Film screening of the latest adaption of Chalotte Brontes classic novel, Jane Eyre

Screenplay: Moira Buffini

Director: Cary Fukunga

Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Jamie Bell, Su Elliot, Michael Fassbender, Judi Dench

Synopsis: Jane Eyre is a 2011 British romantic drama film.

Jane, the new governess at Thornfield Hall, falls for the dark, cold and abrupt master of the house, Mr Rochester. But could his scandalous secret be about to destroy her new-found happiness forever?

The story is largely presented by way of flashbacks. In October 2009, it was announced that Cary Fukunaga would direct the adaptation.  Fukunaga had been in England promoting a film when he met with the BBC and learned about their plans for a new adaptation. The filmmakers decided to play up the Gothic elements of the classic novel. Fukunaga stated, "I’ve spent a lot of time rereading the book and trying to feel out what Charlotte Brontë was feeling when she was writing it. That sort of spookiness that plagues the entire story... there’s been something like 24 adaptations and it’s very rare that you see those sorts of darker sides. They treat it like it’s just a period romance and I think it’s much more than that."

Filming locations included London and various locations in Derbyshire, including Chatsworth, Haddon Hall, Derbyshire Dales, Froggatt and Fox House in Sheffield. The score is composed by Academy Award winner Dario Marianelli. Another Academy Award winner, Michael O'Connor, designed the costumes. Although they estimated the setting was the late 1830s, they settled on four to five years later in 1843. Fukunaga commented that "the clothing style of the '30s was just awful. Every woman looked like a wedding cake." However, they decided to allow a few characters in older fashions to reflect that some would not have updated their style. He looked at some 60 residences for one to represent Thornfield Hall but settled on the previously-used Haddon Hall as it had not undergone much redecorating. The conditions were very cold and Fukunaga admitted that Wasikowska nearly got hypothermia on the second day while shooting the rain sequence; however, he could not imagine filming anywhere else, saying "Northern England – Yorkshire and Derbyshire, the moors and dales – they look like they’re something straight out of a Tim Burton horror film. The trees are all twisted by the wind; the bracken and the heather on the moors have this amazing hue. And the weather is so extreme and it changes all the time. The house even, Haddon Hall, is just so steeped in history, the spaces, the galleries, they sort of just breathe and you feel the presence of the history."

Reviews  "Cary Fukunaga directs a fiery and elegant adaptation, while Mia Wasikowska delivers possibly the best portrayal of the title character ever." (Rotten Tomatoes)

Trivia

To help create the gothic atmosphere present in the film, many shots were lit exclusively by firelight or candlelight.

While shooting the climactic post-wedding scene between Jane and Rochester, filming had to be stopped repeatedly because Michael Fassbender's suspenders kept breaking and had to be re-sewn.

When Adele tells Jane about the ghost that haunts the house, there is a doll dressed in white in the top window of her doll house. This foreshadows events later in the film, since the ghost is actually a mad woman dressed in white who lives in the attic.

The location of Jane's cottage was so isolated that there was no cell phone reception. A member of the crew had to be stationed in a nearby phone booth with a walkie talkie in case the crew needed anything - he didn't complain, however, as the local residents brought him tea and cookies throughout the day.