Tuesday, March 09, 2021

Everything You Ever Need To Know About Life...

... you can learn from:

Jane Eyre (2011)
Jane: Am I a machine with out feelings? Do you think that because I am poor, plain, obscure, and little that I am souless and heartless? I have as much soul as you and full as much heart. And if God had possessed me with beauty and wealth, I could make it as hard for you to leave me as I to leave you... I'm not speaking to you through mortal flesh. It is my spirit that addresses your spirit, as it passes through the grave and stood at God's feet equal. As we are.
Cary Fukunaga's (already classic if you ask me) 2011 adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's (definitely classic no matter who you ask) 1847 novel premiered here in new York on this very day 10 years ago. Have you watched it lately? Last July I had myself a little miniature one-day swoon-fest with this movie, Thomas Vinterberg's Far From the Madding Crowd with Matthias Schoenaerts and Carey Mulligan (and you might consider this blasphemy but as much as I love John Schlesinger's film with Julie Christie and -- speaking of swoon -- Alan Bates I definitely prefer the newer version), plus Andrea Arnold's gorgeous and wildly underrated take on Wuthering Heights. And that my friends was a goddamned good day -- I highly recommend all of you replicate it sometime.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It does suffer the usual problem of casting gorgeous actors to play characters whose lives are supposed to have been shaped by their homeliness.

Carl said...

Anonymous is correct, but I'm willing to forgive the film for that. I do enjoy a fresh take like Arnold's Wuthering Heights, but it's nice when you get an adaptation like Fukunaga's Jane Eyre that both accurately captures the source material and works well as a stand-alone film.

Adam said...

Did you ever make a gif of Michael Fassbender in his high-cut nightshirt? I need it back in my life!