Germany:6 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Knebworth House, Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

A&E Television Networks

Movie Connections:

Version of Jane Eyre (2009)

Soundtrack:

Nocturne in E-Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2

Too rushed, too much missing, characterisation didn't fit the book.

I am an unforgiving purist and my favourite version of Jane Eyre has to be the BBC version with Timothy Dalton playing Rochester as an attractive, witty, sensitive, firm and fascinating man. Edward Rochester is one of fiction's greatest romantic heroes and Ciaran Hinds played him as a selfish bully to whom I had difficulty believing Jane would have been attracted. There wasn't enough time to show the development of their friendship, so Jane's love appeared unconvincing. In fact, I felt that taken at face value, this Jane would only have loved this Rochester because she had no previous experience with men and was pushed into it. The truth of their relationship as written in the novel is completely different: that of mutual respect and understanding, as two solitary people often misunderstood by others but who become soul mates. This is what draws me to the book and why I often feel dissatisfied with adaptations. The development of Jane Eyre as a person is its most important theme - she has a deprived and abused childhood and only by finding Thornfield and its inhabitants is she allowed to blossom. One important thing missing here was Jane's financial independence at the end, which emphasises her real status and voluntary return to Rochester. I also didn't like the re-writing of almost all the dialogue, because Charlotte Bronte's original text is wonderful and more evocative. I don't believe it is possible to do justice to this unique story in any adaptation of this length - only a multi-part mini series can give enough time to fill in all the important details. I look forward to the latest BBC version with Toby Stephens as Rochester!

Above all, read the book!