Jane Eyre, part 2

Watched the second half of the series yesterday and ended up hoping they would release it on DVD soon since they already aired it on the Culture channel! I cannot compare the second half to the book in detail (yet) but I very much enjoyed watching the second half putting aside all the comparisons. My conclusion will be that the portrayal of the relationship was done wonderfully, but I can feel how they interpreted it towards the modern audience. I won't complain about that, however. Being a translator I would say that the most important thing is to consider the interest of those for whom you are interpreting, and that is what was done in the new adaptation and with an impressing result. These Jane and Rochester look so well together, you can see it from the moment Jane helps him on the horse and you start feeling for them and wanting they finally overcome all the obstacles and be happy together. You feel happy for Jane when she looks herself over in the mirror after Rochester proposed and your heart breaks when she's wondering in the moor after the truth about the mad wife is revealed. (The scenes with Bertha were hard for me to bear). You have to interpret the first person narration when adapting the novel to screen and Ruth Wilson's rendering Jane's state of mind was so moving and psychologically true. And there was something about Toby Stephen's Mr Rochester that made you believe he was Rochester and sympathize with him.

I was very happy for both when Jane returns to Thornfield and they are reunited, and the closing scene, though somewhat melodramatic, made sense. I can now see how they wanted to make contrast between the Reeds portrait where Jane was "not the family" and the family portrait with the cousins, Mrs Fairfax, Adele and the two children (and Pilot :-) ) where Jane is a happy wife and mother. The story has its dark and heartbreaking moments but this end does not leave a heavy feeling with you.

On the whole, I think I am rather glad they took a bit of a modernistic approach to it. It was moving to follow the development of the relationship, really romantic and impressive. Combined with realistic landscapes and scenery I really think it was made less gloomy and more perceptible for modern audience. It's just amazing how they made it more perceptible with actually not deviating much from what was in the novel.

Looking forward towards the DVD and also going to see the 1983 version after I finish the novel.