I've never read Jane Eyre nor seen any other versions of the story. The only prejudice contained comes from reading up a bit on the story and also the reviews of this version of the film while watching this version on DVD.
The quality of the DVD is awful. However, I hardly find that a reason to downgrade the effort.
The amount of savagery certain reviews on this website is quite surprising to me. Much of the criticism seems to be directed at the cast and the adaptation not meeting the preconceived notions derived from either the novel or the other cinematic adaptations. The criticism is based not upon how the film plays but rather how the film meets preconceived notions of the story and characters.
The film isn't half-bad. Jane Seymour and George C. Scott...IMO...bring credible portrayals of Jane Eyre and Rochester. They portray characters trapped by the bonds of their roles in society.
The story meanders a bit because the script is adapting "Jane Eyre: An Autobiography" but the film and the story are ultimately "Jane Eyre: A Love Story." The love story, though, is quite antiseptic in nature. So the portrayal of the autobiography is the thread told which meanders from the story being told...and causes a cold disconnect of the passion of love.
The story also loses a bit because the whole life of Jane Eyre is encapsulated into 110 minutes. One cannot just simply compress a lifetime into such short a span and not lose a bit. Passion must develop to capture people but that development time is lost by packing too much into the story. This causes the antiseptic nature of the film to originate and perpetuate.
As an aside...as an author...I can see a much better way to create this story for cinema. Start with Jane's arrival as Governess and develop from there. Focus on the building of Rochester's estate as a parallel to the building of the Eyre\Rochester relationship. Build the relationship of the characters. Reconstruct (for modern audiences) the dramatic confrontations including having Jane at and showing the manic first wife burning the manor down \ burning the relationship of all. Who cares if it isn't "faithful" to the original novel? It would have the power to draw and that is what film making is about.
The quality of the DVD is awful. However, I hardly find that a reason to downgrade the effort.
The amount of savagery certain reviews on this website is quite surprising to me. Much of the criticism seems to be directed at the cast and the adaptation not meeting the preconceived notions derived from either the novel or the other cinematic adaptations. The criticism is based not upon how the film plays but rather how the film meets preconceived notions of the story and characters.
The film isn't half-bad. Jane Seymour and George C. Scott...IMO...bring credible portrayals of Jane Eyre and Rochester. They portray characters trapped by the bonds of their roles in society.
The story meanders a bit because the script is adapting "Jane Eyre: An Autobiography" but the film and the story are ultimately "Jane Eyre: A Love Story." The love story, though, is quite antiseptic in nature. So the portrayal of the autobiography is the thread told which meanders from the story being told...and causes a cold disconnect of the passion of love.
The story also loses a bit because the whole life of Jane Eyre is encapsulated into 110 minutes. One cannot just simply compress a lifetime into such short a span and not lose a bit. Passion must develop to capture people but that development time is lost by packing too much into the story. This causes the antiseptic nature of the film to originate and perpetuate.
As an aside...as an author...I can see a much better way to create this story for cinema. Start with Jane's arrival as Governess and develop from there. Focus on the building of Rochester's estate as a parallel to the building of the Eyre\Rochester relationship. Build the relationship of the characters. Reconstruct (for modern audiences) the dramatic confrontations including having Jane at and showing the manic first wife burning the manor down \ burning the relationship of all. Who cares if it isn't "faithful" to the original novel? It would have the power to draw and that is what film making is about.