It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it.
Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre opens in Australian cinemas today. Will you see it? Have you read the book?
Don't you think it looks rather dark? Too dark for Jemimah certainly. At what age would you take your children to see this interpretation of Charlotte Bronte's beautiful novel?
Jeanne, I don't know about this movie version, but we watched and loved the BBC one starring Timothy Dalton. I made my young'ns watch it when they were about Jemimah's age and they only remember the scary part! If you think she can cope with mad women creeping around in the night setting fire to beds, etc then for it. But you could just fast forward that part. The plot may be a bit complex, too. We all loved it when the dc were all in their teens. Loved the book, too.
ReplyDeleteLoved the book...I do want to see this one and then I'll judge wheather it is suitable for my children! Loved the BBC film too!
ReplyDeleteThis is my favourite book, after first reading it at 16. I have watched many of the versions and my favourite is the BBC miniseries released a couple of years ago with Toby Stephens. It is a dark story and quite sensual so not really suitable for younger girls. I am most certainly looking forward to this one. I do find though that many movies rush over the part where she lives with her cousins.
ReplyDeleteSome trivia - my son went to college with Mia who is playing Jane.
Also loved Jane Eyre as a youngun' and like most things from those long gone days, find it hard to remember too much of it :-( Would like to see this movie but will keep in mind the miniseries which was obviously good.
ReplyDeleteJo, wow, always love connections.
.........I danced with a man, who danced with a girl, who danced with the Prince of Wales..........
My dad danced with the Queen and Princess Margaret!!
ReplyDeleteJane Eyre is a great story - one of the sort that is best read before watched (but then I think that of most books)
ReplyDeleteWow, Jeanne, by my reckoning you are practically royalty.
ReplyDeleteJokes aside, how did your dad swing that? My cousin was an escort once for Princess Anne. Was it something like that? or a genuine social meeting? A girl's gotta know this stuff!
"My dad danced with the Queen and Princess Margaret!!" You never told me THAT!! Wow!! I did get to see Princess Anne in Malawi--and got to hear her talk to my boss. Her lady-in-waiting helped a Candaian volunteer get a good picture for her Grandma, too!
ReplyDeleteNo on Jane. I read it at my Grandmother's in Florida when Nixon resigned. Jane was way preferable to hearing my Grandmother bemoan the loss of a (in HER book) "good man." Just thinking about it makes me crave the fruit that soaked in my grandmother's drink (Old Fashioned? Manhattan?? Which drink??)
Star has asked to see this so we are going & looking forward to it though on the whole I'm not a big fan. All that melodrama makes me laugh in the wrong places. I suspect Star of a similar bent but that doesn't mean we won't love it ~ just for slightly different reasons. ☺
ReplyDeleteI watched this with my sister on the weekend. Way too dark for my liking, but then again the book was very dark. I wouldn't take a 9 year old to see it. I think maybe 16? I don't know. I don't have any teenagers yet.
ReplyDeleteI actually love Jane Eyre, but while I let Miss M (13) read the book I haven't let her see any of the movie versions all the way through. She is just so visual, and the creepy crazy wife would be kind of hard to wipe for her mind's eye, I'm afraid. There is also the issue of the topic of Mr. Rochester's former lover's daughter (and may or may not be his, though he denies it) that he is caring for and the way they may bring out that background.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the 2006 version, but other than the creepy factor there was one scene where he was telling her about his wife and how she turned out to be crazy, and they show her in a not nice position with some other man while creepily smirking at her husband over the other guy's shoulder. I wondered why they needed to do that - we have to be careful of that type of "artistic license" in any movie version of a beloved book, I guess.
Anyway, I would definitely see it first, to check out those possible pitfalls, but most likely wouldn't let any of my kids see any version until mid-teens. That's my two yen. :o)
I should say that I haven't seen the new version, though I'm dying to, and I will have to watch for the above mentioned problem areas to see if it's appropriate for my kids or not. I seriously doubt it, but one can hope!
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