Jane Eyre

 Year:  2011

Director:  Cary Joji Fukunaga

Screenplay:  Moira Buffini, based on the novel Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Starring:  Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Bell, Judi Dench, Sally Hawkins

Running Time:  120 minutes

Genre:  Drama, romance

19th Century England:  A tearful Jane Eyre (Wasikowska) runs away from Thornfield Hall, and lost, cold and hungry, she eventually collapses on the moors.  Jane is rescued by St. John Rivers (Bell) and his two sisters, Diana (Holliday Grainger) and Mary (Tamzin Merchant), who nurse her back to health.  As she recuperates, Jane remembers her unhappy childhood, as an orphan, treated cruelly by her aunt Mrs. Reed (Hawkins) and cousins, and later the brutal conditions at Lowood School for Girls. When she leaves school, at the age of 18, Jane gets a job as a governess at Thornfield Hall, and finds herself increasingly drawn to her brooding, enigmatic employer, Edward Rochester (Fassbender).

There have been many screen adaptations of Charlotte Brontë's beloved classic novel,  and this version, scripted by Moira Biffini and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga is, more or less, a faithful adaptation.  However, while the book tells it's story in a linear fashion, the film opens with a scene that occurs late in the book and much of the story unfolds as a flashback.  Also a lot of sequences of the book, necessarily, had to be cut, this is notable in the scenes in Jane's childhood that seem kind of rushed, and the ending which feels quite abrupt, I was quite surprised when the end credits rolled because I was sure there was at least another scene to go.  Although I am saying that as someone who is a huge fan of the novel, it's one of my favourite books.  The film includes most of the book's important plot points and characters, and the omissions didn't spoil the film as far as I was concerned.  It is beautifully made, with the moods of wild, unforgiving nature; gothic gloom and mystery; as well as sun dappled romance all being perfectly conveyed.  Mia Wasikowska gives a great performance as Jane, capturing Jane's strong will, and conveying a lot with a passing look or the way she carries herself.  Michael Fassbender makes for a magnificently brooding Rochester.  It is an impressive production, and should satisfy devoted Brontë fans, as well as those unfamiliar with Jane Eyre.

Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska in Jane Eyre

 

The Shape of Water

Year of Release:  2017
Director:  Guillermo del Toro
Screenplay:  Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, from a story by Guillermo del Toro
Starring:  Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins, Doug Jones, Michael Stuhlbarg, Octavia Spencer
Running Time:  123 minutes
Genre:  Fantasy, romance

Baltimore, 1962:  Elisa Esposito (Hawkins) is a mute janitor at a secret government laboratory.  One night a new "asset" is delivered, under the supervision of sinister Colonel Richard Strickland (Shannon).  The asset turns out to be an amphibious humanoid creature.  As Strickland performs a series of cruel tests on the creature, Elsa secretly bonds with him, a bond which develops into a friendship and then something much more intimate.  However, Strickland wants to kill the creature for experimentation, and there is also a group of Soviet spies, who want to kill the creature before the Americans can discover it's secrets.

This is a beautiful, elegant romantic fantasy.  Although rooted in Baltimore in 1962, the film appears to take place in a strange, otherworld.  Sally Hawkins gives a tender delicate performance as Elisa, and Doug Jones manages to make the creature into a genuine emotional character despite the layers of make-up and special effects.  The true monster in the film is Michael Shannon as the sadistic Strickland, who somehow becomes more bestial as the film goes on, while the creature becomes more human.  The film has a tenderness and real emotion, despite being surprisingly graphic and quite violent in places.  It has a warmth to it however, and richness in the supporting characters, such as Elisa's friends, the lonely artist neighbor, Giles (Jenkins), and garrulous, unhappily married Zelda (Spencer).   This is a beautiful and powerful adult fairy tale.

Underwater love:  Elisa (Sally Hawkins) and the Creature (Doug Jones) in The Shape of Water