Jane Eyre (2011 film)
Encyclopedia
Jane Eyre is a 2011 British romantic
drama film
directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and starring Mia Wasikowska
and Michael Fassbender
. The screenplay is written by Moira Buffini
based on the 1847 novel of the same name
by Charlotte Brontë
. The film was released on 11 March 2011 in the United States and 9 September in Great Britain and Ireland.
, Focus Features
and Ruby Films. The script by Moira Buffini appeared on the 2008 Brit List, a film-industry-compiled list of the best unproduced screenplays in British film. 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."
The trailer for the film featured the title theme from Goblin
's soundtrack for Dario Argento
's horror film Suspiria
(1977).
would star as the title character
and Michael Fassbender
as Edward Rochester. Fukunaga and the producers wanted an actress close to Jane Eyre's age in the novel, in contrast to many previous versions. Fukunaga liked Wasikowska's "sense of observation in her eyes" and that "[she] could communicate [Jane's inner turmoil] in a way that didn't feel theatrical". He felt her looks could be played down as required for the role. On casting Rochester, the director stated that while there were actors closer in appearance, he felt Fassbender had the spirit of the character. Jamie Bell
, Judi Dench
, Sally Hawkins
, Simon McBurney
, Imogen Poots
, Holliday Grainger
and Tamzin Merchant
also joined the cast.
began on 22 March 2010 and concluded in mid-May. 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."
holds worldwide distribution rights. The film is rated PG-13 in the United States. A trailer was released in November 2010. Fukunaga said his director's cut
was about 2 hours and 30 minutes. The final cut is 2 hours.
on four screens on 11 March 2011, Jane Eyre grossed $182,885, for a per theater average of $45,721 – the best specialty debut of 2011 to date. As of 14 July, its North American total stands at $11,242,660.. On September, Jane Eyre entered #3 in the UK Box Office, behind The Inbetweeners Movie and Friends with Benefits
.
reports that 86% based on 138 reviews are favourable. Among the 36 reviews from "Top Critics", consisting of the most notable critics, the film holds an overall approval rating of 86%. The site's consensus is that "Cary Fukunaga directs a fiery and elegant adaptation, while Mia Wasikowska delivers possibly the best portrayal of the title character ever."
A. O. Scott
made the film an "NYT Critics' Pick", saying "This Jane Eyre, energetically directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (Sin Nombre
) from a smart, trim script by Moira Buffini (Tamara Drewe
), is a splendid example of how to tackle the daunting duty of turning a beloved work of classic literature into a movie. Neither a radical updating nor a stiff exercise in middlebrow cultural respectability, Mr. Fukunaga’s film tells its venerable tale with lively vigor and an astute sense of emotional detail."
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and starring Mia Wasikowska
Mia Wasikowska
Mia Wasikowska is an Australian actress. After starting her career in Australian television and film, she first became known to a wider audience following her critically acclaimed work on the HBO television series In Treatment...
and Michael Fassbender
Michael Fassbender
Michael Fassbender is an Irish-German actor. He is best known for playing Lt. Archie Hicox in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and Magneto in the superhero blockbuster X-Men: First Class...
. The screenplay is written by Moira Buffini
Moira Buffini
Moira Buffini is an English dramatist, director and actor.-Career:Buffini was born in Cheshire to Irish parents, and trained as an actor at the Welsh College of Music and Drama. For Jordan, co-written with Anna Reynolds in 1992, she won a Time Out Award for her performance and Writers' Guild Award...
based on the 1847 novel of the same name
Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre is a novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published in London, England, in 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. with the title Jane Eyre. An Autobiography under the pen name "Currer Bell." The first American edition was released the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York...
by Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
. The film was released on 11 March 2011 in the United States and 9 September in Great Britain and Ireland.
Cast
- Mia WasikowskaMia WasikowskaMia Wasikowska is an Australian actress. After starting her career in Australian television and film, she first became known to a wider audience following her critically acclaimed work on the HBO television series In Treatment...
as Jane EyreJane Eyre (character)Jane Eyre is the heroine of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name.-Appearance:Jane Eyre is described as plain, with an elfin look. She sees herself as "poor, obscure, plain and little". Mr. Rochester once compliments Jane's "hazel eyes and hazel hair", but she tells the reader about Mr... - Michael FassbenderMichael FassbenderMichael Fassbender is an Irish-German actor. He is best known for playing Lt. Archie Hicox in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and Magneto in the superhero blockbuster X-Men: First Class...
as Edward Fairfax Rochester - Jamie BellJamie BellAndrew James Matfin "Jamie" Bell is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Billy Elliot , King Kong , Hallam Foe , Jumper , Defiance , The Eagle and The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn .- Early life :Bell was born in Billingham, in the Borough of...
as St. John Rivers - Judi DenchJudi DenchDame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
as Mrs Fairfax - Sally HawkinsSally HawkinsSally Cecilia Hawkins is an English actress. Her performance as Poppy in the 2008 film Happy-Go-Lucky won her several international awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy...
as Mrs Reed - Holliday GraingerHolliday GraingerClark Holliday Grainger is an English actress primarily active in television. Over the past couple of years, she has moved into films...
as Diana Rivers - Tamzin MerchantTamzin MerchantTamzin Merchant is an English actress. She is known for her role as Georgiana Darcy in Pride & Prejudice and for her role as the ill-fated Queen Catherine Howard in The Tudors.-Career:...
as Mary Rivers - Simon McBurneySimon McBurneySimon Montagu McBurney, OBE is an English actor, writer and director. He is the founder and artistic director of Théâtre de Complicité in England, now called Complicite.-Early life:...
as Mr Brocklehurst - Imogen PootsImogen PootsImogen Gay Poots is an English actress, best known for playing Tammy in the 2007 film 28 Weeks Later, Prue Sorenson in the 2010 remake of the controversial TV drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire and as Jean Ross in the BBC's Christopher and His Kind.-Early life:Poots was born in Hammersmith, London,...
as Blanche Ingram - Sophie WardSophie WardSophie Ward , is an English actress and the daughter of actor, Simon Ward.-Career:One of Ward's early film roles was in the film Young Sherlock Holmes. Other early films included Return to Oz, Little Dorrit and A Summer Story, and she also portrayed the unattainable love object in the video of Roxy...
as Lady Ingram - Jayne WisenerJayne WisenerJayne Wisener is a Northern Irish actress and singer. She is best known for playing Johanna in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.-Background:...
as Bessie Lee - Amelia Clarkson as young Jane
- Romy Settbon Moore as Adele Varens
- Freya Parks as Helen Burns
- Harry LloydHarry LloydHarry Lloyd is an English actor. He played Will Scarlet in the first two seasons of the BBC drama Robin Hood which began in 2006...
as Richard Mason - Valentina CerviValentina CerviValentina Cervi is an Italian film and television actress.Cervi was born in Rome, Italy. She is the daughter of director Tonino Cervi and granddaughter of the famous Italian actor Gino Cervi. Cervi started her acting career at age ten in Carlo Cotti's 1986 film Portami la luna...
as Bertha Antoinetta Mason
Production
The film is a co-production between BBC FilmsBBC Films
BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, Stage Beauty, A Cock and Bull Story, Nativity! and Match Point.It aims to make strong British films with...
, Focus Features
Focus Features
Focus Features is the art house films division of NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, and acts as both a producer and distributor for its own films and a distributor for foreign films....
and Ruby Films. The script by Moira Buffini appeared on the 2008 Brit List, a film-industry-compiled list of the best unproduced screenplays in British film. 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
Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Gothicism's origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story"...
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."
The trailer for the film featured the title theme from Goblin
Goblin (band)
Goblin are an Italian progressive rock band known for their soundtracks for Dario Argento films ....
's soundtrack for Dario Argento
Dario Argento
Dario Argento is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo, and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies....
's horror film Suspiria
Suspiria
Suspiria is a 1977 Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento and co-written by Argento and Daria Nicolodi. The film follows an American ballet student who transfers to a prestigious dance academy in Germany, only to discover that it is controlled by a coven of witches. The film's score was...
(1977).
Casting
In November 2009, it was revealed that Mia WasikowskaMia Wasikowska
Mia Wasikowska is an Australian actress. After starting her career in Australian television and film, she first became known to a wider audience following her critically acclaimed work on the HBO television series In Treatment...
would star as the title character
Jane Eyre (character)
Jane Eyre is the heroine of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name.-Appearance:Jane Eyre is described as plain, with an elfin look. She sees herself as "poor, obscure, plain and little". Mr. Rochester once compliments Jane's "hazel eyes and hazel hair", but she tells the reader about Mr...
and Michael Fassbender
Michael Fassbender
Michael Fassbender is an Irish-German actor. He is best known for playing Lt. Archie Hicox in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and Magneto in the superhero blockbuster X-Men: First Class...
as Edward Rochester. Fukunaga and the producers wanted an actress close to Jane Eyre's age in the novel, in contrast to many previous versions. Fukunaga liked Wasikowska's "sense of observation in her eyes" and that "[she] could communicate [Jane's inner turmoil] in a way that didn't feel theatrical". He felt her looks could be played down as required for the role. On casting Rochester, the director stated that while there were actors closer in appearance, he felt Fassbender had the spirit of the character. Jamie Bell
Jamie Bell
Andrew James Matfin "Jamie" Bell is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Billy Elliot , King Kong , Hallam Foe , Jumper , Defiance , The Eagle and The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn .- Early life :Bell was born in Billingham, in the Borough of...
, Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
, Sally Hawkins
Sally Hawkins
Sally Cecilia Hawkins is an English actress. Her performance as Poppy in the 2008 film Happy-Go-Lucky won her several international awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy...
, Simon McBurney
Simon McBurney
Simon Montagu McBurney, OBE is an English actor, writer and director. He is the founder and artistic director of Théâtre de Complicité in England, now called Complicite.-Early life:...
, Imogen Poots
Imogen Poots
Imogen Gay Poots is an English actress, best known for playing Tammy in the 2007 film 28 Weeks Later, Prue Sorenson in the 2010 remake of the controversial TV drama Bouquet of Barbed Wire and as Jean Ross in the BBC's Christopher and His Kind.-Early life:Poots was born in Hammersmith, London,...
, Holliday Grainger
Holliday Grainger
Clark Holliday Grainger is an English actress primarily active in television. Over the past couple of years, she has moved into films...
and Tamzin Merchant
Tamzin Merchant
Tamzin Merchant is an English actress. She is known for her role as Georgiana Darcy in Pride & Prejudice and for her role as the ill-fated Queen Catherine Howard in The Tudors.-Career:...
also joined the cast.
Filming
Principal photographyPrincipal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
began on 22 March 2010 and concluded in mid-May. Filming locations included London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and various locations in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, including Chatsworth
Chatsworth House
Chatsworth House is a stately home in North Derbyshire, England, northeast of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield . It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549.Standing on the east bank of the...
, Haddon Hall
Haddon Hall
Haddon Hall is an English country house on the River Wye at Bakewell, Derbyshire, one of the seats of the Duke of Rutland, occupied by Lord Edward Manners and his family. In form a medieval manor house, it has been described as "the most complete and most interesting house of [its]...
, Derbyshire Dales
Derbyshire Dales
Derbyshire Dales is a local government district in Derbyshire, England. Much of the district is situated in the Peak District, although most of its population lies along the River Derwent....
, Froggatt
Froggatt Edge
Froggatt Edge is a gritstone escarpment in the Dark Peak area of the Peak District National Park, in Derbyshire, England and situated in close proximity to the villages of Froggatt, Calver, Curbar, Baslow and Grindleford...
and Fox House in Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
. The score is composed by Academy Award winner Dario Marianelli
Dario Marianelli
Dario Marianelli is a composer of piano, orchestral, and film music. He has composed the soundtracks for The Brothers Grimm , Pride & Prejudice , and Atonement , the last two for which he received Oscar nominations for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score...
. Another Academy Award winner, Michael O'Connor
Michael O'Connor (costume designer)
Michael O'Connor is an English costume designer.-Biography:O'Connor began his training in theatre, as a dresser at the Old Vic in London...
, 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."
Release
Focus FeaturesFocus Features
Focus Features is the art house films division of NBC Universal's Universal Pictures, and acts as both a producer and distributor for its own films and a distributor for foreign films....
holds worldwide distribution rights. The film is rated PG-13 in the United States. A trailer was released in November 2010. Fukunaga said his director's cut
Director's cut
A director's cut is a specially edited version of a film, and less often TV series, music video, commercials, comic book or video games, that is supposed to represent the director's own approved edit...
was about 2 hours and 30 minutes. The final cut is 2 hours.
Box office
Opening in limited releaseLimited release
Limited release is a term in the American motion picture industry for a motion picture that is playing in a select few theaters across the country ....
on four screens on 11 March 2011, Jane Eyre grossed $182,885, for a per theater average of $45,721 – the best specialty debut of 2011 to date. As of 14 July, its North American total stands at $11,242,660.. On September, Jane Eyre entered #3 in the UK Box Office, behind The Inbetweeners Movie and Friends with Benefits
Friends with Benefits
Friends with Benefits was a telenovela planned for the American television network MyNetworkTV. Twentieth Television was developing this limited-run serial. It was based on a popular Latin American series.- Story :...
.
Critical reception
Review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 86% based on 138 reviews are favourable. Among the 36 reviews from "Top Critics", consisting of the most notable critics, the film holds an overall approval rating of 86%. The site's consensus is that "Cary Fukunaga directs a fiery and elegant adaptation, while Mia Wasikowska delivers possibly the best portrayal of the title character ever."
A. O. Scott
A. O. Scott
Anthony Oliver Scott, known as A. O. Scott , is an American journalist and critic. He is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with Manohla Dargis.-Background and education:...
made the film an "NYT Critics' Pick", saying "This Jane Eyre, energetically directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga (Sin Nombre
Sin Nombre (2009 film)
Sin Nombre is an American and Mexican film written and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga.Filmed in Spanish, the film's name means "Nameless"...
) from a smart, trim script by Moira Buffini (Tamara Drewe
Tamara Drewe (film)
Tamara Drewe is a 2010 comedy film directed by Stephen Frears.The screenplay was written by Moira Buffini, based on the newspaper comic strip of the same name written by Posy Simmonds...
), is a splendid example of how to tackle the daunting duty of turning a beloved work of classic literature into a movie. Neither a radical updating nor a stiff exercise in middlebrow cultural respectability, Mr. Fukunaga’s film tells its venerable tale with lively vigor and an astute sense of emotional detail."