Jane Eyre (1996 film)
Encyclopedia
Jane Eyre is a 1996 film adaptation of Charlotte Brontë
's 1847 novel of the same name
. This Hollywood version, directed by Franco Zeffirelli
, is similar to the original novel, although it compresses and eliminates most of the plot in the last quarter of the book (the running away, the trials and tribulations, new found relations, and new job) to make it fit into a 2-hour movie.
(portrayed as the orphan child by Anna Paquin
and as an adult by Charlotte Gainsbourg
) is the plain, impoverished young woman who is hired by Mr. Rochester (William Hurt
) through Mrs. Fairfax (Joan Plowright
) to work as a governess for Adele (Josephine Serre). Despite her mild unprepossessing manner more like a nun, Jane has strong internal passions and shows her strength in character in expressing her opinions and showing resolve in times of trouble. Rochester is the Byronic anti-hero who is tortured and tormented by family troubles, past injustices and secrets. Rochester and Jane find an affinity for each other and fall in love. The marriage date is set. What she does not realize is that she must share the estate (and ultimately Mr. Rochester) with his wife, Bertha (Maria Schneider
), who is mentally ill and kept locked away in an upstairs attic with a nurse, Grace Poole (Billie Whitelaw
).
The marriage is stopped by Bertha's brother Richard Mason (Edward de Souza
) and lawyer Briggs (Peter Woodthorpe
). Jane flees, her world crashing down is a nightmare. She recovers in the parsonage of her original aunt's home, discovers she is now a wealthy women inheriting her long-lost uncle's fortune in Madeira. She gets a proposal of marriage from Parson St. John Rivers but her heart and soul is with Rochester. She goes back to find Thornfield Hall burnt down but Rochester is crippled and blinded by the fire set by his mad wife, Bertha, who has killed herself in the fire. However, Jane's love for Rochester remains undiminished and she nurses him back to health and he recovers his eyesight. So she married him.
, Bakewell, Derbyshire, UK Since Zeffirelli's use of Haddon Hall, subsequent versions of Jane Eyre have used it and is now apparently synonymous with Thornfield Hall. Prior to Zeffirelli's location use, Haddon Hall had been once used (before Jane Eyre) as the castle for The Princess Bride
.
based on 23 reviews. The New York Times called Hurt "embarrassingly miscast as a Rochester more nearly a mild eccentric than a brooding, Byronic type
," but conceded that the film "has its moments."
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
's 1847 novel of the same name
Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published in London, England, in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. with the title Jane Eyre. An Autobiography under the pen name "Currer Bell." The first American edition was released the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York...
. This Hollywood version, directed by Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli KBE is an Italian director and producer of films and television. He is also a director and designer of operas and a former senator for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party....
, is similar to the original novel, although it compresses and eliminates most of the plot in the last quarter of the book (the running away, the trials and tribulations, new found relations, and new job) to make it fit into a 2-hour movie.
Cast
- Charlotte GainsbourgCharlotte GainsbourgCharlotte Lucy Gainsbourg is an Anglo-French actress and singer. After releasing an album with her father at the age of fifteen, more than twenty years passed before she released two albums as an adult to commercial and critical success...
... Jane EyreJane Eyre (character)Jane Eyre is the heroine of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name.-Appearance:Jane Eyre is described as plain, with an elfin look. She sees herself as "poor, obscure, plain and little". Mr. Rochester once compliments Jane's "hazel eyes and hazel hair", but she tells the reader about Mr... - Anna PaquinAnna PaquinAnna Helene Paquin is a Canadian-born New Zealand actress. Paquin's first critically successful film was The Piano, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1994 at the age of 11 – the second youngest winner in history...
... Young Jane EyreJane Eyre (character)Jane Eyre is the heroine of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name.-Appearance:Jane Eyre is described as plain, with an elfin look. She sees herself as "poor, obscure, plain and little". Mr. Rochester once compliments Jane's "hazel eyes and hazel hair", but she tells the reader about Mr... - Fiona ShawFiona ShawFiona Shaw, CBE is an Irish actress and theatre director. Although to international audiences she is probably most familiar for her minor role as Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films, she is an accomplished classical actress...
... Mrs. Reed - John WoodJohn Wood (English actor)John Wood, CBE was an English actor.-Biography:Wood was born in Derbyshire and studied law at Jesus College, Oxford where he was president of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. Changing to drama, Wood became known as a stage actor, appearing in numerous West End productions as well as on...
... Mr. Brocklehurst - Geraldine ChaplinGeraldine ChaplinGeraldine Leigh Chaplin is an English-American actress and the daughter of Charlie Chaplin.Chaplin first came to prominence for her Golden Globe-nominated role of Tonya in David Lean's Doctor Zhivago . She received her second Golden Globe nomination for Robert Altman's Nashville...
... Miss Scatcherd - Amanda RootAmanda RootAmanda Root is an English stage and screen actor and a former voice actor for children's programmes.Root known for her starring role in the 1995 BBC film adaptation of Jane Austen's Persuasion and the British TV comedy All About Me, as Miranda, alongside Richard Lumsden in 2004 and when she was a...
... Miss Temple - Leanne RoweLeanne RoweLeanne Rowe is an English actress and singer, known for portraying Nancy in Oliver Twist, May Moss in Lilies and Baby in Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage.-Background:...
... Helen Burns - Richard WarwickRichard WarwickRichard Warwick was a British actor.He was born Richard Carey Winter, at Meopham, Kent and made his film debut in Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 production of Romeo and Juliet in the role of Gregory...
... John - Joan PlowrightJoan PlowrightJoan Ann Plowright, Baroness Olivier, DBE , better known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English actress, whose career has spanned over sixty years. Throughout her career she has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award and has been nominated for an Academy Award, an Emmy, and two BAFTA Awards...
... Mrs. Fairfax - Judith Parker... Leah
- Josephine Serre... Adele Varens
- Billie WhitelawBillie WhitelawBillie Honor Whitelaw, CBE is an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works...
...Grace Poole - William HurtWilliam HurtWilliam McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
... Rochester - Elle MacphersonElle MacphersonElle Macpherson is an Australian model, actress, and businesswoman nicknamed "The Body". She is perhaps best known for her record five cover appearances for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue beginning in the 1980s...
... Blanche Ingram - Julian FellowesJulian FellowesJulian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, DL , known as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter, as well as a Conservative peer.-Early life:...
... Colonel Dent - Edward de SouzaEdward de SouzaEdward James de Souza is a British character actor and graduate of RADA with ethnic Portuguese Indian and English origins.-Early life:...
... Richard Mason - Peter WoodthorpePeter WoodthorpePeter Woodthorpe was an English film, television and voice actor who is best known for supplying the voice of Gollum in the 1978 Bakshi version of The Lord of the Rings and BBC's 1981 radio serial...
... Briggs - Ralph Nossek... Reverend Wood
- Maria SchneiderMaria Schneider (actress)Maria Schneider was a French actress. She was best known for playing Jeanne, opposite Marlon Brando, in the 1972 film Last Tango in Paris.-Career:...
... Bertha Mason - Samuel WestSamuel WestSamuel Alexander Joseph West is an English actor and theatre director. He is perhaps best known for his role in Howards End and his work on stage. He also starred in the award-winning play ENRON...
... St. John Rivers - Charlotte Attenborough... Mary Rivers
Plot summary
Jane EyreJane Eyre (character)
Jane Eyre is the heroine of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name.-Appearance:Jane Eyre is described as plain, with an elfin look. She sees herself as "poor, obscure, plain and little". Mr. Rochester once compliments Jane's "hazel eyes and hazel hair", but she tells the reader about Mr...
(portrayed as the orphan child by Anna Paquin
Anna Paquin
Anna Helene Paquin is a Canadian-born New Zealand actress. Paquin's first critically successful film was The Piano, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1994 at the age of 11 – the second youngest winner in history...
and as an adult by Charlotte Gainsbourg
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg is an Anglo-French actress and singer. After releasing an album with her father at the age of fifteen, more than twenty years passed before she released two albums as an adult to commercial and critical success...
) is the plain, impoverished young woman who is hired by Mr. Rochester (William Hurt
William Hurt
William McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
) through Mrs. Fairfax (Joan Plowright
Joan Plowright
Joan Ann Plowright, Baroness Olivier, DBE , better known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English actress, whose career has spanned over sixty years. Throughout her career she has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award and has been nominated for an Academy Award, an Emmy, and two BAFTA Awards...
) to work as a governess for Adele (Josephine Serre). Despite her mild unprepossessing manner more like a nun, Jane has strong internal passions and shows her strength in character in expressing her opinions and showing resolve in times of trouble. Rochester is the Byronic anti-hero who is tortured and tormented by family troubles, past injustices and secrets. Rochester and Jane find an affinity for each other and fall in love. The marriage date is set. What she does not realize is that she must share the estate (and ultimately Mr. Rochester) with his wife, Bertha (Maria Schneider
Maria Schneider (actress)
Maria Schneider was a French actress. She was best known for playing Jeanne, opposite Marlon Brando, in the 1972 film Last Tango in Paris.-Career:...
), who is mentally ill and kept locked away in an upstairs attic with a nurse, Grace Poole (Billie Whitelaw
Billie Whitelaw
Billie Honor Whitelaw, CBE is an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works...
).
The marriage is stopped by Bertha's brother Richard Mason (Edward de Souza
Edward de Souza
Edward James de Souza is a British character actor and graduate of RADA with ethnic Portuguese Indian and English origins.-Early life:...
) and lawyer Briggs (Peter Woodthorpe
Peter Woodthorpe
Peter Woodthorpe was an English film, television and voice actor who is best known for supplying the voice of Gollum in the 1978 Bakshi version of The Lord of the Rings and BBC's 1981 radio serial...
). Jane flees, her world crashing down is a nightmare. She recovers in the parsonage of her original aunt's home, discovers she is now a wealthy women inheriting her long-lost uncle's fortune in Madeira. She gets a proposal of marriage from Parson St. John Rivers but her heart and soul is with Rochester. She goes back to find Thornfield Hall burnt down but Rochester is crippled and blinded by the fire set by his mad wife, Bertha, who has killed herself in the fire. However, Jane's love for Rochester remains undiminished and she nurses him back to health and he recovers his eyesight. So she married him.
Production
The location for Thornfield Hall is Haddon HallHaddon Hall
Haddon Hall is an English country house on the River Wye at Bakewell, Derbyshire, one of the seats of the Duke of Rutland, occupied by Lord Edward Manners and his family. In form a medieval manor house, it has been described as "the most complete and most interesting house of [its]...
, Bakewell, Derbyshire, UK Since Zeffirelli's use of Haddon Hall, subsequent versions of Jane Eyre have used it and is now apparently synonymous with Thornfield Hall. Prior to Zeffirelli's location use, Haddon Hall had been once used (before Jane Eyre) as the castle for The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride
The Princess Bride is a 1973 fantasy novel written by William Goldman. It was originally published in the United States by Harcourt Brace, while in the UK it is/was published by Bloomsbury Publishing....
.
Reception
The film holds a positive rating of 70% at Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
based on 23 reviews. The New York Times called Hurt "embarrassingly miscast as a Rochester more nearly a mild eccentric than a brooding, Byronic type
Byronic hero
The Byronic hero is an idealised but flawed character exemplified in the life and writings of English Romantic poet Lord Byron. It was characterised by Lady Caroline Lamb, later a lover of Byron's, as being "mad, bad, and dangerous to know"...
," but conceded that the film "has its moments."