Review of the film Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre is a classic drama film based on the novel by Charlotte Bronte. The film is set in old estates and steppes of England in the nineteenth century.

The main storyline of this story is love and it can be traced throughout the film. However, it is not that cliched romantic story, on the contrary, since written in the gothic era, it is full of mystification and drama. The story begins in the orphanage where Jane Eyre spends her childhood. As she is sent to an old wealthy estate where her duty is to teach French to little Adele, she meets the owner of the estate, Mr. Rochester, and falls in love with him from the very first minutes of their acquaintance. The way their feelings to each other evolve is full of tension, the young lady faces many difficulties on the way and, inevitably, the plot has unexpected twists.

Directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, the film attracts with the beauty of English rural landscapes, the intimacy of the place and the brilliant play of the artists. Mia Wasikowska, the well-known and popular actress, perfectly reveals the fragile but strong spirit of Jane Eyre and Michael Fassbender is the best in the role of gloomy and cold Mr. Rochester.

Although the play of the actors is conceiving and their appearance fits the description, their characters are not revealed as fully as in the book. Moreover, there are scenes that are fully described in the book but cut off in the film due to their lengths or unimportance. For instance, the scene where Jane is sitting in front of Mr. Rochester near the fireplace in his old house and peering at his features is overwhelming in the novel but insignificant in its film adaptation. Nevertheless, this poignant film with a captivating plot and magnificent scenes is definitely worth watching.