Rhonda Kestin
If all of the actors and actresses played their parts equally well, I would have given this a 10! The passionate acting on the part of Sian Pattendon for Jane as a child, was superb. Timothy Dalton played the part of Mr. Rochester as well as the George C. Scott version. Yet I disagree with many of the other reviewers on Zelah Clarke's performance. While I agree she did a great job in her acting, yet her personality seemed a little too sedate and not as passionate as I picture Jane Eyre. I've seen this story in 3 different versions, and this version was the best one I've seen! I wish they had cast an actress with a more passionate personality, and it would have been perfect.
Mis_Lo
Yes, it has it's flaws: the camera work is bad, make-up too visible, bad lighting and sound, no fancy scenery and colors. Obviously, the budget was tight. But those are all small and unimportant details, because they all disappear once characters appear on the screen. Clarke and Dalton are the ultimate Jane Eyre and Mr Rochester for me, that's how I pictured them, when I read the book for the first time at the age of 11. And still do. They capture the essence of the book, the spirit and soul of the two main characters. When I look at them, I believe they are soul-mates, two pieces of one that have found each other. Also, I LOVE that they kept the dialogues, that is how Bronte wrote and meant them, and that is how they should be presented. The best adaptation ever made!
decroissance
Oh my goodness. I'm happy to see how much people loved this production. I also was transported. Won't bother to see the versions I have missed. Have only seen the William Hurt one, which I hated.Will not talk about T.D.'s fabulousness. Agree wholeheartedly. EXCEPT as one or two people noted, in the crying scene. Poor Timothy, I cringed during that scene. That was not crying. He tried. How hard it must be to do that. I wonder, are there any male actors who can actually burst into tears? I can't think of ANY man in any movie who has done it. But after seeing Emma Thompson nearly explode in Sense and Sensibility, now I know what is possible in a crying scene. I wonder if any man could pull that off. BUT he WAS fabulous overall, there is no doubt about that. Not ugly, of course, but he made himself very severe looking, which worked, and also, as others have noted, he brings Rochester's complex character, in all its variety, to life. But I cannot concur with the majority who praise Ms. Clarke unreservedly. Although I liked her very much for most parts of the series, in the love scenes she fell short, for me. In fact I felt quite sad and disappointed that the full, glorious potential of those scenes was dashed at the last moment. They could have been absolute perfection. Mr. Dalton was so fully, breathtakingly living those scenes -- but it seemed that Ms. Clarke, at certain moments, was passive and uninvolved. It did not seem to be a matter of reserve. I wondered if she was afraid to really respond to Dalton. I don't know what the problem was. My specific complaints are these: 1. In the scene where Rochester finally reveals his love and proposes to Jane, I did not see any changes in her expression to show the moment she came to believe that he was not mocking her. Yes, Jane in general has to carefully control her behavior, has to be reserved, but in this scene, where is the joy? Where is the wonder? Where is the light in her eyes as she realizes, yes, he actually loves me? 2. In the scene after the wedding, when Rochester has waited for her outside her door, she did not, I believe, convey the depths of the conflict the REAL Jane Eyre, out there in imaginary-person land, must have been struggling with. It must have been tearing her into pieces. It must have been strong enough to propel her out the door onto the moors with no food or money. I saw that she felt faint and out of breath and overcome with something, but it did not seem like love. It did not seem like an all-consuming communion that sprung from the depths of her soul, that was so strong that she simply could not overcome it as long as he was near. She had to remove herself from his presence to make them both safe (she believed), and her own physical safety meant nothing to her in light of this struggle. I did not see that love and I did not see that torment. Not in her. In Rochester, in Dalton, it was overwhelming. I wished she would give him back as good as he gave.3. When she returns to Rochester, after he is blind, and she touches his face, and kisses him, and says, "does this feel like a mockery? does this feel like a dream?" -- I just did not see the deep passion, relief, exultation, that, for the Love of God, SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE! IF ONLY I COULD HAVE BEEN THERE TO HAVE DONE IT PROPERLY! Ahem.Yes, she has schooled herself to reserve, but in these moments, would her emotions not have run away with her? Would she not have had to burst out of the walls she so carefully constructed around her? Would she not have come to life? Yes, I say! In all her other scenes, she was just right -- but in these scenes -- her acting, her mien, her behavior was -- yes -- WOODEN!SIX WEEKS LATER:I wrote these comments in the middle of a major Timothy Dalton phase. It's over now. I'm tempted to delete this comment because it's really embarrassing. But I'll keep it for nostalgic value for now. And by the way, sometimes TD stands in one place and his arm hangs awkwardly at his side and he just talks and that is not good acting. Plus he doesn't talk like a real person. He's deCLAIMING all the time. But who notices when you're under the spell. Very strange.
