Jane Eyre (1983)

Best ever production of Jane Eyre

I think this production of Jane Eyre is the best ever. I have seen them all. If you enjoy the beauty of the prose of Charlotte Bronte, you will truly appreciate the dialog. It is almost verbatim from the book. After watching this, you will not be able to watch any other version. Enjoy! August 30, 2008

Charlotte Bronte would be proud

This is the most faithful adaption of Bronte's Jane Eyre I've seen. The script lifted right out of the book and all of the characterization is dead on. The producers aptly cast Timothy Dalton and Zelda Clark, and I am completley puzzled by the "Zelda hate" that so crudely peppers the negative reviews. She was certainly not unattractive (calling her ugly is so tacky), nor was she a bad actress, in my opinion she is the best in the roll to date.
The only critiscism I grant the naysayers is in the production quality which leaves something to be desired. One must remember that this was a relativly low budget endeavor and I certainly do not think it materially detracts at all from the enjoyment of this movie. August 28, 2008

Loved it!

This is a wonderful adaptation of the book. I was delighted to see the extra scenes that had been left off of the VHS version. My only quibbles are 1)I wish that there had been even more scenes between Jane and Rochester from the book and 2)the ending leaves something to be desired also. Overall, my favorite version of the book. August 5, 2008

best rochester ever!!!

There could never be a better Rochester than Timothy Dalton. He was perfect for the part.....he brought to life a brooding, dark, and mysterious persona to what is a really difficult character to portray.... this movie deserves top rating and 10 more stars out of all the Jane Eyre remakes. Top acting on his part. (And also the rest of the cast). Hats off to Timothy Dalton! Also, this is the very best Jane Eyre movie ever made. June 25, 2008

Surprising

I'd never have believed that anyone could make the long, flowery, ornate, 19th century language in Charlotte Bronte's novel sound natural in a modern-day production -- "my pet lamb" -- and "Jane, you strange, almost unearthly thing," etc. etc. or that I would find a James Bond actor believable as Rochester. Wrong on both counts. Timothy Dalton's performance here is really a tour de force. He's mercurial, explosive, intense, brooding, cunning, manipulative, self-pitying, insightful, mischievous, sexual, tender, loving, gentle, sometimes all at the same time or at least in the same five minute scene. He's the original "mad, bad, and dangerous to know," to use Caroline Lamb's words about her lover Byron. That is, of course, like catnip. You watch him on the screen and know he's very bad news and you also know you wouldn't be able to resist. I'm not quite sure how Zelah Clarke's Jane is able to resist. Too handsome and too young, yes, but the portrayal more than makes you forget that.

Clarke is an interesting Jane. There's a scene the morning after she accepts Mr. Rochester's proposal where she literally runs into his arms, absolutely beaming, that made me physically gasp. This is a Jane whose primary trait is her desire to be loved. She's not really meant to be mouselike or long-suffering or patiently enduring, though she's learned to put on a facade. When Rochester loves her, she loves him back innocently and wholeheartedly, which makes the scene after the big reveal about Rochester's mad wife in the attic all the more heartbreaking. Clarke's Jane resembles someone who's been kicked in the stomach, hurt too badly to cry or react or shout at Rochester like he's begging her to. Clarke plays all those subtleties expertly.

Like other reviewers, I did think she looked older than 18 or 19, but so do all of the other actresses who've played the part. On the other hand, I think Jane is supposed to be one of those ageless looking characters. She likely looked older when she was young and would have looked younger when she was old. Her life experiences would have provided her with a sense of self-possession that would have given her more maturity than a young debutante of the era. Clarke is physically very small, particularly next to Dalton, which is right for the character, but a bit more rounded out than the Jane of the book.

Comparing the recent screen versions of Jane Eyre, I've found something I like in most of them. The 1940s version with Orson Wells had the best young Adele in Margaret O'Brien. She's an adorable, enchanting little girl in that movie, as young as she should be according to the book. This movie also gets the Gothic air right, in part because it's black and white. On the other hand, Jane is too blonde and too composed, while Orsn Wells is too bombastic. The 1970s BBC version also uses all of the dialogue from the book, but I thought it was a bit more mannered than this 1983 version. The 1996 A&E version with Samantha Morton is shorter, very condensed, the language updated and the story cut to focus on Rochester and Jane. I preferred the ending scene in the A&E version when Jane returns to Rochester, over the 1983 version, which although true to the novel, seems to somehow diminish Rochester a bit, if not Jane. Morton's version of Jane doesn't drag out why she came back. She leaves Rochester in no doubt that he's still a man and she'd take him any way she could get him. I also thought the 2006 BBC version did a better job with those ending scenes than the 1983 version did, though some people object to its physicality. To paraphrase, as the 2006 version of Rochester says, "I don't want a nurse. I want a wife. You and I aren't platonic people, Jane." The 1990s big screen version with William Hurt is mopey and melancholy and makes you long to put Rochester and Jane out of their misery. If you're a Jane Eyre aficionado, you'll probably want all of the above and, as I do, mix and match the various actors from each movie until you have your perfect daydream cast. I think Timothy Dalton's Rochester is the current headliner. This is a very good version that is well worth the trouble of buying. I have just ordered it myself after renting it through Netflix. June 16, 2008

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