2011-06-08 20:23:53, 回應(0), 人氣(1986)2. Three Mr. Rochester of Jane Eyre
I re-watched part of three visual versions of Jane Eyre. I would like to compare the scenes when Jane Eyre met Mr. Rochester on the field and the second time in Thornfield(adaptation from chapter 12 and 13). Moreover I want to compare who is the best and suitable actor as Mr. Rochester.
Here are the three versions:
A. The movie: a black and white movie, 96 minutes
1944: Jane Eyre, it features Orson Welles as Mr. Rochester, Joan Fontaine as Jane, and Elizabeth Taylor as Helen Burns.
In the movie, the background music inspired the horrible feeling, such as a ghost film. The special part was the watchers could read the book. Jane Eyre was also the narrator. The film omitted a lot of details, everything happened quickly. The formal meeting in the drawing room was short. At the beginning, Mr. Rochester implied Jane to pull hot water to his injured soaking foot water. It assumed that Mr. Rochester was a proud sardonic and harsh people just as the text of the chapter. But in my point of view, the actor, Orson Welles, was too fat, too old and too pale to be Mr. Rochester. It couldn’t tell how the romantic chemistry could happen between them, and they could fall in love in the future. This movie was famous not only because Joan Fontaine, but also the young little girl, Elizabeth Taylor, was in the movie as Jane Eyre’s best friend, Helen Burns.
B. The BBC TV series: 7 episodes
1983: Jane Eyre. It was produced by the BBC and starred Zelah Clarke as Jane, Timothy Dalton as Mr. Rochester.
In this version, the time when Jane met Mr. Rochester was totally dark, which I thought it was not suitable for a young woman to walk alone. It was dangerous.
The official meeting was drinking tea with Mr. Rochester, young Adele and Mrs. Fairfax. Jane played piano, showed her water-colored paintings, and Mr. Rochester asked a lot of questions impatiently. The scene was truly similar to the original even though it was so serious without background music. I would say Timothy Dalton is the best and suitable Mr. Rochester because his 臉上剛毅的線條與冷漠的神情.
C. The BBC TV series: 223 minutes
2006: Jane Eyre. It was produced by the BBC and starred Toby Stephens as Mr. Rochester, Ruth Wilson as Jane.
This version is more modern, warm, soft and vivid. Toby Stephens’ curly hair and handsome face created more humanity. The formal meeting scene was without Mrs. Fairfax. Mr. Rochester asked questions, asked Jane to play piano, and checked Jane’s charcoal pencil paintings. The DVD is on sale in the Carrefour(家樂福). It is cheerful to appreciate this version.
1983 BBC 
2006 BBC 
(the black hair)