Was Mia Wasikowska any good in your opinion?

You're right, SB. My exposure to Mia is very limited, which is why I hesitate to condemn her acting style based purely on Jane Eyre. After all, as I say in my post, her portrayal may just be interpretation. I don't happen to agree with that interpretation, but that is beside the point.

I suppose I find the tone of that article rather smug - suggesting that those who fail to see the "subtle projection of something compelling from deep inside" as suffering from "attention deficit disorder". Now, I need to watch the DVD closely when I finally get it to see if there is something that I've hitherto missed. But it's an annoying thing to say, nevertheless.

Finally, I certainly don't think that the actress who plays Jane should be "bouncing off the walls". If that criticism is directed at Ruth Wilson, then I believe it is misplaced. Ruth gave an understated performance in all places except where it mattered - the proposal scene. Her rendering of that scene was straight from the book.




Lawrence, we're going to need considerably bigger buns!

Isn't she fab? I'd never seen Midnight before. My daughter bought it for me. It's hilarious.

Did I forget to leave my armour in the hall ?

I think it probably is better than most other adaptations. But not 06.

And the equality we are talking about isn't just who is the better person. Crucial to understand that to understand my reading of the book (and a lot of other people's too). But those are arguments that won't be settled until the cows come home.

Let's look at what my youtube clip calls "The horse scene" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKjfC893v1M&feature=related


Jane doesn't have a timid bone in her body. We have seen that from the start. Noises in the forest don't scare her, especially pheasants taking off which is a regular occurrence. And anyway, she is on a road. At dusk. (JE73 sets the scene in darkness because there are two mentions of the moon but the moon rises at midday and it's still light when it is waxing and anyway, Jane says there is daylight left.) She is, however, listless, preoccupied with the boredom of her new life and thinking about leaving Thornfield.

You can see that Ruth's gait is desultory. She is walking without purpose or pleasure. Her first reaction to the noise is curiosity, not fear, she doesn't look for shelter or dive for the bushes, she stares straight down the path at whatever might be coming. There's an ounce of trepidation on her face as the barking gets louder but she doesn't flinch. She looks amazed when the horse rears almost in her face but she still stands her ground. Then you can read genuine concern for rider, testy impatience with his display of temper, though when he pauses for breath there is a hint of a smile that says 'So you ARE alright then' and then, ignoring the insults a couple of genuine offers of help. Toby reads all of this and realises he is dealing with someone out of the ordinary, calms down and decides he can ask her if she can bring him the horse without risking a fit of the vapours. We can read all of this in his expression. He looks at Jane, realises she's apprehensive but decides she has enough pluck to give it a go.

She sees him change his tune, he expresses genuine gratitude and a modicum of respect, which she notices and appreciates. But as he now knows who she is, he reasserts the master/servant relationship and tells her to get home. She misinterprets this as she doesn't know who he is yet and testily tells him she'll do as she intends and not as he asks. To secure the last word, he bids her farewell, savouring her name, caressing it with an emphasis that she won't understand until they meet later. One of my favourite bits in any adaptation. Of anything. I'm quite happy, writing this, watching it over and over agin.

I'm not exaggerating. This is all there and I remember sitting to attention the first time I saw it, thinking 'hello, this isbit unusual'.

Furthermore, if you look at the text in the book, you'll see that at this crucial point, whatever arpeggios she might indulge in elsewhere, Sandy Welch is sticking like glue to what Bronte wrote. Although all adaptations have their good points, nothing else is as faithful and nothing comes close to the quality of this horse scene.