Main Characters
Jane Eyre - Mia Waikowska
Edward Fairfax Rochester - Michael Fassbender
Mrs. Fairfax - Judi Dench
St. John Rivers - Jamie Bell
Jane Eyre has been one of my favourite books since I was a teenager, and I've read it more than a few times. I've also seen several of the dozens of productions of this title.
For me, the only thing that could have really ruined this movie, was failure to embody the atmosphere of the novel. When I saw BBC in the opening credits, my mind was put at ease.
Mia Waikowska gave, in my opinion a perfect performance of the Jane Eyre that I've rooted for every time I've read Charlotte Brontë's classic novel. She was sufficiently unassuming, but still had that subtle strength of character that Jane is supposed to possess. Sure, she may have been inexperienced with men, but that didn't mean she was going to cower before them, or let them push her around.
Edward Rochester was played by Michael Fassbender, a name previously unknown to me, as most of the well known movies he's appeared in have not had enough interest for me to see, or have simply been entirely out of my taste range. I definitely will not hold this against him. I thought his performance as Edward Rochester was flawless, adding a little more youth than Timothy Dalton's portrayal, and a little less abruptness than William Hurt's. I enjoyed getting to see a little more of a sense of humour apparent in this version of Mr. Rochester. Obviously a tortured soul, it was easier to see that in spite of his bitterness with his lot in life, that he was still yearning for love and real compantionship. Fassbender has four more movies scheduled to be released this year and two next, including X-Men: First Class where he will be taking on the role of Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto.
Even before this remake of Jane Eyre I always kind of pictured Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax. Apparently someone agreed with me. Her portrayal of the house keeper was the words of the novel personified. Kindly, talkative when she felt she was with her equal, but with the appropriate amount of gravity, obviously knowing somewhere in the back of her mind that something in Mr. Rochester's household was not quite what it should be.
This version of Jane Eyre is now tied for my favourite with the 1996 version starring William Hurt as Mr. Rochester and Charlotte Gainsbourg as Jane. This version left out a couple of scenes that to me were key to the story. One being during her stay at Lowood, the other while Rochester was entertaining the party at Thornfield Hall. But to be honest by the end of the movie, I didn't care at all.
One omission that is bothering me, even still is the glaring absence of a character named Miss Temple. In the book, Miss Temple was a teacher at Lowood for Jane's entire stay. This character was the only kind adult figure at the school, for the girls in general, but was even more special to young Jane. Miss Temple was Jane's first experience of kindness from an adult in her young life, and I've always thought that she was very important in Jane's developing into the young woman that left Lowood years later.
That being said, to me, one measure of a great movie and great performances is if you feel along with the characters, especially if you know exactly what's going to happen and how the story is going to end even before the opening credits role, and that I undoubtedly did. I smiled, I got misty eyed, my heart ached and soared, in spite of the fact that I knew what was coming all the way through. I'm so glad this movie was re-made......again. It is after all hard to go wrong with the classics. I look forward very much to adding this movie to my DVD collection.
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