Jane Eyre, the full Bronte

from w
Despite Peceli's sighs that it was really slow and boring, I persisted and watched the TV series Jane Eyre, my kind of TV watching. Over two Sunday nights. It was excellent. I have never read most of those old English novels - I jumped from Enid Blyton straight into John Steinbeck kind of books. But maybe I should have another look at them.

One reviewer Dennis Moore, in USA TODAY writes:
Her employer suspects there's a bit of the witch about Jane Eyre. There's no doubt that Masterpiece Theatre's production of Jane Eyre is bewitching as well. Love, betrayal, despair, redemption, reconciliation. All of the elements expected of any epic love story are included. The distinction here: The story is splendidly retold.
In Charlotte Brontë's early-Victorian saga, the abused orphan Jane is banished by a jealous aunt to a severe girls school, and through her own pluck, she eventually secures a job as governess at the formidable Thornfield Hall. Shy yet remarkably straightforward for someone of her station, Jane intrigues then charms the master of the estate, the cryptic and brooding Edward Rochester.

"That look," he says of her, "could pry secrets from the blackest souls." And, she discovers, his secret is indeed black.

From sweeping shots of the English countryside through all seasons to intimate scenes in the recesses of the manor house, this adaptation of Jane Eyre shows off a richness American TV projects rarely attempt.

The appeal stretches beyond style. The lean scripting (even at four hours the program can't cover every one of Brontë's plot details), the expeditious pacing and the interaction among the actors are first-class, if not as brilliant as the more ambitious and magnificent Bleak House from last season. Not surprisingly, both BBC productions were directed by Susanna White....

In an earlier time, Jane Eyre might have been called a "woman's picture." But all who wish to immerse themselves in grand storytelling.


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Perhaps, according to Peceli, it is still a 'woman's picture'!