Jane Eyre
(dir. Cary Fukunaga)
The least exciting idea is another adaptation of Jane Eyre would be forthcoming. Not only is the history of classical novels on film worn most sense of use, but Jane Eyre has already bypassed Hollywood romanticizing and saw its norm become hallmarked by PBS production of what a small budget can entail when the look of the film screams “made for television movie.” All qualities aside (mainly due to some actors), the films aim to just project a straight interpretation of the novel in condensed fashion. The principle belief is that the novel should be enshrined and any corresponding film should be just a support to lift up whatever the interpreter believes is the best qualities of the original work. Since the novels are best as just being novels, the hope does not merit much and compelling cinema is typically lost. A bevy of films from a number of talented filmmaker have tried to curb stale expectations. Not new to the party is a fascinating interpretation of Jane Eyre by relative newcomer, filmmaker Cary Fukunaga.
The principle evolution in the film is the structure of the story. Instead of slot the story into a chronological coming-of-age story (typical for classical novels of the period), the film immediately breaks up the story by varying the order of what scenes are shown. No random order, the realignment is aimed to better project the emotional states in the story. The film begins with Jane Eyre in desperate measure when she is wandering through an endless series of meadows. Drenched down by rain, her body begins to give out. A passing by carriage spots her and the people inside come to assist. As they take her home and supply her with food, things become apparent she is not typically poor. A curious story must be the reason why she ended up in the straits they found her. With use of various first person perspectives, the film begins to take on a multi-layered drive to lay credence to an emotional history for young Jane.
During the hysterics of Jane’s physical rebuilding, the film allows her to remember childhood moments of estrangement from an overbearing aunt and heartbreak at an orphanage when a fellow classmate died in her arms. The friendly strangers are asking her about where she came from and all her emotions can circumference is blips of painful memories. Instead of extend out these early scenes, they are capsized in searing emotional moments. The first dramatic tone the film establishes is not to doll the emotions but find ways to make the darker themes more subjective. In classical films, implied emotions in characters exist around the exterior of a tone in the story that is more focused on exhibiting realism of day-to-day life during the time period. By choosing not get cozy with a standard realism code, Jane Eyre establishes its filmmaking as more workable for some intrinsic themes in the novel.
I have always believed too many historical films relied on historical filmmaking methods to align emotions with a dumb sense of what history would have felt like. When Francois Truffaut imagined how a film about Jesus Christ would look like, he famously opined how it would be need to be black-and-white film since that is what color a film back then would have been made of. Other filmmakers have followed in similar assumption by steadying all camera work and keeping certain realism methods flow throughout the films. Jane Eyre continuously changes the emotional juxtaposition of the scenes by switching from handheld cameras to hybrid dolly shots that speed up the pace of the action but feel like a character in a hallucinatory state. Instead of try to just be experimental all around, the approach is more economical. The better result is a film that borders more on an Ingmar Bergman intensity instead of a Jane Austen comfortable.
But abandoning a linear narrative also keeps the story from general heroic angles. A trend of literature in England at this time was to write books that were critical of certain social patterns but also equip the story with plot requirements of a romance and coming-of-age mentality. From Dickens to Austen, tracking a character through evolutions and seeing their point of personal completion made for more translatable narrative. By breaking up the story into sections and most notably diminishing Jane Eyre’s early years, the film wants the viewer to see story as less heroic and more of a meddling into a psychological condition. Every stage of her life is broken into moments of scars. The depth of character comes from how the film depicts the moments and sequesters the emotions to darker corners. Even though the original novel played against romantic archetypes than what Jane Austen ever dared to, the final scene of Eyre returning to a disfigured Mr. Rochester has a horrific aspect to it in this film.
In the film, the relationship between Eyre and Rochester is a memory. Eyre is still lingering with the kind people who have taken her in and she is trying to convince them she has found peace in her new setting, but time and isolation allows the memories of what happened to come roaring back. The film digs a trail to her past by showing how coming to work for Mr. Rochester as a tutor after experience with her aunt and the orphanage was almost a godsend. At first Eyre is hesitant to open herself up to Mr. Rochester. He’s smitten by her unique gift for gab, but the audience understands her history has to make her shy about trusting anyone. The portrayal of Mr. Rochester leans on his intimidating presence and failure to be fully welcoming or clear in his personal intentions to Eyre. Unexpected warmth endears Eyre to Rochester when she saves him from a fire. Still, they share tumultuous conflicts and betrayals of trust when past secrets come roaring back. The relationship is antagonistic to the cogs of film romance.
The principle development for Eyre during this tempestuous engagement is that she develops a sense of independence and becoming of herself. The courtship between the two is very short on screen, but Eyre imagines a future with Rochester and holds firm to the idea of being with him. Saving his life and being a tutor/role model to the children of the house feels like things she has accomplished and will continue to do. An unruly lie drives her to leave Rochester and flee a dream. The development of a new menial life seems to be a nice change of pace. Eyre tries to convince her relations she is at full peace in her surroundings. Still, her memories of Rochester continue to haunt. Days look lazy and even a new teaching job for local children isn’t enough. When someone tries to propel a romantic relationship with Eyre, the feeling drives her to search out Rochester again. Memories have clouded the peace.
Using modes of editing that are essential to cinema, Jane Eyre structures a feeling of loss and emptiness around blips of memories. The new narrative bend to this story allows it to be perfectly housed in a new environment. Film has to methods to curtail the depths of detail and length in novels. An excellent example is the experimental Passages From Finnegan’s Wake (1966). Adapting James Joyce’s impossible last novel, the film curtails scope issues by structuring the film to be about some elements of the novel. At the same time, a film adaptation was made for Ulysses. Seemingly an easier adaptation possibility (at least for a Joyce work), the film tried unsuccessfully to portray the entire story. All it did was take an excellently deft novel and make it into a simple moral work. Even the implied morality from the film hardly feels existent in the novel. A full fabrication.
The revolution around the themes of the film is found in the back-and-forth moments in the story. Certain relations and character developments are given traditional measure to be drawn out. Left out conclusions and implications of tense scenarios do not find realization until the history is enlightened upon. Instead of make missing details any real bigger clue, the film seems to leave out details just so it can get to a few transcendent scenes at the end when all the emotions of the film come to a head. After Eyre is left soulfully lost and returns to Rochester, she learns his brutal fate in a fire. Still alive, Rochester suffers from burning and disfigurement of vision. Our emotional conclusion is when she finds him and simply caresses his face, hands and motions her body next to him. He understands who she is calls out her name. The film has reached climax.
Even complimented by a structure that understands how to compact a bigger story, the film does need other reasons to instill belief in the characters and story. The main benefit of the wonderful sub settings of the film is the two lead actors, Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender. Playing Eyre and Mr. Rochester respectively, the two combine to paint a thorough depiction of torn love erupting from sequestered surroundings. With the aid of close camera proximity, the performance of Wasikowska focuses on her intent focus and diligence. Part of her coming to independence is her social opening up and the muscles in her face beginning to blossom in some variation. Fassbender is allowed to do more generics because he moves from stern overseer to smitten gentleman and adds his dose of nuance by going into a performance of regret. Nothing is wrong the performance, but the camera only really knows Wasikowska’s Eyre. She is the actor who goes through every stage and ends her performance in the poetically unexplainable when we wonder what her character must be feeling when she is reunited with Rochester under regrettable circumstances.
It’s hard to make more out of this film. Mia Wasikowska is a talent on the rise and while she has star potential, she isn’t giving herself up to cheap roles to make a brand name yet. The director, Cary Fukunaga, had little reel history before and there is little way to forecast his future. Michael Fassbender is making his acting name in better performances and will continue to be spotlighted when he isn’t detouring for summer blockbuster movies. However, if more movies continue to take fragmented approaches to classic novels like this Jane Eyre does, a healthy tradition could be in the making. This isn’t the first film to do it, but it was a spotlight work in American release this year. A trend can find almost any tide to cast itself from. Here’s me more hoping adaptations get this thoughtful and adventurous with their endeavors.
Film Splatter 