Sorcha Cusack as Jane Eyre and Timothy Dalton as Mr Rochester are the perfect combination for this classic novel. Michael Jayston and Zelah Clarke played their respective characters very badly in my humble opinion.
This is the only important version of Jane Eyre's I've not watched end people say it's the best. Well this small piece proved to be excellent... I'd like to watched all the episodes... ;_;
I love Michael Jayston's Rochester but I hate Sorcha Cusack's Jane. Thank you so much for posting this version. I've been watching all that are on youtube and Michael Jayston and Timothy Dalton are my favorite Rochesters but I think that Ciaran Hinds' portrayal may be the one most similar to Bronte's version. Jane seems a much harder character to portray or maybe I'm just harder on the women who've protrayed her.
@greensmyth - Do you really think Ciaran Hinds' portrayal may be the one most similar to Brontë's version? That's astonishing! According to the vast majority of "Jane Eyre" fans, Ciaran is the worst (!) Rochester on screen (alongside with Colin Clive). Hinds himself confessed never having seen any film versions or read the book: clearly, he didn't know what he was doing on set. Besides, the script he was handled to work from had almost nothing taken out of the novel...
Oh, Michael Jayston, you are love, you really are. This man is simply amazing. Such a wonderful actor. I really loved this show and all other things Michael is in, like Doctor Who.
@mendoncacorreia In the book, though, there were a lot of exclamation points. It was just a metaphor. I wasn't saying anything against the actor or the book; as a matter of fact i like the book better than any version of the movie. I'm just saying mostly at the very beginning of this part he sounded like he was reading.
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@felixq78 i totally agree. it's like he's reading, not acting. there should be more exclamation points, and less periods, so to speak. and people seem to forget that Jane is only 19, and Rochester only 40. in this version he lookes 60.
@rockurworldforever - This is Brontë 'verbatim': there should NOT be more exclamations points and less periods. Nobody has the right to (mis)handle literary masterpieces like that.
Michael Jayston is one of the United Kingdom's greatest actors: he was 37 years old when the BBC produced "Jane Eyre" (1973). He is widely (very widely!...) regarded as the best 'Rochester' ever.
@mendoncacorreia Oh, indeed. I couldn't have said it better myself. Michael is one of the best actors to ever grace Britain and certainly the best to portray Rochester. None could do it better.
@rockurworldforever I don't. How does he look sixty? And you are instructing him how to act?!!! You armchair critics are all the same. If he was as crap as you say he wouldn't still be working 30 odd years later
I have mixed feelings about this version. There are some scenes that I find almost perfect and think "THIS is what Rochester and Jane should be like"...and then there are others where that I completely can't stand. As a whole, I do like this version better than the 1983 version but not as much as the 2006 (which continues to be my favorite)
I made a just-for-fun film called JANE EYRE: SCENES FROM MY LIFE on Youtube, IlluminaraArt channel. It is my absolute favorite. This scene clip you are showing is the hardest one for me, the story is over and I hated that Rochester is blind. I plan to make "Part 2" of my fun film, and I'll have to have this scene of course....
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Absolute crap. Anyone who prefers this dribble to the original has my sympathy. Poor deluded fools. Rochester's mediocre performance is embarrassing. The characters have no credibility, shitty acting,
@felixq78 Any simpleton such as you that types the words 'shitty acting' in anything featuring Michael Jayston is the only deluded fool here. The man is class and yoiuobviously just wanted to be extra by making your unfounded derogatory remarks. No doubt you'd be up for Jean Claude Van Damme in the role - imbecile
We are all a little crazy from this version. :))) Is not it? We examine every the smallest detail )) However, I'm glad for this madness. (for me at least). Because it are not just details!
It is often the little things that make a scene so tender. The way he stumbles against the chair, he knows his way round the furniture as we see later, it's the shock of hearing his beloved's voice
This reunion scene warms my heart, and has brought tears more than once, including upon reading the novel the first time. I appreciate that this version includes much of the banter between them, including Jane's teasing about St. John...
I love this version. It's my favorite after the 1983 and 2006 versions. They are both so well cast.
Why do they keep making so many good such good versions of Jane Eyre. I've seen all of them and there are 5 that I absolutely love. What a masterpiece this is.
"Irish Wolfhounds are sweet-tempered, patient, generous, thoughtful [...]. Dignified and willing, they are unconditionally loyal to their owner and family. Not a guard dog by nature [...], use of them as watch dogs is not recommended; although when they or their owners are put in real danger, they display a fearless nature [...]" (Sic: 'Wikipedia').
True, the dog you see here didn't match Brontë's "Pilot"; but it had its moments in this TV serial!
At least it's Sorcha who gives "Pilot" the treat here. Look who does it in "Jane Eyre" (1973) - "The Master of Thornfield" (from 2:41 to 2:44)!
We may be consoled by the fact that even the great Alfred Hitchcock had similar troubles with the dog they got him for "Strangers On A Train" (1951)...
Oh, this dog they have casted for the role of Pilot .... :-) Have you noticed that Sorcha gives him (?) a treat to make him come to her so she can tell him to lie down? I presume they did not manage to make him bark as Pilot does in the novel.
Just wanted to say that you all rock my socks! Thanks so much to both Angelfolc and Mendoncacorreia for uploading these. Jayston and Cusack are both fantastic. I've enjoyed reading many of the comment and debates too. Keep up the awsemnity.
Apropos Jane's marriage: the biographer of Mr. Charlotte Bronte puts a twist on that in his preface: "Reader," [Arthur Nicholls] might have crowed, "I married her!" Can't you just see that big man exclaiming just that?!
Sorry to be gabbing on... I just watched this clip over and over again. The whole thing is ethereal, both Charlotte's outline of this pinnacle of the plot as well as the acting. ...don't laugh, please...
Laugh?! NEVER!!! I can watch this scene again and again too! (Preferrably on the DVD though, as this clip is shortened.) Call me a sentimental fool, I agree heartily!
It is hard to pick any particular lines, but here are two that make me soft inside:
Mr. Rochester: "What right would that ruin have to bid a budding woodbine cover its decay with freshness?"
and later on -
Jane: "And what do I sacrifice? Famine for food? Expectation for content?"
Hrumpf! NB, it was not on the subject on favourite lines I replied to Fleederhus, but the "heart wringing" ones. :-P
The teasing, which is used between the leads in many scenes of this adaptation, is sheer amusement. In this scene, it is not so much of WHAT she says, but HOW she does it. (As in the example you give.) /We/ can see her; Mr. Rochester cannot, poor man. On the other hand; vengeance is required after all the agony he put her through, e.g. Blance Ingram, Mrs. D. O'Gall etc.
Dear 'YouTubers': you see what I mean? Poor, suffering Eddie! "Vengeance is required"!!! And that because of a simple lady-clock, child, 'flying away home'! Imagine!!!
The impudence hadn't been taken out of Janet, wherever she had sojourned - and 'domramalaja' (along with her numberless female friends) goes into ecstasies with that!!!
"For instance, the night before I am married! I am sure I shall not be able to sleep. Will you promise to sit up with me to bear me company? To you I can talk of my lovely one: for now you have seen her and know her."
All he did to her in "Jane Eyre" (1973) - "The enigmas of Mr. Rochester" (7:44 ff.) was:
EDDIE - But God ordains the instrument; and I believe I have found the instrument for my cure in... in Miss Ingram. Dont you think if I married her, she would regenerate me with a vengeance? She is a rare one, is she not, Jane?... You say nothing...
JANET - (Consumed with jealousy.) Yes, sir...
EDDIE - Hmm, a deliberate silence, I see...
"All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman."
I don't think Jane is consumed with jealousy in that particular dialogue. I believe pain is the most predominant feeling. She hears what she fears the most. She has no time to think of miss Ingram and be jealous. She only knows she is going to lose him no matter to whom.
Anyway, remember his words (ch. XX): "Little friend [...], you have noticed my tender penchant for Miss Ingram: don't you think if I married her she would regenerate with a vengeance? [...] Jane, will you watch with me again? [...] For instance, the night before I am married! [...] To you I can talk of my lovely one [...] She's a rare one, is she not, Jane? [...]".
Yes, she is pain... because she is jealous! And she is jealous because she thinks she is going to lose him... to Blanche!
The one that tucks my heartstrings is: "You are not dead in some ditch, under some stream?!" It refers to his confession in the book that he asked his maker to let him join Jane soon as he was sure that she must be dead, since he could nowhere find her.
Look who's writing! The woman who found and raved with Janet's extremely perfidious smile while she says to poor Eddie (at 6:12): "He is a very good man..."!!!
Further to Mr. Jayston's ability to portray despair and joy, may I post this comment here (made for a clip that compares versions of the post-corsair moment):
The only Rochester that comes close to Ms. Bronte's idea, IMHO, is Michael Jayston's under Joan Craft's direction in 1973. Only Jayston can display gruffness and tenderness without appearing ridiculous; only he can combine unconscious self-confidence with sincere solicitude without betraying a contradiction in countenance.
In this scene I'm amazed how MJ shows his crushed pride and humility brought on by his despair. And there is his tender, loving concern for Jane's welfare: "you are not dead in some ditch... nor a pining outcast amongst strangers." Not only happy for himself that she is well, but also for her sake!
Even before words are spoken between Sorcha and Michael. we can see such abject misery in Michael's stance-no wonder this scene tugs at the heart strings
Confession - I sometimes use the pause button to examine Mr. J's facial expressions... (blush). I've noticed that he uses gasps of breath to mark the moments he's overwhelmed by his emotions - so well done!!!
The emotion in this scene from both actors moves me from joy to despair and back to joy again. If I could have a wish I would wish for Charlotte herself to see how they brought her words to life for all to see
I read an excerpt from one of her letters somewhere, where Ms. Bronte expressed doubt about a play based on her novel and about the actor who would perform Rochester. I feel very strongly that Charlotte would have been quite content with this version and Mr. Jayston. He brings out the best in Rochester!
Mendoncacorreia: I "found" another really wicked smile! At 6:14/6:15. Had a friend over today (who is new to "Jane Eyre") and she laughed so hard at her teasing him.
In the meantime, why don't download (for free!) the full transcript of "Jane Eyre (1973)" from "ThisBeCiel"'s beautiful website? You know, just to increase the suspense!...
The actors had good communion, a good bond, even with the sparse dialogue. Ruth Wilson's rebellion during the proposal was very good. The importance of human love was sufficiently highlighted. But on the whole almost all the wit was stripped away, and all its humour - and therefore its intellect. The 2006 version never taught me anything whereas this version offers new insights. So here I am watching this JE73 clip again to gratify my deeper yearning. ...And to hear Michael Jayston!
I've just watched the 2006 version again (watched it when it was first shown on TV), for comparison's sake. The second part has its good moments. I liked Aunt Reed's death and the fall-out between Georgiana and Elizabeth. And I liked the fillers in between what Charlotte Bronte narrated (e.g. Adele's worry of loneliness). And there is Millcote! Even the "steamy" scene has its merits, for it does show Jane's struggle with temptation and Mr. Rochester desire to possess her cost what it may.
Since we have been talking about Sorcha's smiles, did anyone notice when she says: "He [St. John] asked me to marry him" the smile she gives to Michael (at 7'49)? Poor Eddie! That's cruel! That's really cruel!!!
Cruel? Not at all! Especially considering Mr. Rochester's behaviour the morning after Mason left (in Ep. 3) when he almost proposes to Jane but then changes his mind in the middle of the sentence:
"But God ordains the instrument. And I believe I have found the instrument of my cure in... in Miss Ingram. Don't you think if I married her, she'd regenerate me with a vengeance? She's a rare one, is she not, Jane? You say nothing."
What a pity they omitted the passage where Jane asks if he has a comb:
"What for, Jane?"
"Just to comb out this shaggy black mane. I find you rather alarming, when I examine you close at hand: you talk of my being a fairy, but I am sure, you are more like a brownie."
"Am I hideous, Jane?"
"Very, sir: you always were, you know."
But I love her reply around 5:30-5:43 when he asks whom she has been with and just LOOK at HER foxy smile when she says she will leave her tale half told.
Sorcha does caress Michael's hair between 3'58 and 4'08 - but did she do it inspired in that line about the comb? I wonder...
Anyway, I will add that I find the physical connection between both actors much more pleasing and rewarding to the viewer (at least, to me) than in all other screen versions of "Jane Eyre" - namely, "Jane Eyre 2006".
Of course, when one gets to be as old as I am, one knows how important such small details as these caresses are between a man and a woman in love...
You mean when she talks about eagle's feathers? Maybe it could relate to the comb, but I do not think so.
However, I do agree with you about the caresses. It is intrersting to compare this scene with the one the morning after the proposal. Here, I get the feeling she is taking the initiative, while in the earlier scene, he is the one really showing the affection, with kisses and embracings, like someone who is finally allowed to show love openly.
I fully agree with you here: it looks like the "after proposal" and the "ending" scenes of "Jane Eyre 1973" were meant to be simmetrical of each other.
There are several simmetries in the novel, which seem to have been stressed in this screen version: I think those two scenes are a case in point.
And of course we have to make allowances for her previous uneasiness caused by her inexperience of how to kiss and caress him. Edward will teach her that now... :)
Which reminds me of what Hardy mentions in A pair of blue eyes: that when a woman doesnt kiss well it is a sign of virtue indicating that she has not been kissed a lot. Lol!
you know what my dear friend?i'm beginning to like this version very much:D i think this one better than all the other ones, except the 2006 one(i can't help it...)but really beautiful!i really melt now!!!they're very cute
I am so glad to read that, rubytuesday17. I know how it is, it grows into one's mind ... slowly ... slowly ... and enchants with its tenderness, humour and - yes - cuteness until one is completly spellbound.
I do understand that you love JE2006 because of Toby Stephens. But if he was not in that version, would you like it as much?
ahaha you see, about the 1972 bbc serial, so am I!my friends just can't believe i listen to it more than once in a year(coz it's kinda long)but i just love it!and about this one..well, i have to see it completely more than twice, i guess, and then i'll be really able to tell you what i think about it;P take care my dear Eva(btw,did u rnjoy with your friends?)
Once a YEAR?!!? I would not survive without at least one Ep. a DAY (of JE73 or JE72) Thank Heaven for mp3-players! ;-) And the dialogue in JE73 is, thanks to the narrated parts, possible to listen to without watching the DVD. One can play it in the background while working with other stuff on the laptop.
That date, my dear rubytuesday17, was the day I decided to give that typical-1970s-TV-theatre-looking YT-video with the name "Jane Eyre 1973 (Sorcha Cusack, Michael Jayston)" a chance - and I was CAPTIVATED!
Hello one last time/Thus it perhaps impossible for them to understand that someone such as JE who is "poor, plain and obscure."/I was surprised by their comments because of the level of education they had obtained./That said, I see that they have strong opinions about other unfortunate and unfostered people in our society, and, hence, I have come to the conclusion that these two are quite possibly the modern-day version of Blanche Ingram. Perhaps now I am being harsh.../Any comments?/Cheers
Hello yet again/I live in Monttréal where there is a thriving market not only for teaching English to children and young people, but also to Francophone adults, more specifically professionals (you can't hold an important position here and speak only French.)/To cut to the chase, the above-noted comments came from women in junior executive jobs./ They're in their late 20s, early 30s, and I am assuming that they have enjoyed the benefits getting of a good education and consequently a good job....
Hello again/My sincerest thanks to all who have responded. I have found your comments all very interesting and, if you don't mind, I will offer my responses to your postings later on./There is one thing I must add to my previous posting: yes, I do teach young people, i.e. adolescents, but the comments of Jane being spineless and not getting a life and not punching Mr. R in the stomach -- well, those comments came from two older women! Really!/ More in my next posting! The mystery continues...
This is the first part of my post, it disappeared I guess with the rush :)..
Hi :)..
Well, I'm 21 and I love both the story and its heroine..
I would never think of Jane Eyre as a spineless person, when I first read the novel I was amazed by her Character, she was a little girl who suffered the lack of everything in her childhood..
She never had anyone who loved or cared for her but few people, she had every opportunity to turn bad, bitter and evil and yet she didn't..
Hello all/Question(s) I'm posting on all the JE sites for female readers 29 and younger: do you like the story and its heroine? or do you find the novel a crashing bore and Jane spineless?/I teach ESL in Montréal and I am now finding that both my male and female students detest the novel: "Why doesn't Jane get a life?" or "Why didn't she punch him during the wedding scene?" or "Why do we have to read this?"/I'm 44 and I can relate to Jane. Perhaps it's owing to my life experience./Just curious!
She grew to be an accomplished, independent, righteous and strong woman who would never give up to difficulties..
I would call her spineless and a pushover if she decided to stay with Rochester when he was first revealed to be married, if she allowed herself to be his mistress..
When she found it morally wrong she did the right thing and left, choosing to come back to him only when she knew he was free is something to be admired..
lol, long post.. In short I find her to be a very strong welled woman, and pray don't trouble yourself if younger people cannot appreciate good literature, with time they will learn how to appreciate a good book:)..
"Why doesn't Jane get a life?"She has no rich daddy to support her and satisfy her caprices,because in order to live she has a job she detests in which she's not treated well."why doesn't she punches him?"what good would it made her?She had her dreams crushed he would just get a bruise."Why do they have to read this?"To understand how things were then,how lucky they are,what are the benefits of building up a character and keeping high principles.Jane is more confident&balanced any pop idol.
But I'm very much afraid it is going to take some (long?) time to persuade (younger) people that, between a pop idol shouting his/her lungs out and a common man/woman fencing (successfully) his/her way through hard, real life, the exemplary model to be imitated is (not the former but) the latter...
Believe me, my remark is much more than a trite common place: it is one of the (many) genuine worries of (many) parents around the world these days...
Well-according to sheer logic-chances of becoming a pop idol are much less than a "common" person (if such word exists when we are all different,unique) so Jane is closer to identify with."Common" means human and if parents manage to pass to their offsprings from the very beginning values like be contented with what you have and confident about yourself no matter what they've made a huge step.Otherwise,they can argue,you can pass your whole life envying the life of other's,which is such a waste!
hem, would you be so good as to discount me from (younger=) people if that means lover of a pop idol, and despiser of every true form of life, please?
how the devil did i miss this adaptation then?? holy cow, to hear the words straight from the book... "Jane suits me. Do I suit her?" Are you kidding? Of course you suit her! What more does any hot blooded girl want?
Those like me who saw it back in the 70s (yes, I'm THAT old!...) had to wait 33 looooooong years for its release on DVD! Can you imagine how much the BBC made us suffer?!? Hurrah for "Acorn Media"!!!
That would have to be torture. I remember after seeing the 1983 version with Timothy Dalton it took me a long while before I was able to get a recorded copy in vhs, and when I saw it was out on DVD I snatched it up, at a great price of $12. but this particular one cost me about $35. But it's worth it, I've been watching it regularly this last week.
"Jane Eyre 1973" was put on the market by little 'Acorn Media': hence, its comparatively high cost. The BBC stubbornly refused all the demands of countless fans to release it!
Believe it or not, the BBC never did any kind of favors to this mini-serial: during these 33 long years, they gave it no publicity whatsoever; and they insisted in keeping it shelved in their archives, particularly after they released of "Jane Eyre 1983" and "Jane Eyre 2006".
Yet, "Jane Eyre 1973" was extremely popular in its day; and it has remained deeply rooted in the audiences imaginary since.
If there is a screen production which has stood the test of time and triumphed against all odds, that is "Jane Eyre 1973" - no matter what their detractors have been saying here and elsewhere.
As 'ritabannon' wrote in 'IMDb': "It is testimony to the power of those wonderful performances of more than 30 years ago that I can still remember how superb they were."
This version is the best and my favorite. I like all the Jane Eyre's because some show scenes from the books that others don't like in 2006 he kissed her goodnight three times before she went inside, granted in the book he came to her room three times to check on her but she got a kiss each time. The kiss scene in 2006 is awesome, but the tenderness in the 1973 verision is bittersweet. I love that movie and I too saw the bit of silva after the kiss she gives him when she comes back & he's blind
The way Michael and Sorcha use their hands between 5'43 and 5'50 is another great example of tenderness in this version of "Jane Eyre".
First (5'43-5'47), Sorcha caresses Michael's hand; next (5'48-5'49), Michael kisses Sorcha's hand: it's all very delicate, very tender - and very lovely!
Still about tenderness in this version of "Jane Eyre", keep your eyes on Sorcha's right thumb (yes: right thumb!...) between 5:00 and 5:04. It's very sweet, isn't it?...
I may be prude, but I'm not 'that' prude! As the smooch in the "after proposal" scene of this same version, this kiss is not vulgar: this kiss is very, very beautiful - at least to my taste. And, in my humble opinion, this almost invisible detail makes it even more beautiful! I don't know why, it reminds me the 'cord of communion' of the "proposal" scene...
Talk about 'chemistry' in the other screen versions of "Jane Eyre"! Humph!...
'Cord of cummunion' - that was a very beautiful way of expressing it! Truly.
Yes, I noticed this detail the first time I saw the DVD. I thought it was lovely to see that she gave him a real kiss and not a theatre one. As you say; it is a very, very beautiful kiss and the tenderness in it makes me sigh of joy.
Obviously for Mr. Rochester's family money was more important than having kids or at least normal kids. Since Berta was mad, if they ever have kids they likely to have mental problems. Is it a weird family or something normal that time.
It was irrelevant for Rochester's father and brother whether Edward would have children (sane or insane) from Bertha or not.
Rochester's father didn't want the family estate to be divided after his death: it had to be kept together under Rowland. But he couldn't endure Edward should be a poor man: he had to be provided for by a wealthy marriage with a beautiful woman.
That woman would be Bertha. Rochester's father and brother knew she was mad - but she was beautiful and... she was rich!
Since very rich available girls are not easy to find, they wanted Berta for him. I think her beauty was just a tool to catch him. They won't mind if she wasn't pretty at all.
[Rochester:] - "[...] My father said nothing about her money; but he told me Miss Mason was the boast of Spanish Town for her beauty: and this was no lie. I found her a fine woman, in the style of Blanche Ingram: tall, dark, and majestic. [...] I was dazzled, stimulated: my senses were excited; and being ignorant, raw, and inexperienced, I thought I loved her [...]".
Maybe grandfather Rochester was counting on the illegitimate grandchildren for sanity. Lol! Or at least some of the legitimate ones would by chance come out as a little bit eccentric.
He himself was a little bit more obsessed with money but being rich this was not considered stinginess/avarice just baptized as careful with money/foreseeing.
Then again Thornfield had such a space of upper rooms to confine plenty & there was always the option of Ferndean. No this would not be a problem.
And then with the option of the terrace as a playground there would be unavoidably some reduction in the number. You know accidents happen all the time...If he was living in Wuthering Heights he could throw one or two of the stairs, but then Bertha would set the house on fire and burn them all, so who cares? With the money from the insurance he could build it again. And then if Edward had no children the better. He wouldn't puzzling his brain how to divide the property like himself did.
Perhaps the detail I've just found in this very lovely scene of this version of "Jane Eyre" is bound to shock the 'puritans' - but here it goes...
[1/2]
Have you taken a real good look at when Jane gives Rochester the kiss he asks 'the gentle soft dream' to give him 'before it goes'?
You can't notice it very well here because of the images low resolution, but when the kiss is over we can see (oh, yes!...) a very thin thread of saliva growing between Sorcha's and Michael's mouths...
I hate that you think that. It's your right, of course, not arguing that. I only saw the one with Dalton in it when I was in school. I watched it regularly but now that I have seen this one I don't care to watch that one as much. I like this Rochester so much more. Jane in this one seems to be always smiling, I don't see jane as smiling that much.
Jane not smiling much ... hmmm ... I read a discussion about that somewhere (presumably on one of the 'Jane Eyre' IMDb Boards, I cannot check right now). One of the persons in the discussion, who meant that Jane WAS smiling a lot, provided a list with quotations from the novel. Sentences mentioning that Jane smiled. It was interesting reading.
I love the book, it's my favorite, and there are plenty of parts were she smiles a lot. But some of the times when Sorcha smiles it seems at the wrong times. Like right after the fire in the book he's very intense and she seems very nervous but it didn't seem like that in this particular movie. It might just be me lol but I thought that a few times she shouldn't have been smiling. But I love this movie lol so I don't care!
I've been giving some thought to this (recurrent) remark, mainly because I've read the novel many times and I'm always feeling very comfortable with Sorcha's acting.
Now, there is a line in the novel, namely in the 'gipsy woman' scene, when Rochester says: "[...] As to the mouth, it delights at times in laughter; [...] it is a mouth which should speak much and smile often, and have human affection for its interlocutor. [...]" - but was Eddie in jest or in earnest? I wonder...
(1) In the second conversation with Jane, Rochester says: "Do you never laugh, Miss Eyre? [...]". She never 'laughed' or she never 'smiled'?...
(2) In the 'fire scene', he says: "I knew [...] I saw it in your eyes [...]: their expression and smile did not [...] strike delight to my very inmost heart so for nothing." How come, if her mouth didn't have 'human affection to its interlocutor'?...
(3) The night before the wedding, he says: "Look wicked, Jane: as you know well how to look: coin one of your wild, shy, provoking smiles [...]". So, she 'knew it well'!...
(4) In the 'after the wedding' scene, he says: "Very soon [...] you watched me, and now and then smiled at me with a simple yet sagacious grace I cannot describe." So, she soon began to smile at him!...
Do you know how many times Charlotte explicitly describes Jane smiling in the novel? At least, twenty-five. And laughing? At least, four. For one who is seldom supposed to smile, it seems a lot of smiles - at least to me...
And should Charlotte have explicitly described Jane smiling every time she thought she would have smiled? Why? Wouldn't that be poor writing technique? Wouldn't that make the reader a dumb person?
And why shouldn't Jane smile? Aren't her dialogues with Eddie full of wit and bright? Indeed, they are! Don't they make us smile? Yes, they do. Are we told she DOESN'T smile when she answers Eddie the way she does (and he expects)? No, we aren't!
I could go on about this matter, pointing out that Jane was a governess and that governesses (as all paid subordinates) were meant to smile and curtsey to their masters - but I'll leave it here (at least, for now...).
I may look biased Im very fond I am of her... - but I don't think this remark about Sorcha's smiles is quite fair. One of these days, I'll count how many times she REALLY smiles in "Jane Eyre 1973" - just for fun!
Forgive me if Ive been long and boring and pedantic!...
(P.S.: - Mind you, I didn't read the 'IMDb' discussion my good friend 'domramalaja' has mentioned you a few hours ago; but I suppose it won't be far removed from what I've just written here...)
LOL I love all your comments but i think that I might have stepped on toes. As a fellow Jane Eyre lover I agree with all you say and I might count the number of times Sorcha smiles myself ;). I always think of her smiling when she converses with Rochester, I would I think he is a extremely interesting character, he has to be my favorite.
Sorcha Cusack as Jane Eyre and Timothy Dalton as Mr Rochester are the perfect combination for this classic novel. Michael Jayston and Zelah Clarke played their respective characters very badly in my humble opinion.
sirenlyfox 2 months ago
Hindustani would come in useful nowadays working for a London council.
JasonRadley 4 months ago
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• my bottom to top list of Jane Eyre tv and film versions (in two posts)
• 8th. Colin Clive & Virginia Bruce (total 1930's crap)
• 7th.Charlotte Gainsbourg William Hurt (he killed it for me, dreadful portrayal of edward)
• 6th1973 Sorcha Cusack, Michael Jayston (ok its not good but better than these last two
• 5th 1944 Orson Welles & Joan Fontaine (good for an early version
ellenruddy 5 months ago
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• 4th. George C. Scott, Susannah York (missed a lot of the needed detail n passion)
• 3rd 1997 Ciaran Hinds &Samantha Morton (turnoff.. he comes across a little creepy in the bedroom scene)
• 2nd. 1983 with Timothy Dalton & Zelah Clarke (hated Clarke too old, no passion but Dalton brilliant)
• 1st. the 2006 version.. Toby Stephens & Ruth Wilson ( only drawback she’s too tall)
ellenruddy 5 months ago
WE LOVE THIS♥♥!
Mayerling52 10 months ago
This is the only important version of Jane Eyre's I've not watched end people say it's the best. Well this small piece proved to be excellent... I'd like to watched all the episodes... ;_;
Lelablue 11 months ago 2
I love Michael Jayston's Rochester but I hate Sorcha Cusack's Jane. Thank you so much for posting this version. I've been watching all that are on youtube and Michael Jayston and Timothy Dalton are my favorite Rochesters but I think that Ciaran Hinds' portrayal may be the one most similar to Bronte's version. Jane seems a much harder character to portray or maybe I'm just harder on the women who've protrayed her.
greensmyth 1 year ago
@greensmyth - Do you really think Ciaran Hinds' portrayal may be the one most similar to Brontë's version? That's astonishing! According to the vast majority of "Jane Eyre" fans, Ciaran is the worst (!) Rochester on screen (alongside with Colin Clive). Hinds himself confessed never having seen any film versions or read the book: clearly, he didn't know what he was doing on set. Besides, the script he was handled to work from had almost nothing taken out of the novel...
mendoncacorreia 1 year ago
Oh, Michael Jayston, you are love, you really are. This man is simply amazing. Such a wonderful actor. I really loved this show and all other things Michael is in, like Doctor Who.
NicxCoay 1 year ago 5
@mendoncacorreia In the book, though, there were a lot of exclamation points. It was just a metaphor. I wasn't saying anything against the actor or the book; as a matter of fact i like the book better than any version of the movie. I'm just saying mostly at the very beginning of this part he sounded like he was reading.
rockurworldforever 1 year ago
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@felixq78 i totally agree. it's like he's reading, not acting. there should be more exclamation points, and less periods, so to speak. and people seem to forget that Jane is only 19, and Rochester only 40. in this version he lookes 60.
rockurworldforever 1 year ago
@rockurworldforever - This is Brontë 'verbatim': there should NOT be more exclamations points and less periods. Nobody has the right to (mis)handle literary masterpieces like that.
Michael Jayston is one of the United Kingdom's greatest actors: he was 37 years old when the BBC produced "Jane Eyre" (1973). He is widely (very widely!...) regarded as the best 'Rochester' ever.
mendoncacorreia 1 year ago 2
@mendoncacorreia Oh, indeed. I couldn't have said it better myself. Michael is one of the best actors to ever grace Britain and certainly the best to portray Rochester. None could do it better.
NicxCoay 1 year ago 4
@rockurworldforever I don't. How does he look sixty? And you are instructing him how to act?!!! You armchair critics are all the same. If he was as crap as you say he wouldn't still be working 30 odd years later
kamelion7 1 year ago 8
I have mixed feelings about this version. There are some scenes that I find almost perfect and think "THIS is what Rochester and Jane should be like"...and then there are others where that I completely can't stand. As a whole, I do like this version better than the 1983 version but not as much as the 2006 (which continues to be my favorite)
socertiger13 1 year ago
I made a just-for-fun film called JANE EYRE: SCENES FROM MY LIFE on Youtube, IlluminaraArt channel. It is my absolute favorite. This scene clip you are showing is the hardest one for me, the story is over and I hated that Rochester is blind. I plan to make "Part 2" of my fun film, and I'll have to have this scene of course....
IlluminaraArt 1 year ago
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Absolute crap. Anyone who prefers this dribble to the original has my sympathy. Poor deluded fools. Rochester's mediocre performance is embarrassing. The characters have no credibility, shitty acting,
felixq78 1 year ago
@felixq78 Any simpleton such as you that types the words 'shitty acting' in anything featuring Michael Jayston is the only deluded fool here. The man is class and yoiuobviously just wanted to be extra by making your unfounded derogatory remarks. No doubt you'd be up for Jean Claude Van Damme in the role - imbecile
kamelion7 1 year ago 8
It looks like she's wearing a choir robe! But they are wonderful, I think they get the teasing aspect of the relationship quite perfectly.
Jennytheshipper 1 year ago
Comment removed
rockurworldforever 1 year ago 4
'Whoever, whatever you are, be perceptible to touch or I cannot live.' The sheer power and poetry of these words.
JasonRadley 2 years ago 6
@JasonRadley
And these words too:
No, don't leave me. I've touched you and heard you, I cannot give up these joys.
- Can you see me?
- No, my elf, I'm only thankful to hear you and touch you.
--------------------------------------------
I can't calmly listen it! And no matter how many times I have listened!
Ksenija72 2 years ago 3
We are all a little crazy from this version. :))) Is not it? We examine every the smallest detail )) However, I'm glad for this madness. (for me at least). Because it are not just details!
This is love:)
Ksenija72 2 years ago 2
We are, indeed, THE TRULY OBSESSED!... [:D]
mendoncacorreia 2 years ago 2
Oh, yes! Deep love and affection!!!
'Truly obsessed', indeed! (You have seen the multimedia presentation this expression derives from?)
domramalaja 2 years ago 3
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@domramalaja
(You have seen the multimedia presentation this expression derives from?)
what is it? I do not understand (((
Ksenija72 2 years ago
@domramalaja
o yes, i saw it just now, it's beautiful!
thank you and João Pedro
Ksenija72 2 years ago
jajaja i thought it says michael jackson, instead of Michael Jayston jaja
tierna1981 2 years ago
this was my most favorite adaptation of jane eyre. I love this scene.
ToLoseItandwinIt 2 years ago 15
It is often the little things that make a scene so tender. The way he stumbles against the chair, he knows his way round the furniture as we see later, it's the shock of hearing his beloved's voice
caroljaneeyre 2 years ago 7
A remarkable comment, Carol!
mendoncacorreia 2 years ago
This reunion scene warms my heart, and has brought tears more than once, including upon reading the novel the first time. I appreciate that this version includes much of the banter between them, including Jane's teasing about St. John...
enigmaticallyso 2 years ago 7
I love this version. It's my favorite after the 1983 and 2006 versions. They are both so well cast.
Why do they keep making so many good such good versions of Jane Eyre. I've seen all of them and there are 5 that I absolutely love. What a masterpiece this is.
periodmoviesfan 2 years ago 4
pilot is HUGE
Lucithen 2 years ago 3
It's an Irish Wolfhound, 85-90cm height.
"Irish Wolfhounds are sweet-tempered, patient, generous, thoughtful [...]. Dignified and willing, they are unconditionally loyal to their owner and family. Not a guard dog by nature [...], use of them as watch dogs is not recommended; although when they or their owners are put in real danger, they display a fearless nature [...]" (Sic: 'Wikipedia').
True, the dog you see here didn't match Brontë's "Pilot"; but it had its moments in this TV serial!
mendoncacorreia 2 years ago
90 cm...can't imagine a dog that high!!!
Lucithen 2 years ago
At least it's Sorcha who gives "Pilot" the treat here. Look who does it in "Jane Eyre" (1973) - "The Master of Thornfield" (from 2:41 to 2:44)!
We may be consoled by the fact that even the great Alfred Hitchcock had similar troubles with the dog they got him for "Strangers On A Train" (1951)...
mendoncacorreia 2 years ago
Oh, this dog they have casted for the role of Pilot .... :-) Have you noticed that Sorcha gives him (?) a treat to make him come to her so she can tell him to lie down? I presume they did not manage to make him bark as Pilot does in the novel.
domramalaja 2 years ago 2
Just wanted to say that you all rock my socks! Thanks so much to both Angelfolc and Mendoncacorreia for uploading these. Jayston and Cusack are both fantastic. I've enjoyed reading many of the comment and debates too. Keep up the awsemnity.
GirlNamedEd 2 years ago 7
Welcome to join in, GirlNamedEd!
Any point of view is appreciated. (Well, by me at least, I ought not to speak for the others who use to "dwell" here ;-) )
domramalaja 2 years ago 2
Apropos Jane's marriage: the biographer of Mr. Charlotte Bronte puts a twist on that in his preface: "Reader," [Arthur Nicholls] might have crowed, "I married her!" Can't you just see that big man exclaiming just that?!
Fleederhus 3 years ago 2
i like this version, not the best but I've seen worse!
OurEvening 3 years ago
Sorry to be gabbing on... I just watched this clip over and over again. The whole thing is ethereal, both Charlotte's outline of this pinnacle of the plot as well as the acting. ...don't laugh, please...
Fleederhus 3 years ago 3
Fleederhus,
Laugh?! NEVER!!! I can watch this scene again and again too! (Preferrably on the DVD though, as this clip is shortened.) Call me a sentimental fool, I agree heartily!
It is hard to pick any particular lines, but here are two that make me soft inside:
Mr. Rochester: "What right would that ruin have to bid a budding woodbine cover its decay with freshness?"
and later on -
Jane: "And what do I sacrifice? Famine for food? Expectation for content?"
domramalaja 2 years ago
Dear 'YouTubers': pay NO ATTENTION WHATSOEVER to this comment! Everyone acquainted with 'domramalaja' knows very well HER FAVORITE LINES here are:
[6:03-6:18]
Rochester - This parson, Rivers, is your cousin?
Jane - Yes...
Rochester - Do you like him?
Jane - He is a very good man...
[7:36-7:49]
Rochester - Ah! The root of the matter. He wanted you to marry him.
Jane - He asked me to marry him...
Yes, impudent Janet teasing poor Eddie here is SHEER DELIGHT for 'domramalaja'!!!
mendoncacorreia 2 years ago 2
Hrumpf! NB, it was not on the subject on favourite lines I replied to Fleederhus, but the "heart wringing" ones. :-P
The teasing, which is used between the leads in many scenes of this adaptation, is sheer amusement. In this scene, it is not so much of WHAT she says, but HOW she does it. (As in the example you give.) /We/ can see her; Mr. Rochester cannot, poor man. On the other hand; vengeance is required after all the agony he put her through, e.g. Blance Ingram, Mrs. D. O'Gall etc.
domramalaja 2 years ago
Dear 'YouTubers': you see what I mean? Poor, suffering Eddie! "Vengeance is required"!!! And that because of a simple lady-clock, child, 'flying away home'! Imagine!!!
The impudence hadn't been taken out of Janet, wherever she had sojourned - and 'domramalaja' (along with her numberless female friends) goes into ecstasies with that!!!
mendoncacorreia 2 years ago
No, no; Eddie is our "dear boy."
Fleederhus 2 years ago
The vengenace is most of all for:
"[...] Jane, when will you watch with me again?"
"Whenever I can be useful, sir."
"For instance, the night before I am married! I am sure I shall not be able to sleep. Will you promise to sit up with me to bear me company? To you I can talk of my lovely one: for now you have seen her and know her."
(From Ch. XX and sadly omitted from JE73. )
How COULD he do that to her?!?!
domramalaja 2 years ago 2
Comment removed
mendoncacorreia 2 years ago
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All he did to her in "Jane Eyre" (1973) - "The enigmas of Mr. Rochester" (7:44 ff.) was:
EDDIE - But God ordains the instrument; and I believe I have found the instrument for my cure in... in Miss Ingram. Dont you think if I married her, she would regenerate me with a vengeance? She is a rare one, is she not, Jane?... You say nothing...
JANET - (Consumed with jealousy.) Yes, sir...
EDDIE - Hmm, a deliberate silence, I see...
"All wickedness is but little to the wickedness of a woman."
mendoncacorreia 2 years ago
I don't think Jane is consumed with jealousy in that particular dialogue. I believe pain is the most predominant feeling. She hears what she fears the most. She has no time to think of miss Ingram and be jealous. She only knows she is going to lose him no matter to whom.
ksotikoula 2 years ago
[1/2]
To 'ksotikoula':
You shouldn't take my last comment too seriously: I was just teasing 'domramalaja'...
mendoncacorreia 2 years ago
[2/2]
Anyway, remember his words (ch. XX): "Little friend [...], you have noticed my tender penchant for Miss Ingram: don't you think if I married her she would regenerate with a vengeance? [...] Jane, will you watch with me again? [...] For instance, the night before I am married! [...] To you I can talk of my lovely one [...] She's a rare one, is she not, Jane? [...]".
Yes, she is pain... because she is jealous! And she is jealous because she thinks she is going to lose him... to Blanche!
mendoncacorreia 2 years ago
The one that tucks my heartstrings is: "You are not dead in some ditch, under some stream?!" It refers to his confession in the book that he asked his maker to let him join Jane soon as he was sure that she must be dead, since he could nowhere find her.
Fleederhus 2 years ago 2
Look who's writing! The woman who found and raved with Janet's extremely perfidious smile while she says to poor Eddie (at 6:12): "He is a very good man..."!!!
mendoncacorreia 2 years ago
Further to Mr. Jayston's ability to portray despair and joy, may I post this comment here (made for a clip that compares versions of the post-corsair moment):
The only Rochester that comes close to Ms. Bronte's idea, IMHO, is Michael Jayston's under Joan Craft's direction in 1973. Only Jayston can display gruffness and tenderness without appearing ridiculous; only he can combine unconscious self-confidence with sincere solicitude without betraying a contradiction in countenance.
Fleederhus 3 years ago 2
In this scene I'm amazed how MJ shows his crushed pride and humility brought on by his despair. And there is his tender, loving concern for Jane's welfare: "you are not dead in some ditch... nor a pining outcast amongst strangers." Not only happy for himself that she is well, but also for her sake!
Fleederhus 3 years ago 4
Even before words are spoken between Sorcha and Michael. we can see such abject misery in Michael's stance-no wonder this scene tugs at the heart strings
caroljaneeyre 3 years ago 5
Confession - I sometimes use the pause button to examine Mr. J's facial expressions... (blush). I've noticed that he uses gasps of breath to mark the moments he's overwhelmed by his emotions - so well done!!!
Fleederhus 3 years ago 5
The emotion in this scene from both actors moves me from joy to despair and back to joy again. If I could have a wish I would wish for Charlotte herself to see how they brought her words to life for all to see
caroljaneeyre 3 years ago 22
A beautiful comment!
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago 3
Right on the mark, Carol!
I read an excerpt from one of her letters somewhere, where Ms. Bronte expressed doubt about a play based on her novel and about the actor who would perform Rochester. I feel very strongly that Charlotte would have been quite content with this version and Mr. Jayston. He brings out the best in Rochester!
Fleederhus 3 years ago 5
He, he - don't you wish they had filmed the complete last chapter with Sorcha sitting on Michael's knee?!
Fleederhus 3 years ago 6
yes (and if I could have swapped places with her mmmm)
caroljaneeyre 3 years ago 7
beautiful
charkiwoman 3 years ago 3
Mendoncacorreia: I "found" another really wicked smile! At 6:14/6:15. Had a friend over today (who is new to "Jane Eyre") and she laughed so hard at her teasing him.
Fleederhus 3 years ago 3
Yes! That's murderous!!! Poor Eddie!...
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
what can i say? splendid, just splendid. wish i had this version on dvd... erghhhh
abemoni 3 years ago 2
The DVD version is worth STEALING!!!
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
Having your profession in mind, I believe that is a very controversial comment coming from you, mendoncacorreia!
domramalaja 3 years ago 2
Why? I'm a lawyer - not a judge... [lol]
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
Well said Mr Briggs! Ha ha!
ksotikoula 2 years ago 3
Does any one know where a poor person like me without a credit card could obtain it? Please, please, please.
I have the 1983 version which I like best with the 1973 version in a tie. Oh, the suspence.
EDM9121 3 years ago
I would ask someone who has a credit card to buy it for me and then pay back by baby sitting, gardening or whatever service might suit.
domramalaja 3 years ago
Good idea. Thanks. By the way, do you by any chance know where I could find it? Amazon, perhaps?
EDM9121 3 years ago
I will send you a PM with some links.
domramalaja 3 years ago
In the meantime, why don't download (for free!) the full transcript of "Jane Eyre (1973)" from "ThisBeCiel"'s beautiful website? You know, just to increase the suspense!...
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
Will do. Thanks. Oh, and ha ha.
EDM9121 3 years ago
The actors had good communion, a good bond, even with the sparse dialogue. Ruth Wilson's rebellion during the proposal was very good. The importance of human love was sufficiently highlighted. But on the whole almost all the wit was stripped away, and all its humour - and therefore its intellect. The 2006 version never taught me anything whereas this version offers new insights. So here I am watching this JE73 clip again to gratify my deeper yearning. ...And to hear Michael Jayston!
Fleederhus 3 years ago 4
I've just watched the 2006 version again (watched it when it was first shown on TV), for comparison's sake. The second part has its good moments. I liked Aunt Reed's death and the fall-out between Georgiana and Elizabeth. And I liked the fillers in between what Charlotte Bronte narrated (e.g. Adele's worry of loneliness). And there is Millcote! Even the "steamy" scene has its merits, for it does show Jane's struggle with temptation and Mr. Rochester desire to possess her cost what it may.
Fleederhus 3 years ago
Since we have been talking about Sorcha's smiles, did anyone notice when she says: "He [St. John] asked me to marry him" the smile she gives to Michael (at 7'49)? Poor Eddie! That's cruel! That's really cruel!!!
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
Cruel? Not at all! Especially considering Mr. Rochester's behaviour the morning after Mason left (in Ep. 3) when he almost proposes to Jane but then changes his mind in the middle of the sentence:
"But God ordains the instrument. And I believe I have found the instrument of my cure in... in Miss Ingram. Don't you think if I married her, she'd regenerate me with a vengeance? She's a rare one, is she not, Jane? You say nothing."
Remember HIS smile when he says that??
domramalaja 3 years ago 2
That is a fiction - an impudent invention to vex Eddie!!!
[Eddie] - "It would be wicked to VEX me!"
[Janet] - "It would not be to TEASE you!"
Cruel, cruel deserter!!!
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
What a pity they omitted the passage where Jane asks if he has a comb:
"What for, Jane?"
"Just to comb out this shaggy black mane. I find you rather alarming, when I examine you close at hand: you talk of my being a fairy, but I am sure, you are more like a brownie."
"Am I hideous, Jane?"
"Very, sir: you always were, you know."
But I love her reply around 5:30-5:43 when he asks whom she has been with and just LOOK at HER foxy smile when she says she will leave her tale half told.
domramalaja 3 years ago 3
Sorcha does caress Michael's hair between 3'58 and 4'08 - but did she do it inspired in that line about the comb? I wonder...
Anyway, I will add that I find the physical connection between both actors much more pleasing and rewarding to the viewer (at least, to me) than in all other screen versions of "Jane Eyre" - namely, "Jane Eyre 2006".
Of course, when one gets to be as old as I am, one knows how important such small details as these caresses are between a man and a woman in love...
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
You mean when she talks about eagle's feathers? Maybe it could relate to the comb, but I do not think so.
However, I do agree with you about the caresses. It is intrersting to compare this scene with the one the morning after the proposal. Here, I get the feeling she is taking the initiative, while in the earlier scene, he is the one really showing the affection, with kisses and embracings, like someone who is finally allowed to show love openly.
domramalaja 3 years ago 3
I fully agree with you here: it looks like the "after proposal" and the "ending" scenes of "Jane Eyre 1973" were meant to be simmetrical of each other.
There are several simmetries in the novel, which seem to have been stressed in this screen version: I think those two scenes are a case in point.
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
I fully agree with you there about Jane taking the initiative. In the book she says:
A soft hope blest with my sorrow that soon I should dare to drop a kiss on that brow of rock and on those lips so sternly sealed beneath it
She's a different woman that Jane that returns after St John. She really knows what she wants and is willing to claim it.
ksotikoula 2 years ago 2
And of course we have to make allowances for her previous uneasiness caused by her inexperience of how to kiss and caress him. Edward will teach her that now... :)
Which reminds me of what Hardy mentions in A pair of blue eyes: that when a woman doesnt kiss well it is a sign of virtue indicating that she has not been kissed a lot. Lol!
ksotikoula 2 years ago
you know what my dear friend?i'm beginning to like this version very much:D i think this one better than all the other ones, except the 2006 one(i can't help it...)but really beautiful!i really melt now!!!they're very cute
rubytuesday17 3 years ago
[evileyes] What? "Except the 2006 one"?!? 'CIARÁN', FETCH!!! [lol]
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
sorry, i don't like ciaran a lot..really sorry!lol
rubytuesday17 3 years ago
Why not?! He barks like any old sly dog! [lol]
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
i dunno!don't really like him, his way of acting...dunno really
rubytuesday17 3 years ago 2
Acting?! Barking, you mean!!! [lol]
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
lol
rubytuesday17 3 years ago
I am so glad to read that, rubytuesday17. I know how it is, it grows into one's mind ... slowly ... slowly ... and enchants with its tenderness, humour and - yes - cuteness until one is completly spellbound.
I do understand that you love JE2006 because of Toby Stephens. But if he was not in that version, would you like it as much?
domramalaja 3 years ago 2
i think i would love it even without him..but a bit less perhaps:D but this one is old-fashioned in a lovely way....really sweet!thanks my dear eva:D
rubytuesday17 3 years ago 2
This old-fashioned thing is... enthralling!
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago 2
what does enthralling means, please?(i'm french)
rubytuesday17 3 years ago
[Quoted from "TheFreeDictionary", online:]
en·thrall
tr.v. en·thralled, en·thrall·ing, en·thralls
1. To hold spellbound; captivate: "The magic show enthralled the audience."
2. To enslave.
Middle English, to put in bondage : en-, causative pref.; see en-1 + thrall, slave; see thrall.
en·thralling·ly adv.
en·thrallment n.
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
Of course, you may ask: are people like 'domramalaja' and I simply captivated or truly enslaved by "Jane Eyre 1973"?
Well, as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't really matter!...
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
Give our good friend 'rubytuesday17' just a little more time... Soon, she will drop the 2006-chalk for the 1973-cheese!
(By the way, didn't the same happen with a certain... huh, what was her name?... ah, yes!, 'domramalaja', about JE1983?...)
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
ahaha my dear eva is really reallu enthralled with this, i know that;D thanks!!!
rubytuesday17 3 years ago 5
Guilty! I am Truly Obsessed. This miniseries and the 1972 BBC Radio 4 serial, you know.
domramalaja 3 years ago 3
ahaha you see, about the 1972 bbc serial, so am I!my friends just can't believe i listen to it more than once in a year(coz it's kinda long)but i just love it!and about this one..well, i have to see it completely more than twice, i guess, and then i'll be really able to tell you what i think about it;P take care my dear Eva(btw,did u rnjoy with your friends?)
rubytuesday17 3 years ago 4
Once a YEAR?!!? I would not survive without at least one Ep. a DAY (of JE73 or JE72) Thank Heaven for mp3-players! ;-) And the dialogue in JE73 is, thanks to the narrated parts, possible to listen to without watching the DVD. One can play it in the background while working with other stuff on the laptop.
domramalaja 3 years ago
Dear 'rubytuesday17': you know, 'domramalaja' is QUITE RIGHT! This stuff is THAT ADDICTIVE! And there's NO CURE for it!...
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
so do I!but they couldn't more than once!but i listen to it before sleeping...
rubytuesday17 3 years ago
Which is your favourite scene in the 1972 Radio serial?
domramalaja 3 years ago
"Ex-act-ly -- pre-cise-ly" :-P
(And do you know what; I had a crush on TS too, just as rubytuesday17, until the 11th of February ... That is why I understand her so well.)
domramalaja 3 years ago 2
errr...sweetie, can i inquire..why the 11th of february?oh, two days before my bday!sorry...
rubytuesday17 3 years ago
That date, my dear rubytuesday17, was the day I decided to give that typical-1970s-TV-theatre-looking YT-video with the name "Jane Eyre 1973 (Sorcha Cusack, Michael Jayston)" a chance - and I was CAPTIVATED!
domramalaja 3 years ago
ah okay thanks;P
rubytuesday17 3 years ago
[Ahem!] Is it true that a certain 'rubytuesday17' has also become enthralled by this old-fashioned thing?... [lol]
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
oui!mais quant à "old-fashioned" ceci n'était pas péjoratif,au contraire!
rubytuesday17 3 years ago
He (Mr Rochester) doesn't call her a "wicked changling" for nothing, does he.
EDM9121 3 years ago 3
Hello one last time/Thus it perhaps impossible for them to understand that someone such as JE who is "poor, plain and obscure."/I was surprised by their comments because of the level of education they had obtained./That said, I see that they have strong opinions about other unfortunate and unfostered people in our society, and, hence, I have come to the conclusion that these two are quite possibly the modern-day version of Blanche Ingram. Perhaps now I am being harsh.../Any comments?/Cheers
bp1963p 3 years ago
Hello..
Actually I'm quite surprised that these comments were made by older people..
I can tell you that my 14 soon to be 15 year old cousin and I enjoyed every bit of the novel..
I have never read a Classical novel by a female writer displaying so much passion and intensity in every paragraph..
And again I say that Jane Eyre was never a weak woman, she never blamed her poverty or misfortune and grew up rather fine..
I hope I put it well in English ^_^
3houd 3 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Hello yet again/I live in Monttréal where there is a thriving market not only for teaching English to children and young people, but also to Francophone adults, more specifically professionals (you can't hold an important position here and speak only French.)/To cut to the chase, the above-noted comments came from women in junior executive jobs./ They're in their late 20s, early 30s, and I am assuming that they have enjoyed the benefits getting of a good education and consequently a good job....
bp1963p 3 years ago
Hello again/My sincerest thanks to all who have responded. I have found your comments all very interesting and, if you don't mind, I will offer my responses to your postings later on./There is one thing I must add to my previous posting: yes, I do teach young people, i.e. adolescents, but the comments of Jane being spineless and not getting a life and not punching Mr. R in the stomach -- well, those comments came from two older women! Really!/ More in my next posting! The mystery continues...
bp1963p 3 years ago
This is the first part of my post, it disappeared I guess with the rush :)..
Hi :)..
Well, I'm 21 and I love both the story and its heroine..
I would never think of Jane Eyre as a spineless person, when I first read the novel I was amazed by her Character, she was a little girl who suffered the lack of everything in her childhood..
She never had anyone who loved or cared for her but few people, she had every opportunity to turn bad, bitter and evil and yet she didn't..
3houd 3 years ago 2
Hello all/Question(s) I'm posting on all the JE sites for female readers 29 and younger: do you like the story and its heroine? or do you find the novel a crashing bore and Jane spineless?/I teach ESL in Montréal and I am now finding that both my male and female students detest the novel: "Why doesn't Jane get a life?" or "Why didn't she punch him during the wedding scene?" or "Why do we have to read this?"/I'm 44 and I can relate to Jane. Perhaps it's owing to my life experience./Just curious!
bp1963p 3 years ago
She grew to be an accomplished, independent, righteous and strong woman who would never give up to difficulties..
I would call her spineless and a pushover if she decided to stay with Rochester when he was first revealed to be married, if she allowed herself to be his mistress..
3houd 3 years ago
When she found it morally wrong she did the right thing and left, choosing to come back to him only when she knew he was free is something to be admired..
lol, long post.. In short I find her to be a very strong welled woman, and pray don't trouble yourself if younger people cannot appreciate good literature, with time they will learn how to appreciate a good book:)..
3houd 3 years ago
"Why doesn't Jane get a life?"She has no rich daddy to support her and satisfy her caprices,because in order to live she has a job she detests in which she's not treated well."why doesn't she punches him?"what good would it made her?She had her dreams crushed he would just get a bruise."Why do they have to read this?"To understand how things were then,how lucky they are,what are the benefits of building up a character and keeping high principles.Jane is more confident&balanced any pop idol.
ksotikoula 3 years ago 3
The right answers (in my humble opinion)!
But I'm very much afraid it is going to take some (long?) time to persuade (younger) people that, between a pop idol shouting his/her lungs out and a common man/woman fencing (successfully) his/her way through hard, real life, the exemplary model to be imitated is (not the former but) the latter...
Believe me, my remark is much more than a trite common place: it is one of the (many) genuine worries of (many) parents around the world these days...
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
Well-according to sheer logic-chances of becoming a pop idol are much less than a "common" person (if such word exists when we are all different,unique) so Jane is closer to identify with."Common" means human and if parents manage to pass to their offsprings from the very beginning values like be contented with what you have and confident about yourself no matter what they've made a huge step.Otherwise,they can argue,you can pass your whole life envying the life of other's,which is such a waste!
ksotikoula 3 years ago
hem, would you be so good as to discount me from (younger=) people if that means lover of a pop idol, and despiser of every true form of life, please?
rubytuesday17 3 years ago 5
Aaaaaaah! There is reason to have hope, after all!
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
i don't know wether i am a reason to hope or not, but at least i never thought that popstars' life was worth jane's one:D
rubytuesday17 3 years ago 3
how the devil did i miss this adaptation then?? holy cow, to hear the words straight from the book... "Jane suits me. Do I suit her?" Are you kidding? Of course you suit her! What more does any hot blooded girl want?
abemoni 3 years ago 4
Those like me who saw it back in the 70s (yes, I'm THAT old!...) had to wait 33 looooooong years for its release on DVD! Can you imagine how much the BBC made us suffer?!? Hurrah for "Acorn Media"!!!
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
That would have to be torture. I remember after seeing the 1983 version with Timothy Dalton it took me a long while before I was able to get a recorded copy in vhs, and when I saw it was out on DVD I snatched it up, at a great price of $12. but this particular one cost me about $35. But it's worth it, I've been watching it regularly this last week.
RachelG1979 3 years ago 3
[1/2]
"Jane Eyre 1973" was put on the market by little 'Acorn Media': hence, its comparatively high cost. The BBC stubbornly refused all the demands of countless fans to release it!
Believe it or not, the BBC never did any kind of favors to this mini-serial: during these 33 long years, they gave it no publicity whatsoever; and they insisted in keeping it shelved in their archives, particularly after they released of "Jane Eyre 1983" and "Jane Eyre 2006".
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
[2/2]
Yet, "Jane Eyre 1973" was extremely popular in its day; and it has remained deeply rooted in the audiences imaginary since.
If there is a screen production which has stood the test of time and triumphed against all odds, that is "Jane Eyre 1973" - no matter what their detractors have been saying here and elsewhere.
As 'ritabannon' wrote in 'IMDb': "It is testimony to the power of those wonderful performances of more than 30 years ago that I can still remember how superb they were."
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
This version is the best and my favorite. I like all the Jane Eyre's because some show scenes from the books that others don't like in 2006 he kissed her goodnight three times before she went inside, granted in the book he came to her room three times to check on her but she got a kiss each time. The kiss scene in 2006 is awesome, but the tenderness in the 1973 verision is bittersweet. I love that movie and I too saw the bit of silva after the kiss she gives him when she comes back & he's blind
RachelG1979 3 years ago 2
"Tenderness"! Now, that is very, very well put!
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
The way Michael and Sorcha use their hands between 5'43 and 5'50 is another great example of tenderness in this version of "Jane Eyre".
First (5'43-5'47), Sorcha caresses Michael's hand; next (5'48-5'49), Michael kisses Sorcha's hand: it's all very delicate, very tender - and very lovely!
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago 2
Still about tenderness in this version of "Jane Eyre", keep your eyes on Sorcha's right thumb (yes: right thumb!...) between 5:00 and 5:04. It's very sweet, isn't it?...
mendoncacorreia 2 years ago 3
Oh, you have noticed that too. Indeed, it is very sweet! That is a very subtle way of showing affection.
domramalaja 2 years ago 5
[2/2]
I may be prude, but I'm not 'that' prude! As the smooch in the "after proposal" scene of this same version, this kiss is not vulgar: this kiss is very, very beautiful - at least to my taste. And, in my humble opinion, this almost invisible detail makes it even more beautiful! I don't know why, it reminds me the 'cord of communion' of the "proposal" scene...
Talk about 'chemistry' in the other screen versions of "Jane Eyre"! Humph!...
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
'Cord of cummunion' - that was a very beautiful way of expressing it! Truly.
Yes, I noticed this detail the first time I saw the DVD. I thought it was lovely to see that she gave him a real kiss and not a theatre one. As you say; it is a very, very beautiful kiss and the tenderness in it makes me sigh of joy.
domramalaja 3 years ago
Obviously for Mr. Rochester's family money was more important than having kids or at least normal kids. Since Berta was mad, if they ever have kids they likely to have mental problems. Is it a weird family or something normal that time.
galinaqt 3 years ago
It was irrelevant for Rochester's father and brother whether Edward would have children (sane or insane) from Bertha or not.
Rochester's father didn't want the family estate to be divided after his death: it had to be kept together under Rowland. But he couldn't endure Edward should be a poor man: he had to be provided for by a wealthy marriage with a beautiful woman.
That woman would be Bertha. Rochester's father and brother knew she was mad - but she was beautiful and... she was rich!
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
Since very rich available girls are not easy to find, they wanted Berta for him. I think her beauty was just a tool to catch him. They won't mind if she wasn't pretty at all.
galinaqt 3 years ago
From chapter XXVII of the novel:
[Rochester:] - "[...] My father said nothing about her money; but he told me Miss Mason was the boast of Spanish Town for her beauty: and this was no lie. I found her a fine woman, in the style of Blanche Ingram: tall, dark, and majestic. [...] I was dazzled, stimulated: my senses were excited; and being ignorant, raw, and inexperienced, I thought I loved her [...]".
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
Maybe grandfather Rochester was counting on the illegitimate grandchildren for sanity. Lol! Or at least some of the legitimate ones would by chance come out as a little bit eccentric.
He himself was a little bit more obsessed with money but being rich this was not considered stinginess/avarice just baptized as careful with money/foreseeing.
Then again Thornfield had such a space of upper rooms to confine plenty & there was always the option of Ferndean. No this would not be a problem.
ksotikoula 2 years ago
And then with the option of the terrace as a playground there would be unavoidably some reduction in the number. You know accidents happen all the time...If he was living in Wuthering Heights he could throw one or two of the stairs, but then Bertha would set the house on fire and burn them all, so who cares? With the money from the insurance he could build it again. And then if Edward had no children the better. He wouldn't puzzling his brain how to divide the property like himself did.
ksotikoula 2 years ago
Perhaps the detail I've just found in this very lovely scene of this version of "Jane Eyre" is bound to shock the 'puritans' - but here it goes...
[1/2]
Have you taken a real good look at when Jane gives Rochester the kiss he asks 'the gentle soft dream' to give him 'before it goes'?
You can't notice it very well here because of the images low resolution, but when the kiss is over we can see (oh, yes!...) a very thin thread of saliva growing between Sorcha's and Michael's mouths...
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
In my opinion, those two actors are the worst Jane and Rochester.
15987631 3 years ago
I hate that you think that. It's your right, of course, not arguing that. I only saw the one with Dalton in it when I was in school. I watched it regularly but now that I have seen this one I don't care to watch that one as much. I like this Rochester so much more. Jane in this one seems to be always smiling, I don't see jane as smiling that much.
RachelG1979 3 years ago 3
Jane not smiling much ... hmmm ... I read a discussion about that somewhere (presumably on one of the 'Jane Eyre' IMDb Boards, I cannot check right now). One of the persons in the discussion, who meant that Jane WAS smiling a lot, provided a list with quotations from the novel. Sentences mentioning that Jane smiled. It was interesting reading.
domramalaja 3 years ago 2
I love the book, it's my favorite, and there are plenty of parts were she smiles a lot. But some of the times when Sorcha smiles it seems at the wrong times. Like right after the fire in the book he's very intense and she seems very nervous but it didn't seem like that in this particular movie. It might just be me lol but I thought that a few times she shouldn't have been smiling. But I love this movie lol so I don't care!
RachelG1979 3 years ago 3
[1/6]
I've been giving some thought to this (recurrent) remark, mainly because I've read the novel many times and I'm always feeling very comfortable with Sorcha's acting.
Now, there is a line in the novel, namely in the 'gipsy woman' scene, when Rochester says: "[...] As to the mouth, it delights at times in laughter; [...] it is a mouth which should speak much and smile often, and have human affection for its interlocutor. [...]" - but was Eddie in jest or in earnest? I wonder...
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
[2/6]
Let us check it out:
(1) In the second conversation with Jane, Rochester says: "Do you never laugh, Miss Eyre? [...]". She never 'laughed' or she never 'smiled'?...
(2) In the 'fire scene', he says: "I knew [...] I saw it in your eyes [...]: their expression and smile did not [...] strike delight to my very inmost heart so for nothing." How come, if her mouth didn't have 'human affection to its interlocutor'?...
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
[3/6]
(3) The night before the wedding, he says: "Look wicked, Jane: as you know well how to look: coin one of your wild, shy, provoking smiles [...]". So, she 'knew it well'!...
(4) In the 'after the wedding' scene, he says: "Very soon [...] you watched me, and now and then smiled at me with a simple yet sagacious grace I cannot describe." So, she soon began to smile at him!...
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
[4/6]
Do you know how many times Charlotte explicitly describes Jane smiling in the novel? At least, twenty-five. And laughing? At least, four. For one who is seldom supposed to smile, it seems a lot of smiles - at least to me...
And should Charlotte have explicitly described Jane smiling every time she thought she would have smiled? Why? Wouldn't that be poor writing technique? Wouldn't that make the reader a dumb person?
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
[5/6]
And why shouldn't Jane smile? Aren't her dialogues with Eddie full of wit and bright? Indeed, they are! Don't they make us smile? Yes, they do. Are we told she DOESN'T smile when she answers Eddie the way she does (and he expects)? No, we aren't!
I could go on about this matter, pointing out that Jane was a governess and that governesses (as all paid subordinates) were meant to smile and curtsey to their masters - but I'll leave it here (at least, for now...).
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
[6/6]
I may look biased Im very fond I am of her... - but I don't think this remark about Sorcha's smiles is quite fair. One of these days, I'll count how many times she REALLY smiles in "Jane Eyre 1973" - just for fun!
Forgive me if Ive been long and boring and pedantic!...
(P.S.: - Mind you, I didn't read the 'IMDb' discussion my good friend 'domramalaja' has mentioned you a few hours ago; but I suppose it won't be far removed from what I've just written here...)
mendoncacorreia 3 years ago
LOL I love all your comments but i think that I might have stepped on toes. As a fellow Jane Eyre lover I agree with all you say and I might count the number of times Sorcha smiles myself ;). I always think of her smiling when she converses with Rochester, I would I think he is a extremely interesting character, he has to be my favorite.