I know I just posted a trailer yesterday but I have been anticipating this for so long! Ever since I saw the 1983 BBC version of Jane Eyre, I fell in love with Charlotte Brontë’s Gothic romance and Dalton as the the ultimate Byronic hero Edward Rochester. I love how faithful it was to the book, but the entire production is rather tedious and the costume, lighting, etc. left much to be desired. Then I learned about indie director Cary Fukunaga’s vision of the movie, and was really intrigued by his vision. As a fan of the novel, he intends to capture the dark and spooky atmosphere of the novel, as the story is so much more than a period romance.Well, judging from this trailer, looks like he achieved what he set out to do.
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Last September, I couldn’t help pondering about which actor could play Rochester. Now, the German-born Michael Fassbender wasn’t on my list, but after seeing him in the trailer, I’m more than pleased by the casting choice! Dalton was a tough act to follow and I wasn’t impressed by Toby Stephens’ portrayal in the latest BBC version, but Fassbender looks poised to be my new favorite. Yes, he’s still far too good looking for the role, just like most other actors playing Rochester. But the important thing is he’s able to bring that mercurial, tortured-soul sensibilities the role requires, but with ample of sex appeal 😀
The overall look of the movie definitely looks promising and with a top notch the supporting cast! Here’s the cast info from my previous post: Dame Judi Dench will play Mrs. Fairfax, the housekeeper of Thornfield Manor who hires Jane, and disproves of Jane’s relationship with Rochester. One of my fave young thespian Jamie Bell (Defiance, Billy Elliot) will play St. John, a young clergyman who helps Jane in a time of need, and turns out to be connected to her by blood. Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky, An Education) will play Mrs. Reed, Jane’s terrible aunt, who terrorizes and abuses Jane as a orphaned child.
I know that a lot of people out there probably think, ‘another Jane Eyre adaptation?!’ But this one might offer what have been missing in the previous adaptations… staying true to the novel whilst keeping the tone fresh and contemporary. I absolutely can’t wait until March 11 of next year for this!
Oh, I just found another still photo that’s just been released… I’m dying to see how the proposal scene goes with Jane’s ‘Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless?’ heart-wrenching speech. I adore the one from the 1983 version, it’s just one of my favorite scenes in the miniseries.
Any Brontë fans out there? What do you think of the trailer… and specifically, Fassbender as Mr. Rochester?
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Will be posting this myself shortly.
Looking forward to it… I’m curious if you like it as much as I do. Btw, have you seen the Dalton version?
There was no better Rochester than Orson Welles. Just the right combo of weird looks, menace, and power. In case you haven’t seen the original, you should check it out!
I’ve seen only bits and pieces of that one, Liz, but I might have to watch it entirely before this one comes out. For sure I didn’t care for the one with William Hurt or Ciaran Hinds.
Oh, I didn’t know Wells was in the original, would love to see the one he’s in too.
I’ve seen all of the versions. It’s a favorite book. I thought William Hurt was horribly miscast, although he’s a fine actor. But definitely not Rochester.
Yup, definitely miscast… but Charlotte Gainsbourg wasn’t that great as Jane either.
As you know, Fassbender lit up my life in Inglorious Bastards, and don’t think I’ve seen him in anything else, but I’m sure he’ll be good in this.
I’m positively smitten when he said ‘half dream, half reality’ Kinda like how I feel when I look at him as Rochester 😉
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The trailer was removed 😦 Boo… Never been a big fan of those British period drama as you probably know but the cast is appealing and the director is Cary Fukunaga who made Sin Nombre.
I know! I hate it when studios do that… VERY annoying! I’m guessing people who normally don’t go for period dramas might check this out because of the director and the cast. Yep I mentioned that about Fukunaga in my previous JE posts.
Ah, Fass my Benders and ring my Bells I’m watching this one just for those two great actors! 🙂
Took me a second to realize you’re talking about Jamie Bell here… you’re too funny Dez! No offense to Jamie though, but in the book St John is supposed to be gorgeous, Rochester said he’s looks like a Greek statue of Apollo. But in most adaptations, Rochester is far more handsome than St. John, as is the case here, too.
Well. Jamie does have a body of Apollo, if not the face 🙂
wow I have been waiting for this trailer. too bad its not playing right now. tomorrow is trailer time thursday. if i find between now and then i will let you know
It’s back up again now T, but thanks for your kind offer. I still can’t find one on Youtube so for your post tomorrow you might need to embed it from Yahoo.
yeah, I noticed. I looked for quite some time. Thanks for checking for me. Unfortunately I can’t get the embed from yahoo to work. I’ll just send everyone your way. hope you don’t mind. 🙂
I am hoping that Fassbender does a knock-out job as Rochester. I grew up watching Orsen Welles as Rochester, and that will always be in the back of my mind as a great portrayal of Brontë’s character!
Nice post!
Hey, why would I mind getting extra hits? 🙂 Here’s info on embedding movies: http://en.support.wordpress.com/videos/vodpod/ It’s a bit tricky but once you do it, it’s not too bad.
I’ve never seen Welles’ version but since a few people have mentioned it I need to check that out. I think people usually like the one they see first in the role, in my case it was Timothy Dalton.
I really don’t like Jane Eyre. Okay, maybe not REALLY don’t like it…but I’m not a fan of Charlotte. I’d prefer to see another incarnation of Wuthering heights instead. Speaking of which, though, for some inane reason I thought that Sally was playing Blanche.
I’m not going to watch the trailer, but I am reading the book for University at the moment…Fassbender seems so conventionally good looking for Rochester, but ah well…I guess it’s his time.
You don’t like JE, Andrew, what’s wrong with you?! 🙂 Well I’d like to see another adaptation of WH too, there are less movie/tv versions of that one than JE. Have you read my old post about both Bronte sisters’ work? https://flixchatter.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/bronte-sisters-latest-remake/ I’m curious who you think would make a good Heathcliff, I have a few suggestions in there.
Rochester has been played by good looking actors 9 times out of 10… I don’t mind it so much as long as they can capture the ‘essence’ of the role.
There in fact IS another Wuthering Heights movie coming to the big screen in 2011 also. But the cast is being juggled around a lot. There’s not a lot of information on it.
Isn’t it the same project that I blog about… or is it an additional film version? I still hope they’ll cast someone else beside that Westwick guy as Heathcliff.
Take a look at Rochester at 1:36 — please don’t tell me they’re going to make him a vampire. I think I’m gonna be sick . . .
Umm, I think you’ve been watching too many Twilight movies, mwahahaha… I have absolutely no idea what makes you think he’ll be a vampire, and I can assure you there won’t be any of that in this movie.
I actually just finished the book a few days ago. I thought this film looked quite good… I just hope it won’t be, like, an hour long. If anything, I’d like it to be unusually lengthy, like three hours, to encompass as much of the story as possible. I love long movies. 🙂
On a side note, as this is my first comment, I must say I very much enjoy your blog! I’ll be reading it a lot.
Why hello Sir Luke… welcome to my humble blog 🙂 Yes I hope so too, it would be ludicrous to make JE fit under 2 hrs. I think a lot of people don’t have a long attention span these days, but I’m with you, I don’t mind long movies if the story is compelling enough. Isn’t that interesting how a lot of Hollywood classics are about 3 or so hours long? Ben Hur, Gone With the Wind, Lawrence of Arabia, etc.
Thanks for visiting and I hope you came back often!
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Looks like I’ll have to actually buckle down and read this now instead of hitting up good old Sparknotes like I did in my college days. Strangely enough, kind of looking forward to it. Gotta get in touch with my feminine side every once in a while.
I actually haven’t read the book entirely, but I might try to do that before the movie is out. It’s interesting how the delivery of the same set of lines are so different from actor to actor… but Dalton’s delivery are perfect in my book. Ha..ha.. I think you’ve got a pretty good balance of seeing super macho stuff with more those decidedly more feminine. After all, you did write an awesome review of Beauty & The Beast 🙂
I absolutely CAN’T wait until March 11. Jane looks very promising and Wasikowska is a good actress. Fassbender (from what I’ve seen so far) will be AMAZING. When I heard that this film was being made I was absolutely scared to death that they would choose an actor that wouldn’t be able to pull him off. Fassbender looks like he might be the best one yet. He seems to have this quality of putting Dalton, Welles, and Stephen together in one person. I can’t wait to see this film!
Hi ACJ, welcome to FC! Glad I have more people highly anticipating this. What Fassbender movies have you seen so far? I have yet to see Fishtank and Centurion but am looking forward to them. I was in the same boat as well about them picking the wrong actor for Rochester but I think my worries are gone even before I see him in the entire movie 🙂 I don’t really care for Stephens’ portrayal so I hope it’s more of a cross between Wells and Dalton.
I saw Inglorious Basterds and Centurion. When I heard Fassbender was becomin Rochester, I was kind of scared because I didn’t know if he could really nail the role of Rochester. But I think that he can do it. I loved Stephens’ portrayal of Rochester, but the movie as a whole was lacking because it wasn’t very true to the book as far as dialogue goes. I think Stephens was good despite the limitation placed on him with the script. But Dalton and Wells are also very good. There have been good Rochesters in the past. Each one adds something different so I wonder what Fassbender will bring to the role. But I just can’t wait to see!!!
Yeah, Fassbender has been showing amazing versatility… I just saw him in the 300 clip I posted this weekend and he just looked so different with long hair. He’s my 2nd fave character there after Leonidas.
Yep, the Stephens’ JE version took so much liberty off the book that it becomes ridiculous, for one I think it’s too ‘sensual.’ Rochester isn’t some Casanova! Oh well, in any case, I’m glad to see Fukunaga is staying true to Bronte’s vision, while still making it modern.
Thx for posting it.I had never read the book before but after watching the trailer I am so thrill and I cant wait to read the book.I live in Malaysia and we study The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope which is absolutely wonderful.I do hope they will adapt it in the future. We do learn other texts but most of them are boring. ^^
Hi Zack, glad you’re interested in the book. It’s really an interesting gothic story, the second half of the book is far more fascinating to me when Rochester is in the picture, but the first part helps us understand what Jane is all about. Enjoy!
Just found out about this movie! Jane Eyre was my very favorite book when I was in High School (Which was over a generation ago).
I adored Mr. Rochester, and I’m so excited about Fassbender. He was so good in 300 and has such a presence that I think he’ll do a fabulous job! Great looks and body too…lol.
As far as WH, I’ve never seen any adaption that matches the original with Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier. It just focuses on Heathcliff and Cathy’s story.
Hi Linda, oh I’m glad you found out about this movie. Do you like the trailer? I am beyond thrilled for this one especially since they chose the right actor for Rochester. Yes, he is fabulous in 300 isn’t he? Y’know what, since we’re talking about 300, Gerard Butler is also an actor I think would be great as Rochester. Here are a few other of my suggestions that’d be great for the role: https://flixchatter.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/bronte-sisters-latest-remake/
I need to check out that Olivier adaptation. Timothy Dalton supposedly channeled Olivier when he played Rochester in the 1983 version.
The trailer looks fabulous…I just have one concern, and that is that the director is new and doesn’t have much experience ( I think he just did one movie before this and I’m not sure how it was recieved because it was a foriegn film.)
Someone has posted the Dalton version on Utube, I watched some of it yesterday, and intend to finish it this weekend. I’ll let you know what I think when I finish it. So far I haven’t been impressed with the way Jane is being played. It makes it hard to believe that he would be attracted to her: not because of her looks, but because she doesn’t show any real passion or spark, at least so far!
Hi again Linda, sorry I missed your second reply. Speaking of those Dalton JE version, I just posted my tribute to his excellent portrayal as Rochester… full of the juicy clips 🙂
Yes I hear ya about Jane, she’s definitely the weaker one of the two leads even though she’s in the title role, but I think she’s actually pretty decent overall. Dalton however, sets the bar for all Rochester for me… he’s the one to beat IMO. We’ll see how Fassbender fares in this new one. Anyway, let me know what you think once you see more of the 1983 version.
Are you nuts?? Toby Stephens is the all time best Mr. Rochester. This guy is a nice new choice, but Toby the best!!!
Nope I’m not nuts at all, I’ve seen Toby’s performance and I was more taken by Fassbender in the 2-minute trailer than I was w/ Toby in the entire miniseries. But hey, if you like him, more power to ya 🙂
rtm, and a good day to you. I was at the bookstore last week and looked at the book for this movie and noticed it was being made into a new movie release, then found this blog for the movie, and you now have me counting down to the release date. I’m a huge fan of British time period movies or TV dramas. The last two I’ve seen are quite outstanding they being “Larkrise to Candleford” and “Downton Abbey”, and getting ready to go “Bleak House”.
G’day to you too, Funk. Is the book you saw has the same cover as the one in the poster above? I was blessed to have won it on a Twitter contest.
Are you in the States or the UK? I think it’ll be opened in limited release this Friday but unfortunately I have to wait until the 25th before it’s released in Minnesota 😦
Haven’t seen any of the shows you mentioned but yeah, I’m a fan of British period dramas, too.