Best "Jane Eyre" portrayal

A little background first.
The book Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books. I can identify with the main character, and at the same time I admire her. She has developed many talents, she is honest, hard-working, shows self-control, and she does what she knows is best even when faced with temptation. She's someone I can look up to and I can aspire to me more like her, and I haven't found that in most of the books I've read.

One day my youngest sister called me to chat and in our conversation she mentioned that she saw a great movie: Masterpiece Theatre's 2006 movie "Jane Eyre". She loved the movie, and I asked if she'd read the book and she said she hadn't. I had read the book again about a year ago so it was fresh in my mind, and I was curious to see how well the movie matched the book (I've been disappointed in the past with such attempts by movies like "The Lord of the Rings" and The Chronicles of Narnia). A short while later Mc and I signed up for Netflix and I searched the website for "Jane Eyre" movies and many popped up. Over the next couple of months I watched the two that were available streaming and then sent for 2 others through the mail.

The verdict for the best version is: the 5.5-hour-long 1983 BBC version with zelah Clarke as Jane and Timothy Dalton as Mr. Rochester.



I could give you a rundown of all 4 of the movies I saw but that would likely be boring, so I'll just glorify the best one :) The casting was excellent. Not only did all the actors look the parts, but the way they delivered the lines and their mannerisms while acting were spot on. The dialogue came straight from the book, with some lines left out of course but nothing added (in other versions they added a lot of dialogue that wasn't in the book; typical). The events in the movie happened in the order that they happened in the book and no events were left out. There is a little bit of narration but it was well-placed, helping to move the story along and give some character development; it did not distract from the movie at all nor replace the actors' responsibility to tell the story through their acting (as was the case in the 1973 BBC version).

Really the only downside to this version is that at times, mostly with the indoor scenes, the filming seemed to me like they were filming a theater production. This was the first version of the movie I saw and after watching the 1973 BBC version last night I realized that it's just the way the British filmed things a few decades ago. If you've seen some of those British comedies that are sometimes on TV, you can tell that the way they film is... different somehow, and it's the same kind of thing with this movie. If I knew cinematography terminology I could explain it, but I don't. If you watch it you'll know what I mean. It took a little getting used to at first but after a while I didn't even notice.

If you want to watch a "Jane Eyre" movie without having to read the book, this is the one to see. 1983 BBC. Timothy Dalton. The British also did a fantastic job with their 1995 mini-series of "Pride and Prejudice" with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. Another instance of "watch this version if you want to get the full picture of the book without actually reading the book." Come to think of it, the British also did the best portrayal of the Chronicles of Narnia. Straight from the books! Our American version was so disappointing. Good movies for what they were, but they strayed from the books when they didn't need to and it ticked me off. Leave it to the British to accurately portray their classics! :)