Product Details

• Actors: Anna Paquin, Nic Knight, William Hurt, Charlotte Gainsbourg
• Directors: Franco Zeffirelli
• Format: PAL, Import, Full Screen, Dolby, Closed-captioned
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 4 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00101ZMK6
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #292,174 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Description Jane Eyre is an orphan case out as a young girl by her aunt, Mrs Reed, and sent to be raised in a harsh charity school for girls. There she learns to become a teacher and eventually seeks employment outside the school. Her advertisement is answered by the housekeeper of Thornfield Hall, Mrs Fairfax

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Serious casting problems, March 13, 2011

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Persimmon (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Jane Eyre (Amazon Instant Video)

I adore Jane Eyre, and have been watching every adaptation I can get my hands on; the 2006 Masterpiece Theatre miniseries with Ruth Wilson is the best I've found so far, though the 1983 BBC version is more faithful to the book (almost slavishly so).

This one is at the bottom of the heap. There are a few problems, but the most glaring is that William Hurt is profoundly miscast as Rochester. Hurt is a great actor, but his cerebral, detached style is inappropriate for the role of a virile, passionate, angry Byronic hero. Add this to the facts that a) Charlotte Gainsbourg, although she looks the part of Jane perfectly (you can see both "plain" and "unearthly" in her face), plays all of her character's outward demureness but none of her emotional restlessness or wit, and b) almost all of the couple's lighter, playful moments have been excluded in favor of inexplicable bickering that is not original to the book, and you have a complete lack of chemistry between the two leads. This would be fatal to the film even if it got everything else right. And it doesn't: it exaggerates some aspects of the story, like Jane's childhood rebelliousness, so that the viewer feels beaten over the head with the director's themes; severely curtails major plot points, e.g. St. John Rivers, such that it's unclear why the screenwriter bothered to include them at all; and wrongheadedly eliminates some of the best scenes in the book (I can forgive the exclusion of the "gypsy woman" scene, as I think that it's unfilmable as written -- who wants to see Jane Eyre as Lois Lane? -- but leaving out Rochester's explanation to Jane after the the existence of his wife is revealed is hugely detrimental to the emotional resonance of the movie. And lightning tree! I ask you, why would you leave lightning tree out of a Gothic romance? Why?). In general, it seems as though Zeffirelli was trying to focus on the quieter, more psychological aspects of the novel. Unfortunately, in doing so he cut out all of the humor, sharpness, fury, and ardor that not only characterize Brontė's book, but are indispensable to its success.

I rented this because I had just watched the first part of the Masterpiece Theatre miniseries mentioned above, and I knew that I would have to wait a couple of days for Netflix to send me the second part. I was jonesing for a dramatization of the second half, but having seen this, I wish I'd resisted the temptation. This version is ill-conceived, clumsy, and unforgivably boring.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worthy of the classic!, April 12, 2011

By 

Abby "Rexgrl" (Atascadero, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jane Eyre (Amazon Instant Video)

I have seen 4 versions of Jane Eyre and am looking forward to see the 5th. This is the worst version I have ever seen. William Hurt as Mister Rochester? PUULEEASSSE, he sucks!!! Don't waste your time on this version...there are much better versions out there!

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars blah, January 20, 2011

By 

Belinda Berryhill (Seattle WA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Jane Eyre (Amazon Instant Video)

I loved the book! Passionate, Spiritual, Composure, and a gruff sort of real love. This movie was a very poor adaptation of the book! First of all, the girl who played Jane was timid and too young looking. My husband called her fragile and feared for her throughout the movie. Nothing like the book, where she is strong hearted and willed. She also looks about 14 and sticks her lips out like she wears braces... very distracting. The guy who plays Mr. Roschester only did slightly better. His acting was more spot on, but he obviously felt very little for his opposite and there were no sparks whatsoever. In fact the way they played off of each other it was just as much a surprise to my husband (who hasn't read the book) as it was to Miss Fairfax that they fell in love. Which brings me to Miss Fairfax, who was the only character worth watching. She fully became Mrs. Fairfax with her kindness and discretion. In fact her portrayal made me realize new things about her in the book that I hadn't noticed before. I don't want to blame it all on the actors... The screen writing/ directing was heartless and quick too. It sped through things with little emotion. I hope to find a better version.