Jane Eyre Movie Review

[SPOILER ALERT: DON’T READ IF YOU WANT TO EXPERIENCE JANE EYRE AS AN UNSOILED FLOWER.] Director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s deliciously dark and stormy big-screen adaptation of Jane Eyre (in select theaters on March 11) serves up all the delights of Charlotte Bronte’s classic novel: deep melodrama, broken hearts and a teen-age heroine (Mia Wasikowska, pictured) who never accepts the misfortunes served her way. But in addition to the restrained tears, tight bodices and handsome lords, there are a few lessons in Jane’s story that any modern woman can benefit from:

1. Family not supportive enough? Form your own with friends (or newly discovered cousins).  In her youth at Gateshead, the orphaned Jane is chastised for expressing herself -- in her outspoken wit, bookish hobbies and anatomically accurate drawings. Who needs an aunt that banishes you or a long-lost uncle you have never heard of? Along her harrowing journey, Jane gathers deep friends and reliable allies by remaining true to her own self. From her boarding school friend Helen Burns (Freya Parks) to the three siblings that take her in when she is literally homeless, she resets her life’s course by the people she chooses to be close to.  “You are the family I have longed for,” she says to St. John Rivers (Jamie Bell).

2. Always demand equal respect -- in cash, please. Don’t be fooled into thinking that women’s problems are over now that corsets have been retired. True, we are no longer confined “to making puddings and knitting stockings,” but according to information released by the White House just this week, women still have a long way to go towards gender equality. Women in the U.S. earn only 75 cents to the dollar every man makes. In Jane Eyre, as single-minded as our young heroine is, there is only one thing that ultimately gives her complete independence: a nice chunk of change that lands in her lap via an out-of-the-blue inheritance.

3. Before committing to a love for life, peek inside all those locked closet doors. It’s easy to get cloudy vision when you’re faced with the affections of a hunky man like Mr. Rochester (hot German actor Michael Fassbender). But never forget that your new love has had an entire life before the two of you met, (and in the case of Rochester, an entire wife!). Chances are there is something in his past you need to know about. Ask the hard questions, follow your gut, and if something is nagging you (like, oh, late-night screams from the attic), don’t just ask where they are coming from, demand to be shown for yourself. For, as Jane learns, it’s only with the full truth that you can decide your destiny confidently.
 
Jane Erye opens in select theaters on March 11.

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Source: http://www.ivillage.com/jane-eyre-movie-review/1-a-330622

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