Jane Eyre (1996 film)
| Jane Eyre | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Franco Zeffirelli |
| Produced by | Dyson Lovell |
| Written by |
Hugh Whitemore Franco Zeffirelli (based on the novel by Charlotte Brontë) |
| Starring |
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| Music by |
Claudio Capponi Alessio Vlad |
| Cinematography | David Watkin |
| Edited by | Richard Marden |
| Distributed by |
Miramax Films (US) Pathé (UK) |
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Release date
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Running time
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116 minutes |
| Country | France Italy United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English French |
| Box office | $5,200,601 |
Jane Eyre is a 1996 American, British, French and Italian romantic epic and dramatic feature film adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name. This Hollywood version, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, is similar to the original novel, although it compresses and eliminates most of the plot in the last quarter of the book (the running away, the trials and tribulations, new found relations, and new job) to make it fit into a 2-hour movie.
Jane Eyre (portrayed as the orphan child by Anna Paquin and as an adult by Charlotte Gainsbourg) is the plain, impoverished young woman who is hired by Mr. Rochester (William Hurt) through Mrs. Fairfax (Joan Plowright) to work as a governess for Adèle (Josephine Serre). Despite her mild unprepossessing manner more like a nun, Jane has strong internal passions and shows her strength in character in expressing her opinions and showing resolve in times of trouble. Rochester is the Byronic anti-hero who is tortured and tormented by family troubles, past injustices and secrets. Rochester and Jane find an affinity for each other and fall in love. The marriage date is set. What she does not realize is that she must share the estate (and ultimately Mr. Rochester) with his wife, Bertha (Maria Schneider), who is mentally ill and kept locked away in an upstairs attic with a nurse, Grace Poole (Billie Whitelaw).
The marriage is stopped by Bertha's brother Richard Mason (Edward de Souza) and lawyer Briggs (Peter Woodthorpe). Jane flees, her world crashing down is a nightmare. She recovers in the parsonage of her original aunt's home, discovers she is now a wealthy woman inheriting her long-lost uncle's fortune in Madeira. She gets a proposal of marriage from Parson St. John Rivers but her heart and soul is with Rochester. She goes back to find Thornfield Hall burnt down but Rochester is crippled and blinded by the fire set by his mad wife, Bertha, who has killed herself in the fire. However, Jane's love for Rochester remains undiminished; she nurses him back to health, he recovers his eyesight and they marry.
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