Jane Eyre and Me
August 17th, 2014 01:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
uhsirMy interest with Jane Eyre was rekindled when I bought a DVD of the 1970 movie (Susannah York and George C. Scott) a few years ago. Bits of scenes and feelings and emotions overwhelmed me. What the heck? Well, I started to watch it but stopped myself because I really wanted to read the book first.
But I had noticed the poor quality of the DVD so I did some investigating and discovered that there isn't any good quality of this movie. Also, my copy has some scenes missing. I'm disappointed but not too upset since I only spent a few dollars on the DVD. So I put the thing on a shelf and promptly forgot about it.
Then a few (?) months ago I downloaded the book from the Gutenburg Project onto my new-old tablet and I set myself on a course to read one chapter each night. The "each" didn't happen but I finally did finish it.
I struggled a lot with the language. I had to keep going back over or digging into a dictionary. It kind of killed the feel a bit but I finally adjusted. Wow, did people really talk like that back then? I will also confess that there were a few times that I skimmed over the really preachy parts.
I'm not going to analyze the book or movie here. There's enough of that out there on the internet.
Not much in the book roused memories of the film. Didn't surprise me. I'm trying to think if I've ever seen a book-based movie that fully depicts its source. Anyway, I'm fine with that.
I managed to find a VHS copy of the movie, which seems to be the only way to get the complete movie. It's not in the best of condition, and a few scenes have bits missing, enough to irritate but not too much. So now I was really ready to watch the movie!
I originally saw the movie when it was on television. I was ten years old and I'm sure the only reason I watched it was because my mother was watching it and I was "trapped" inside the house with nothing else to do. After all these years, three scenes have stuck in my memory. The rest of it I remembered only fragments. Most vividly, I remember the final scene. Also, but not entirely, the scene when Rochester begs Jane not to leave (after the failed wedding) and he thinks she's going to leave so he defeatedly sits in a chair in front of the fire but she goes to him and sits on the floor and lays her head on his knee. Then there are snippets of the scene when Rochester asks Jane to marry him.
Anyway, rewatching, nothing really struck me until after Jane was at Thornfield. When she went out walking alone and was mesmerized by the sunset, there's a thumping, like heartbeats then hoofbeats then CRASH! She meets Mr. Rochester.
When Mr. Rochester commands Jane to "play, a little" and she goes to the piano and plays. Rochester wipes his eyes and tells her to stop.
One thing that struck me was her persistance of calling him "Sir" all throughout and into the final scene. Until the final line of the film, "I've come home, Edward. Let me stay." And then the love theme starts, the same song she played on the piano.
Reader, even if you never see this version of the story, please, seek out the wonderful soundtrack by John Williams, for it truly tells what the camera cannot.
Hopefully I haven't offended anyone with my attempt there of trying to channel Charlotte Brontë. Maybe I better stick to the music stuff. Here's the beautiful final scene from the movie.
{LJ isn't letting me embed :( click the pic to open a new tab to 4shared}
But I had noticed the poor quality of the DVD so I did some investigating and discovered that there isn't any good quality of this movie. Also, my copy has some scenes missing. I'm disappointed but not too upset since I only spent a few dollars on the DVD. So I put the thing on a shelf and promptly forgot about it.
Then a few (?) months ago I downloaded the book from the Gutenburg Project onto my new-old tablet and I set myself on a course to read one chapter each night. The "each" didn't happen but I finally did finish it.
I struggled a lot with the language. I had to keep going back over or digging into a dictionary. It kind of killed the feel a bit but I finally adjusted. Wow, did people really talk like that back then? I will also confess that there were a few times that I skimmed over the really preachy parts.
I'm not going to analyze the book or movie here. There's enough of that out there on the internet.
Not much in the book roused memories of the film. Didn't surprise me. I'm trying to think if I've ever seen a book-based movie that fully depicts its source. Anyway, I'm fine with that.
I managed to find a VHS copy of the movie, which seems to be the only way to get the complete movie. It's not in the best of condition, and a few scenes have bits missing, enough to irritate but not too much. So now I was really ready to watch the movie!
I originally saw the movie when it was on television. I was ten years old and I'm sure the only reason I watched it was because my mother was watching it and I was "trapped" inside the house with nothing else to do. After all these years, three scenes have stuck in my memory. The rest of it I remembered only fragments. Most vividly, I remember the final scene. Also, but not entirely, the scene when Rochester begs Jane not to leave (after the failed wedding) and he thinks she's going to leave so he defeatedly sits in a chair in front of the fire but she goes to him and sits on the floor and lays her head on his knee. Then there are snippets of the scene when Rochester asks Jane to marry him.
Anyway, rewatching, nothing really struck me until after Jane was at Thornfield. When she went out walking alone and was mesmerized by the sunset, there's a thumping, like heartbeats then hoofbeats then CRASH! She meets Mr. Rochester.
When Mr. Rochester commands Jane to "play, a little" and she goes to the piano and plays. Rochester wipes his eyes and tells her to stop.
One thing that struck me was her persistance of calling him "Sir" all throughout and into the final scene. Until the final line of the film, "I've come home, Edward. Let me stay." And then the love theme starts, the same song she played on the piano.
Reader, even if you never see this version of the story, please, seek out the wonderful soundtrack by John Williams, for it truly tells what the camera cannot.
Hopefully I haven't offended anyone with my attempt there of trying to channel Charlotte Brontë. Maybe I better stick to the music stuff. Here's the beautiful final scene from the movie.
{LJ isn't letting me embed :( click the pic to open a new tab to 4shared}
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Date: August 17th, 2014 09:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: August 17th, 2014 10:48 pm (UTC)I think I'll read the book again, but this time a print copy and, hopefully, an old print copy, and this time I'll read it with these two actors in the roles. I did that with Remains of the Day and it helped. In that case I'd seen the movie first, back in the days when I was obsessing Anthony Hopkins. I found out it was a book first so I checked it out. But it's very "British" and having seen the movie helped me to follow it better. I loved the book and I still love the movie, even with it's differences.
I haven't seen any other movie/TV versions of Jane Eyre. I have one on my DVR. I don't remember which one. I figured I'd try to get around to seeing them all eventually. I'm pretty sure this version will stay my favorite. <3