Jane Eyre (BBC)
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Hazel Clyne, Megs Jenkins, Michael Jayston, Sorcha Cusack, Zara JaberBrand: CUSACK,SORCHA
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 248 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-07-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Acorn Media
Movie Reviews of Jane Eyre (BBC)
Movie Review: The best screen adaptation of Charlotte Brontė's immortal novel, hands down!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was just a lad of ten when I saw this 1973 BBC production of "Jane Eyre" for the first time. Michael Jayston and, above all, Sorcha Cusack made an everlasting impression on me. After all these years, to be able to see her again as Jane is... all joy!
To acknowledge how well both these actors did portray their respective characters from Robin Chapman's fine script and under Joan Craft's competent direction, allow me to transcribe here the following excerpts from Charlotte Brontė's immortal novel:
From chapter XIV (Jane about Rochester): - "[...] he rose from his chair, and stood, leaning his arm on the marble mantelpiece: in that attitude his shape was seen plainly as well as his face; his unusual breadth of chest, disproportionate almost to his length of limb. I am sure most people would have thought him an ugly man; yet there was so much unconscious pride in his port; so much ease in his demeanour; such a look of complete indifference to his own external appearance; so haughty a reliance on the power of other qualities, intrinsic or adventitious, to atone for the lack of mere personal attractiveness, that, in looking at him, one inevitably shared the indifference, and, even in a blind, imperfect sense, put faith in the confidence."
From chapter XXVII (Rochester to/about Jane): - "[...] You entered the room with the look and air at once shy and independent: you were quaintly dressed - much as you are now. I made you talk: ere long I found you full of strange contrasts. Your garb and manner were restricted by rule; your air was often diffident, and altogether that of one refined by nature, but absolutely unused to society, and a good deal afraid of making herself disadvantageously conspicuous by some solecism or blunder; yet when addressed, you lifted a keen, a daring, and a glowing eye to your interlocutor's face: there was penetration and power in each glance you gave; when plied by close questions, you found ready and round answers. Very soon you seemed to get used to me: I believe you felt the existence of sympathy between you and your grim and cross master, Jane; for it was astonishing to see how quickly a certain pleasant ease tranquillised your manner: snarl as I would, you showed no surprise, fear, annoyance, or displeasure at my moroseness; you watched me, and now and then smiled at me with a simple yet sagacious grace I cannot describe."
In these two passages of her novel, Charlotte Brontė gave to all readers a crystal-clear synthesis of how she imagined Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester; and it is exactly this we have the exquisite privilege to contemplate in the 1973 BBC production of "Jane Eyre".
Please, believe me: in no other production (not even in the rightly praised BBC 1983 production, with Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke...) you will find these characters portrayed so faithfully to the novel and so perfectly on screen as in this one! Michael Jayston is a great, truly great Rochester; Sorcha Cusack, with that beautiful round face, those lovely eyes and that velvet voice, is a Jane from the other world; and the connection between them is way, way far beyond simple "chemistry" or "physical connection": it is genuine empathy - just like the connection there is between their respective characters.
The portrayal of the secondary characters is made in much the same way. The performances of young Isabelle Rosin as Adèle, of nice reliable veteran Megs Jenkins as Mrs. Fairfax, of glamorous Stephanie Beacham as Blanche Ingram, and of "Leslie-Howard-like" Geoffrey Whitehead as St. John Rivers, are all very good and quite close to what can we read in "Jane Eyre".
The real marrow of Charlotte Brontė's novel: this is what one can get from this, the 1973 BBC production of "Jane Eyre". Nothing of real importance is missing here - above all, God. The final lines said by Sorcha Cusack, taken out of the last chapter of novel (sadly missing in all the other TV and movie versions...), are a sort of resume of Charlotte Brontė's faith in God: after helping both Jane and Rochester going through their ordeals, God blesses her supremely and judges him with mercy; so, there is reason to believe in God.
Just like the novel, this TV production is a story told by Jane's own point of view: it's a "flash-back". The use of narration through Jane's "inner-voice" is as effective here as it is old in the History of English Theatre (and Cinema, for that matter): it harks back to William Shakespeare, who used to make his characters turn to the audiences and speak out their intimate thoughts.
Drama and humor, suspense and surprise are all very finely balanced in this BBC production of "Jane Eyre". As for the humor, I don't mean to be rude to those reviewers whom have written here criticizing Sorcha Cusack's performance, but I'm afraid they simply don't grasp British humour - particularly, the "understatement", which is present in almost every line of many of the intimate dialogues between Jane and Rochester (both in the novel and in this production). Every time I see Sorcha (with a naughty smile) saying to Michael (with a wicked grin): "Won't she [Miss Ingram] feel forsaken and [pause!] deserted?", I roll myself with laughter! That's Brontė's humour at its best! What a cracker!
It should be noted that this is neither a "romantic" nor a "gothic" production of Charlotte Brontė's novel. In fact, I'm not even sure that "Jane Eyre" is a true romantic or a true gothic novel. As far as I remember, it was Jorge Luis Borges who stated that it could be classified as one of the predecessors of the so-called "Magic Realism" in Literature. Indeed, between "Romanticism", "Gothicism" and "Magic Realism", I personally find "Jane Eyre" much closer to the latter... and, judging solely from what we can watch in this TV production, both Robin Chapman and Joan Craft fond it the same as I do.
I've seen this DVD release so many times since I bought it that I'm seeing it now in bits and parts - specially those witty ones with Jane and Rochester. That's how good this production really is!
To my mind, in a scale of 1 to 10, the 1973 BBC production of "Jane Eyre" deserves 9.9. It would get a clear 10 out of me if it had (as it should!) at least fifteen episodes; but, since it was a "low budget" production, it has only five - and, because of that, the "gipsy scene" had to be pruned up to the point of becoming just a hilarious scene, and the character of Rosamond Oliver had to be simply tossed off. Nevertheless, it is the best of all screen versions there are of "Jane Eyre": the most faithful to novel, superbly tight and paced, very well put up together, with first class performances and Elgar's Introduction and Allegro for strings, Opus 47 (1904-05), as the musical background. In short, it is a sublime piece of Art. Don't miss it!...
Summary of Jane Eyre (BBC)
After a childhood that would have broken weaker girls, Jane Eyre finds a respectable position as governess to the ward of the enigmatic Mr. Rochester. Twenty years her senior, brusque, and hardened by loss, Mr. Rochester finds his spirited new employee strangely bewitching. Despite the social chasm that divides them, they are drawn to each other as equals and contemplate true happiness at last. But there is an impediment to their love that tests Jane?s integrity and strength almost beyond endurance.Considered by many to be the best adaptation of Charlotte Brontė?s romantic classic, this BBC miniseries is true to the original story, with dialogue taken directly from the novel. Best of all is the perfect casting and chemistry of the unlikely lovers, with Sorcha Cusack (Casualty) as Jane and Michael Jayston (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy) as Mr. Rochester.
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