Jane Eyre Film 1983 vs 2011

Jane Eyre in Film Version

One nice thing about the 2011 film of Jane Eyre is that it does not try to squeeze the entire novel into a two hour window. It starts off with Jane fleeing Thornfield and then through a series of flashbacks the viewer is brought up to speed. So the narrative is different in terms of how the story is unfolded but it feels like I am watching Jane Eyre, and in terms of spirit and essence I feel that the film captures the novel well. It is a very Gothic film, and the characters are well-portrayed. However, it would probably have been more enjoyable to watch had I not just read the novel. Whenever one reads a novel and then watches a film adaptation it is disappointing—for one sees it one way in one’s head, and then it is projected differently on the screen and, I at least, always have the thought, “Well, I liked it better the way I saw it in my head.” But the 2011 film is good and surprising in that it does not try to be the book on screen, literally, but does an eloquent job—visually speaking—of adapting the book. So I was never too distracted by the thought, “Well, that’s not how I would have done it.” Instead, I was constantly being surprised because the adaptation was taking a familiar story and making it new.

For that reason, I appreciated the restructuring of the narrative as a kind of frame story and felt that it worked well. Ebert was correct in his review that the film hits all the right notes and embodies the Bronte narrative in a faithful manner while also getting key points somewhat more right than other adaptations have—such as the age gap between Jane and Rochester, or the fact that Jane is supposed to be plain—not pretty. The romantic tension between the two is also captured well. Other adaptations—like the Fontaine and Welles version—hardly feels at all like the novel. In my opinion Fassbender is a better Rochester, and Mia is a better Jane than Joan is. Overall, I much prefer the 2011 version; although, I do think the 1983 Jane Eyre with Timothy Dalton is also a good one—but that one is basically trying to be more like the book on the screen, so it is very different in terms of scope and vision than the 2011 version. Both are good in my opinion because both are going for essence, but focusing in different ways.