A few years ago, shortly after we moved here to Connecticut, I was home — alone, because I had no friends (yet) — Amanda was at school, and Kyle was still an oft-napping newborn. That means I had a LOT of free time on my hands.
It was this combination of factors that led me to watch Jane Eyre one afternoon on television. I had never read Jane Eyre, so I’m not sure that I was drawn in by the story in particular. It started and ended while Kyle was napping and Amanda was at school, so that was probably all the incentive I needed to tune in — that and William Hurt (it was the 1996 theatrical release).
I don’t remember much about it, except that it was enjoyable enough to hold my interest, and gave me a good overview of the story. However, thinking back now (and looking at some movie stills and even clips on You Tube), Hurt is much too handsome to be Rochester. I can’t make many other comparisons, since I saw it so long before reading the book.
My second Jane Eyre movie experience came a few months ago. I won one of those The Romance Collection DVD sets from A&E that were being given away on several blogs. Again, because of convenience — I popped in Jane Eyre one day (it was only one disc, while most of the others were two, including the wonderful Colin Firth Pride and Prejudice!).
This is the 1997 A&E version starring Samantha Morton and Ciaran Hinds. I have to say that they both play their roles quite well. Morton is calm and reserved, yet her eye twinkles and her mouth often bears a smirk or a quiet smile. Hinds is an excellent Rochester.
I also like the dog better in this movie.
One obvious plot difference in both movies is that Rochester seems to actually like Adele in the movies. Perhaps I just misinterpreted the book’s intent on this particular theme, and if so, enlighten me, but in the book he comes across much more as simply doing his duty, with no warmth at all towards her.
Just as with Lauren’s experience with some of the Austen movies and books, I found that the book was easier to digest since I had seen the movie. I also managed to follow my own book/movie rule of having six months lapse in between reading and viewing.
Another interesting observation is that I don’t actually remember liking the A&E version that I watched over the spring. I remember thinking that the one that I had seen years ago was better, but then after reading the book, I watched parts of the movie again, and realized how true and delightful it was, so I think it would be my preference of the two.
Fortunately neither movie devotes a 1/3 of the time to the orphanage and her early life as the book does, so if some of you were Jane Eyre drop-outs, you might plan to watch one of the faithful movie adaptations (although I do think that the A&E version spent more time here, perhaps one reason I didn’t like it as well?).
I came across mentions or reviews of some other versions as I was visiting the participants from the Classics Bookclub: Becky at Becky’s Book Reviews loved a 2006 version, and several people mentioned the one with Timothy Dalton.
Are there other good (or bad) versions of Jane Eyre that you’ve seen? Do you have a favorite scene or character from the movies?
Managing Editor Jennifer Donovan is a contributing editor at 5 Minutes for Mom. She has been blogging at Snapshot for over two years.
Check out our current giveaways. Subscribe to our feed. Follow us @5M4B on Twitter or on Facebook.
Heather Johnson says
I love this book, and the 1996 version of the movie is my favorite. I recently tried to watch the 1944 version with Joan Fontaine and Orson Wells but I couldn’t get through it. Granted, it’s been years since I’ve read the book but I just didn’t think that the 1944 movie had the same *feel* as the book.
Jen E says
I just added the 1996, 1997 & 2006 editions to my netflix queue – maybe one of those movies will be enjoyable enough for me to grasp the whole plot and then try reading the book again. 🙂
YGL says
I’ve heard that (I think it must be the 1996 one you saw) with Charlotte Gainesburg is the best (heard this from a friend of mine from library school that I absolutely trust on matters such as this!) But I haven’t had a chance to see it. I’ve seen parts of various other versions – but the only one I’ve seen the whole thing of is the A&E – just haven’t gotten around to purchasing any (which is odd given my collection of Pride and Prejudice, Wives and Daughters, two versions of Emma, etc, etc, etc) Will need to put it on my Christmas list I think! (Though granted – my other Jane Eyre loving friend (a literature major) totally agreed about Mr. Rochester being too good looking – so she didn’t like the version because of it – but I don’t think she had any version she was completely happy about! Kind of like me and most Jane Austen – there’s always SOMETHING that could have been done better – even with P&P2 (aka the Colin Firth one)
Carrie says
Thanks for the “tips.” I was curious to knwo your thoughts on this. I don’t know that I’d want to watch Jane Eyre on screen (particularly now that I’ve read the book) but at the same time I have a tendency towards morbid facsination. I’m still not settled on whether I either really LOVED the book or if I just don’t care for it. I liked it, but I have no passion in any direction.
At any rate, I did appreciate hearing what other people had to think and, btw, I did not get the impression from the book that Rochester cared for Adele one iota!
Sarah M. says
Masterpiece came out with a new version in 2007 that I just watched a couple months ago. There are some liberties taken as far as some of the personalities, but it is minor. An ending that goes beyond the final word is included, but nothing that doesn’t leave you happy. It was overall a very good adaptation and the choice of actors was very good too.
Barbara H. says
I saw one ages ago with Elizabeth Taylor as Jane’s friend Helen who dies in the orphanage, but I don’t remember anything else about it. I liked the Samantha Morton/Ciran Hinds one, but I loved the 2007 Masterpiece one.
Rebekah says
I loved the Masterpiece version, even wrote about it on my blog after I saw it – click my name to read about it! It really did make it easier to follow the book after seeing it.
Deanna says
I really love reading others reviews. It is neat to see how others view things. Thanks for your review.
I wrote a screen review of Jane Eyre.
You can look at it on my blog:
http://ibeeeg.blogspot.com/2008/10/jane-eyre-movie.html
Lisa says
I really liked the Masterpiece version as well!
Jane says
As I was reading through this post I was thinking, “ah, I must mention the BBC version with Timothy Dalton” – this is the only version I have seen, (actually when we were studying it in school) and I remember loving it! Timothy Dalton makes a great Rochester and not such a good James Bond! 🙂
Mary Oliver says
Ditto on the Timothy Dalton version.
“Jane Eyre” is one of my favorite all-time books and this version is the only one that truly does the book justice, IMO.
Anita Leone says
I just watched another version of Jane Eyre this week, I believe it was on April 4th 2001, not sure of the channel. I fell in love with the dog Pilot and am trying to find out the breed….does anyone know….if so, Please let me know as he was so beautiful..
Thanks.
Anita Leone says
I just watched another version of Jane Eyre this week, I believe it was on April 4th 2011, not sure of the channel. I fell in love with the dog Pilot and am trying to find out the breed….does anyone know….if so, Please let me know as he was so beautiful..
Thanks.
Jennifer says
I bet if you looked on IMDB it might list the “actor” that played the dog and you could probably find out. I haven’t seen that one.