By Shambhavi Singh

Name: Shambhavi Singh
Course: B.A(H) English, Sem 3
Roll No.: 22ENG0630
Paper: Victorian Literature
Date: 29th August, 2023

JANE EYRE (1997)// MOVIE REVIEW
Director: Robert Young
Genre: Romance, Drama
Cast: Ciran Hinds, Samantha Morton, Timia Berthome etc.
Duration: 1hr 48mins
Language: English

“Jane Eyre” (1997) is an adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s novel by the same name. It revolves around the life of a young orphaned girl named Jane Eyre played by Samantha Morton who journeys to Thornfield Hall to work as a governess to Adele Varens played by Timia Berthome at the estate of Edward Rochester, played by Cisan Hinds. In the plot that follows, as Jane forms a deep romantic connection with her employer complications come to light including a mysterious presence in the house. Her journey explores her limitations due to societal constraints and struggle which transforms her from a vulnerable young girl into an empowered woman, overcoming obstacles and embracing her own strength.
The movie’s visual depiction of the Thornfield Hall with its various sublime elements including the mysterious presence captures the female gothic elements of the novel quite well. The cast is also quite apt as the members well fit their roles.
However, I did feel like the movie rushes through the scenes, like the 2019 adaptation of “Little Women”. Especially the scenes with St. John are all over the place. Several side plots were left open ended in order to complete to main story and plot for e.g., we never found out what happened to Adele, even though she survived the house fire tragedy, we do not come across her character again in the movie. Even after all these plot holes there is not much development and build up in the main plot either. Moreover, from the beginning of the movie it was almost implied that the characters are meant to fall in love.
By the end of the movie Mr. Rochester remains an overbearing presence and Jane comes off as a submissive, selfless, and dutiful wife whose sole concern is to serve her husband and keep him happy. This does not portray much of a character development which we would expect from a bildungsroman. The age difference is quite uncomfortable but that’s not the movie’s doing; however, the characters do not know how to kiss.
To conclude, I do believe the movie captures some essence of the novel quite well e.g. the gothic elements and the wardrobe accuracy but it does not create a very all inclusive, well structured plot or conclusion.