Jane Eyre (1971)
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Movie Reviews of Jane Eyre (1971)
Movie Review: Best Jane Eyre
Summary: 5 Stars
Me and my mum went to see this several times at the pictures when it first came out. We're from Yorkshire and It captures Yorkshire beautifully as well as the brutality of the times. I thought both main players were wonderful - not glamorous and true to the book. (Perhaps it is something to do with the the cleverness of film-makers in the 70s as Wuthering Heights with Timothy Dalton as Heathcliffe is also one of my favourite films). Music also excellent. Delighted that it is now out on DVD so we can enjoy all over again.
Movie Review: Delight
Summary: 5 Stars
Jane Eyre has always been one of my favorite movies and the George C. Scott version proves to be the best. I love it
I was surprised how quickly I received my copy. The price was surprisingly reasonable. It arrived in excellent
condition. I will be purchasing more hard-to-find DVD's in the future.
Movie Review: The love people have for each other
Summary: 4 Stars
It's hard to imagine a better gothic romance than "Jane Eyre" -- gloomy vast houses, mysterious secrets, and a brooding haunted man with a dark past. And while there have been lots of movie and TV adaptations, one of the absolute best is the 1970 TV movie starring Susannah York and George C Scott. "Jane Eyre" spends too long on Jane's school days (and not quite enough on the Thornfield days), but the two lead actors are absolutely brilliant in their roles.
Jane Eyre was an orphan, abused and neglected at a boarding school run by a tyrannical, hypocritical minister. But Jane refuses to let anyone push her down -- and many years later, Jane moves on by applying to Thornfield Hall for a governess position. She soon becomes the teacher and friend to the sprightly French girl Adele. Then she encounters her employer, Mr. Rochester, a cynical, embittered man who spends little time at Thornfield.
They are slowly drawn together into a powerful love, despite their different social stations -- and Rochester's apparent attentions to a shallow, snotty aristocrat. But strange things are happening at Thornfield -- injuries, fires, and a mysterious "danger." Jane and Rochester finally confess their feelings to each other, but their wedding is interrupted when Rochester's dark past comes to light.
The biggest problem with the 1970 adaptation of "Jane Eyre" is that it spends too long at Jane's rotten school, and not quite enough time at Thornfield -- it could have benefited from another half an hour to flesh things out slightly, and include a few more important scenes that the TV movie didn't have (like the gypsy fortuneteller). So it's a credit to everything ELSE in this movie that it's still very good.
Director Delbert Mann does an excellent job here, smoothly gliding through the three phases of Jane's life, slowly building up the gothic feel of the movie until Rochester's secret is revealed. And he weaves in some truly brilliant, intense scenes, such as when Rochester wakes to find Jane missing, and races around Thornfield searching for her, or when Jane joyously rejects the fanatical advances of the self-righteous St. John ("You cannot love just God alone!").
But the best part is York and Scott, who have electric chemistry. York gives the role the passionate, rebellious undercurrent that you'd expect from Jane Eyre, and she's more striking than conventionally pretty. Scott seems a bit too gritty at first (breaking stuff?), but he soon turns on the passionate, embittered aspect of Rochester -- especially when the truth about Bertha comes out, and he sits sadly in her tower cell murmuring softly to the madwoman.
"Jane Eyre" is definitely one of the better adaptations of Bronte's classic gothic romance -- it's a bit too short, but the performances are absolutely awe-inspiring. Definitely worth seeing.
Movie Review: only those who remember
Summary: 4 Stars
the suffering caused by a time when religion dictated no divorce for any cause, when there existed no psychotropic medication to aleviate maddness and people were simply locked up in back rooms (remember "To Kill a Mocking Bird"?) , when the humiliation of being a mistress, instead of a wife, when illigitmate children were "bastards" and scorned at best? Only viewers who understand that world can also understand the suffocating "smallness" of at religious society which makes the story of Jane Eyre so near a tragedy.
( Although to enjoy the the story with a cast and director who seem to understand the tragedy and ultimate triumph of Rochester and Jane Eyre I recommend this version with George C Scott etc in VCR form since the DVD is cut so drastically that even with having read the book, the movie is hard to follow.)
Other more recent DVD versions treat this story like nothing more than a paperback romance, a "bodice ripper" with pretty men meant only to sexually tittilate with their in your face over acting.
Movie Review: Lovely Adaption
Summary: 4 Stars
I really like the recent BBC version of this story, but this adaption is still one of the better versions too.
George C. Scott really captures the gruffness of Rochester. And although most like their Rochester handsome, there is really no big indication in the book that he is that way. Jane Eyre admits point blank that she doesn't find his looks attractive, I don't think she was lying. Scott exudes outright power and that is more than a little attractive for any woman.
I found the scene in which Scott's Rochester sings to Blanche in front of Jane the most heart rending out of all the versions.
The fact that both leads were a bit older than their characters didn't bother me.
As others have pointed out, the copy of the film is in poor state. And unfortunately we will never have a properly restored copy. According to fans on [...], the master print has been lost by the studio. So the versions we are left with are just copies.