Some Like It Gothic
DVD: Jane Eyre (1944)
The movie and jazz buffs among us often wind up in the frustrating and apparently endless cycle of having to update our collections every time something is remastered, repackaged, and/or issued with bonus material. Your full-screen DVD gets replaced by a wide-screen version with director's commentary and all the whistles and bells, or that luscious Ella Fitzgerald CD set gets moved aside when Verve issues a new edition with bonus tracks. And so it goes.
It's entirely forgivable, therefore, if the words "special edition" cause you to sigh and roll your eyes. But there are certain works that earn that title honestly, and I've just stumbled on one: the Cinema Classics Collection's release of the 1944 Jane Eyre.
Thanks, no doubt, to the enduring popularity of Charlotte Bronte's novel, as well as the indefatigable efforts of filmmakers on both sides of the Atlantic, Jane Eyre has been adapted for cinema and television a truly mind-boggling number of times. Our long-suffering heroine has been played by Samantha Morton and Sorcha Cusack, by Zelah Clarke and Charlotte Gainsbourg. George C. Scott, Timothy Dalton, Ciaran Hinds, and, most recently, Toby Stephens have all taken a turn brooding away as Edward Rochester.
You know the timeless appeal of the story, as well as its plot: having survived a childhood marked by emotional and spiritual deprivation, a young governess undergoes a test of character when she falls in love with an enigmatic and possibly dangerous man.
It therefore provides an interesting subtext to examine the casting in Robert Stevenson's 1944 version. His Jane: Joan Fontaine, who had notable successes playing shy, vulnerable heroines in two of Hitchcock's greatest films, Rebecca and Suspicion. This is not to say she's playing a victim here; Fontaine's watchful eyes and subtly changing expressions suggest a woman who masters her emotions for sheer survival.
Fontaine's understated approach works not merely for the character but also alongside her costar, a practically combustible Orson Welles. His energy and ferocity give Rochester a dangerously obsessive edge. But watch what happens each time he and Fontaine touch. A simple hand clasp conveys worlds of tenderness and passion, not unlike the thwarted lovers in Elia Suleiman's more recent Divine Intervention.
Speaking of intervention, I know what you're thinking. With a force of nature like Orson Welles on the set, how much of the project belonged to the director, Robert Stevenson, and how much to his leading man? The subject is addressed to some degree in the featurette included on the DVD, Locked in the Tower: The Men Behind Jane Eyre. A nice contrast is made between Stevenson, who evidently typified British understatement, and Welles, who roared along at full volume.
It was great getting the lowdown from various insiders, including Stevenson's widow and children, but I must confess what made the featurette for me was the inclusion of Simon Callow among the on-camera commentators. Callow, a writer, director, and scene-stealing actor (Four Weddings and a Funeral, A Room with a View), is also the author of a multi-part biography of Orson Welles. His input is some of the most engaging of the documentary, and I could listen to the guy for hours.
But I've only touched on a portion of the extras on this DVD set. Be sure to watch another of the short films on the disc, Know Your Ally Britain, which Stevenson made for what we used to call the War Department. It's a World War II tutorial designed to give GIs and other Americans some grasp of British culture and day-to-day living, especially those times when the Luftwaffe was flying overhead. The film itself has not been restored in the manner of the main feature, but it's still very much worth a look.
And I haven't even gotten into all the other features of the set, including commentary tracks from multiple participants. For that project, they rounded up various film historians, a Welles biographer, and former child star Margaret O'Brien, who played Rochester's ward in the movie.
Non-audio goodies include an informative booklet and a packet of movie still postcards, all of which ought to tide us over until the next remake.
The movie and jazz buffs among us often wind up in the frustrating and apparently endless cycle of having to update our collections every time something is remastered, repackaged, and/or issued with bonus material. Your full-screen DVD gets replaced by a wide-screen version with director's commentary and all the whistles and bells, or that luscious Ella Fitzgerald CD set gets moved aside when Verve issues a new edition with bonus tracks. And so it goes.
It's entirely forgivable, therefore, if the words "special edition" cause you to sigh and roll your eyes. But there are certain works that earn that title honestly, and I've just stumbled on one: the Cinema Classics Collection's release of the 1944 Jane Eyre.Thanks, no doubt, to the enduring popularity of Charlotte Bronte's novel, as well as the indefatigable efforts of filmmakers on both sides of the Atlantic, Jane Eyre has been adapted for cinema and television a truly mind-boggling number of times. Our long-suffering heroine has been played by Samantha Morton and Sorcha Cusack, by Zelah Clarke and Charlotte Gainsbourg. George C. Scott, Timothy Dalton, Ciaran Hinds, and, most recently, Toby Stephens have all taken a turn brooding away as Edward Rochester.
You know the timeless appeal of the story, as well as its plot: having survived a childhood marked by emotional and spiritual deprivation, a young governess undergoes a test of character when she falls in love with an enigmatic and possibly dangerous man.
It therefore provides an interesting subtext to examine the casting in Robert Stevenson's 1944 version. His Jane: Joan Fontaine, who had notable successes playing shy, vulnerable heroines in two of Hitchcock's greatest films, Rebecca and Suspicion. This is not to say she's playing a victim here; Fontaine's watchful eyes and subtly changing expressions suggest a woman who masters her emotions for sheer survival.
Fontaine's understated approach works not merely for the character but also alongside her costar, a practically combustible Orson Welles. His energy and ferocity give Rochester a dangerously obsessive edge. But watch what happens each time he and Fontaine touch. A simple hand clasp conveys worlds of tenderness and passion, not unlike the thwarted lovers in Elia Suleiman's more recent Divine Intervention.
Speaking of intervention, I know what you're thinking. With a force of nature like Orson Welles on the set, how much of the project belonged to the director, Robert Stevenson, and how much to his leading man? The subject is addressed to some degree in the featurette included on the DVD, Locked in the Tower: The Men Behind Jane Eyre. A nice contrast is made between Stevenson, who evidently typified British understatement, and Welles, who roared along at full volume.
It was great getting the lowdown from various insiders, including Stevenson's widow and children, but I must confess what made the featurette for me was the inclusion of Simon Callow among the on-camera commentators. Callow, a writer, director, and scene-stealing actor (Four Weddings and a Funeral, A Room with a View), is also the author of a multi-part biography of Orson Welles. His input is some of the most engaging of the documentary, and I could listen to the guy for hours.
But I've only touched on a portion of the extras on this DVD set. Be sure to watch another of the short films on the disc, Know Your Ally Britain, which Stevenson made for what we used to call the War Department. It's a World War II tutorial designed to give GIs and other Americans some grasp of British culture and day-to-day living, especially those times when the Luftwaffe was flying overhead. The film itself has not been restored in the manner of the main feature, but it's still very much worth a look.
And I haven't even gotten into all the other features of the set, including commentary tracks from multiple participants. For that project, they rounded up various film historians, a Welles biographer, and former child star Margaret O'Brien, who played Rochester's ward in the movie.
Non-audio goodies include an informative booklet and a packet of movie still postcards, all of which ought to tide us over until the next remake.
0 Comments:
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home