Jane Eyre deleted scenes

I'm still debating as to whether or not to buy the DVD when it is released in Region 1 format. Apparently, the Region 1 DVD is going to be just the TV production, without all the extra bits like the deleted scenes and the commentary. Booooooo. This will be the work of PBS.

Thanks goodness for the internet. Some people in the UK have just received their DVDs and, bless their hearts, have shared all the good stuff with the rest of the world. Thank you! whoever you are!

All the deleted scenes from the Region 2 DVD

And my favourite Ruth Wilson scene. It's not my favourite because it's romantic, it's my favourite because it highlights what an awesome actress Ruth Wilson is. This scene was one of the last scenes they shot for the adaptation.

Jane Eyre - Part 2

Just a reminder for those of you who are in the US and Canada, the second part of Jane Eyre is playing tomorrow night on PBS. This part's really steamy! Don't miss it!

(I love the pic, it's Jane Eyre with an attitude!)

Sunday mash-up

Today I stayed home instead of going to church. I have a slight cold that I've been fighting since Thursday, but I rarely get sick, so this is really dragging me down.

I've also pretty much ditched doing homework this weekend as I'm feeling so out of it, yet I managed to do laundry, wash dishes, and do my weekly balancing of books. I also hung out with my couples group last night where we ate way too many nachos and discussed charitable giving (the topic for the evening).

Later today will be a trip to the new downtown Costco so my mum can get her snow tires on her car. Irony is that I really don't think we're going to get any more snow. Typically, snow comes (if it comes) in the first part of January. The last snow dump we had a few days ago have all but disappeared, to be replaced by rain and warmer temperatures. However, I have a strange premonition that I will eat my words at some point, we've had such wacky weather so far.

The not doing homework thing over a weekend is not good for me as it ends up putting me further back behind schedule. But that's a rant for another day.

For those who are in the US and Canada, the 2006 BBC version of Jane Eyre is finally airing on PBS tonight! Yay! Okay, I know I've seen it already (thanks to the internet and evil, illegal downloading), but I'm still excited, can't wait to actually watch the thing on a 50" TV instead of bent over my work laptop.

Pictured above is Toby Stephens (my current Brit actor crush) as Mr. Rochester, best known for playing Gustav Graves in the Bond flick, Die Another Day, and Ruth Wilson as Jane Eyre. Miss Wilson is a relative newbie, but the two are amazing on the screen. I quite enjoyed this adaptation, the actors did a terrific job, and the visuals are quite stunning. One word of warning for those who are book purists, the adaptation does stray a little away from the book, especially in Part 3, which airs next week. But take it for what it is: an adaptation (and not a literal translation of the book).

Okay, I hear hubby just come back from the grocery store and he bought me drugs! Yay!

Jane Eyre - The End? (Lots of spoilers

Okay, this is my last Jane Eyre post, for a little while anyways. I love the picture above, they look like a disgruntled married couple having an argument.

I thought I'd post some other viewer's comments:
I agree with The Unconscious Argentinean's comments the most, but didn't agree with her feelings under the "Things that troubled me" section. It was weird watching the flashbacks the first time in episode 4, but they work well, I think. Rochester's desperately trying to talk Jane into staying, he knows that she's going to leave. It's Jane who has the upper hand, not Rochester. Also, the lack of the childhood scenes. Frankly, I thought her childhood would translate quite boringly onto the screen, despite the fact that they are an important part to Jane's character development.

Here's one by Living in the Past and one by La Reine Noire.

And for some complete silliness, click for some picspam here (not quite SFW), and here.

Jane Eyre - Ultimate-Ultimate

Inevitably what happens after a TV or movie showing that people really like, there will be someone out there who makes a music video. Most music video out there are pretty quickly put together by amateurs, which goes to show you that the software is out there to make something pretty snazzy, very cheaply and easily nowadays.

Unfortunately, I find about 99% of them not worth watching. Music, I think is a very personal thing, so how one interprets music and relates it to his or her life is also very personal.

Anyways, I've been watching a great many Jane Eyre music videos, and have actually found some music that I really like. One thing about having people from around the world do these music videos is that I'm hearing music that I've never heard before, which I think is cool.

So I have some new ultimate-ultimates (warning, lots of spoilers below, so if you want to listen to the music, click, then minimize the browser to just listen):

Nara by E.S. Posthumus. I actually like this video, even though the editing is a little choppy (which I will forgive because this is a first-time video), is that it's presented a little differently that many music videos, and the music actually matches the mood the creator is trying to impart on us. I've since downloaded some more music by this group. What's also great about the music is that this music lends itself very well to movies, which is why it works so well in this video. If you actually check out Wikipedia, this same music has been used in several different movies.



Another great group that I've discovered is Within Temptation. They are a goth metal group from the Netherlands. I'm not normally into metal, but they put out some pretty funky stuff. The music video's okay, but I like the music itself more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1YdTRHW2-8

While this is not an ultimate-ultimate song, I'm putting it here because I like the bass (Everything by Lifehouse): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s7qwYVbp6U

And for those of you who saw the trailers on TV, the music is by Goldfrapp, an electronica band from the UK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvN4aRILm5s

Jane Eyre (Part 3) - Meet Edward

When I first heard that Toby Stephens was to play Mr. Rochester, I thought, "Who the heck is he?" Well, I went over to IMBD and lo and behold, I have seen him before. He played the the Korean-cum-White Boy baddie in Die Another Day. Believe it or not, one of the few things I remembered about this film was how impressed I was with the actor who played Gustav Graves. In fact, in the scene above, if you listen to the commentary on the DVD, they were quite astounded by the depth of acting. I recall thinking that this was one of the better bad guys that I've seen, and I actually liked his evilness.














As I had mentioned earlier, Mr. Rochester is my favourite hero because he's so passionately in love with Jane. I love Toby as Mr. Rochester. Like Ruth Wilson, he brings so much depth, charisma and emotion to the character. Toby made Mr. Rochester alive in my mind. So, here are my impressions of Mr. Rochester as I was watching Jane Eyre.

Mr. Rochester is creepy. I've noted that on at least three occasions, Rochester knows exactly where Jane is, even if she thinks he doesn't. I suppose when you're newly in love with someone, you always know where that person is. You tend to be hypersensitive when it comes to that other person. Rochester's "Jane-radar" was going waaay off the scale. At least twice, he pops out from nowhere. Similar instances are in the book, but watching it as it is portrayed really gave me the creeps, I thought he was stalking Jane.

Mr. Rochester has bad hair. I have decided that I don't like the long hair. I don't know whose idea it was to give him long hair, but I thought at times he looked about 50 years old, and one time, I though he was actually constipated. I blame the hair for that. Plus, Toby kept on having hair accidents off-set. What you see are hair extensions, and they would fall out once in while, and at the most inopportune times. Poor guy. He would have looked much younger and better looking with short hair (Okay, Mr. Rochester is supposed to be not much to look at, but Toby Stephens is a very good looking man, so hence the hair comment. Gimme a break, I'm female).

Mr. Rochester is a big jerk. Really, it never occurred to me that how Rochester was treating Blanche and Jane was not right. Not only was he was being manipulative, but cruel even. It was the first thought that went through my head when I realized (after all these years) what Rochester really was doing with the whole house party thing. So thank you Toby for showing me what a jackass Rochester can be. And I still don't know what Jane sees in him.

Mr. Rochester is a magical cowboy. Okay, this has nothing to do with the character and everything to with the actor. I've noticed that when Toby is walking, he looks like he's swaggering. Either his shoes hurt him, or his breeches are too tight, but I always think he's in pain. This is not a slight on him, merely an observation, so please don't flame me. As for the magical part, his mother's none other than Maggie Smith, and at least once, I thought I saw the McGonagall glare. Hey, it's in the genes. (I think he looks a bit like her, and probably where he got his chiseled good looks).

But really, Toby is an excellent actor. I've been watching clips of some of his other work that he's done, and I'm thinking, "Wow! This guy is really, really good!" If you don't believe me, click here for the clips; just be careful that you avoid the Jane Eyre ones as they contain spoilers. So I'll be watching a lot of Toby in the near future.

Don't go yet, still more coming...

Jane Eyre (Part 2) - Meet Jane

This is Ruth Wilson. She plays Jane Eyre in the new BBC adaptation. I have to say that she was AWESOME as Jane! Really!

The one thing about her acting that I love is how she shows emotion. Her face is very expressive and she can do subtle very well. Even when her facial expression seems to be bland, you can tell that something's just brewing below the surface. That takes talent.

I've never realized before how emotional and passionate a person Jane Eyre was until I saw this adaptation. A previous adaptation that I've seen long ago with Timothy Dalton had Jane act really dull and lifeless. This of course coloured my characterization, in my mind, of Jane as a dull, lifeless person. If you don't believe me, watch this YouTube clip.

But Jane Eyre is anything but. Ruth Wilson really made Jane Eyre's character come alive. While re-reading the novel, I suddenly pictured her as Jane, and I could see that she really was an interesting person.

So Ruth Wilson, thank you so much for showing me Jane's true character, and show me who Mr. Rochester fell in love with! (Really, I've always wondered what he saw in her!)

Another kudos for Ruth. If you check out her IMDB page, you will note that she's has virtually nothing on her CV. This is because this girl pretty much came out of acting school last year. I'm definitely looking forward to watching her in the future. She's made a fan of me.

Still more coming...

Jane Eyre (Part 1) - some spoilers

Once in a while, I get very obsessive about a certain thing. My poor husband has to put up with my obsessions, usually by ignoring me (but pretending to listen/care). Well, if you can guess from my last post, Jane Eyre is my new obsession.

So the BBC just aired a new adaptation of Jane Eyre. I have to say I quite liked it. I had to first watch it bent over my laptop (very uncomfortable), as it won't be airing in North America until January 2007 on Masterpiece Theatre. Thus, I entered the world of illegal downloads (something I've never done before), mainly because I did manage to watch the first episode when it aired in the UK, and got sucked in. (You lawyer type out there, I will be buying the DVD, so leave me alone!)

Before I go on, I must warn those of you who love the book and who intend on watching this latest adaptation that this version has been modernized a fair bit. And I don't mean so much of the language as some scenes/passages were either removed, rearranged or redone, all for the 21st century audience. There were a lot of complaints that there was a fair bit of the novel missing, or not redone to their liking. This group I would label more as "purists" to the novel itself. I won't go into too much detail as I don't want to spoil your viewing pleasure should you choose to watch.

However, I recall having the exact reaction the first time I saw Pride and Prejudice (the one with Keira Knightley). This too was modernized somewhat and I forced myself to throw away all my preconceptions and to watch it a second time in the theatre. I have to say I enjoyed it better the second time around and it did work well, but it still should have been longer than 2.5 hours.

So after seeing Jane Eyre at least twice over (and some of the episodes more than twice), I have to say, give it a chance, it does grow on you.

So here's my opinions/weird thoughts thus far...
- The mad lady wasn't mad looking enough
- Yes, the ending was cheesy, but it fit in the the screenplay writer's vision of Jane Eyre
- The kissing scenes fit in well, but I feel this is where most of the purists will complain (once you see it you will understand).
- No, my favourite quote isn't in there, it got replaced with something just as good =D

Favourite line by a minor character:
Adele: Mrs. Fairfax, Mr. Rochester says that all the ladies will find me disgusting!
Mrs. F: That's nice dear.

Favourite non-verbal scene:
Lady Ingram giving Jane the iciest stare in the world. Even I could feel the chill! (Sorry, I couldn't find a decent pic of this, but Francesca Annis was absolutely perfect for Lady I!)

More to come...

Jane Eyre: a book review(-ish)

Believe it or not, I've never read the entire novel of Jane Eyre from beginning to end. I've always intended to, but really there are parts of the novel which are really, really boring and wholly unromantic.

What propelled me to finally read the whole novel were two things:
1) I have a ton of novels that I've never fully read sitting on my bookshelf. So I made a resolution of sorts to read through every one of them from beginning to end before I buy any more books. Okay, I've bought some since, but I'm definitely keeping to my resolution of reading the books from beginning to end. I am notorious for skipping over sections and reading the ending before I actually get to it. What can I say, I get bored and impatient easily. I don't think there's a single book that I haven't done this to.
2)The BBC put forth yet another adaptation of Jane Eyre, which has just finished airing in the UK. I found out about it before my UK trip and actually saw the first episode when we were in Scotland. More on that later.

I have to say that I liked the book, and actually reading through some of the boring bits helped me understand Jane and the plot a bit better. However, I suspect that when I re-read this book again, I'll probably only go back to the parts I like.

Although Jane Eyre isn't my favourite book, Mr. Rochester is my favourite romantic hero. Sorry, but Mr. Darcy is a big stick in the mud as a character, Mr. Rochester is way more dynamic and romantic in my opinion. Really rich guy falls for a poor, plain Jane, what woman wouldn't want that happeneing?

My favourite quote from the book, from Ch 27 (Mr. Rochester speaking to Jane):

Then you are mistaken, and you know nothing about me, and nothing about the sort of love of which I am capable. Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own: in pain and sickness it would still be dear. Your mind is my treasure, and if it were broken, it would be my treasure still: if you raved, my arms should confine you, and not a strait waistcoat -- your grasp, even in fury, would have a charm for me: if you flew at me as wildly as that woman did this morning, I should receive you in an embrace, at least as fond as it would be restrictive. I should not shrink from you with disgust as I did from her: in your quiet moments you should have no watcher and no nurse but me; and I could hang over you with untiring tenderness, though you gave me no smile in return; and never weary of gazing into your eyes, though they had no longer a ray of recognition for me. -- But why do I follow that train of ideas?

My only major beef with the book is St. John Rivers. I couldn't believe how much I wanted to punch him in the face! What a self-righteous, pompous ass! And how dare he use the name of God to justify what he's doing to Jane. I though he was emotionally abusing her. I would love to dig further how people back in the Victorian era would have viewed St. John and his self-righteousness. I certainly don't agree with it, and I'm Christian.

I'm also questioning what the point of having St. John in the book, or rather, why he is that way to Jane. He could have been the kind clergyman cousin and that would have been the end to him. If Charlotte Bronte is trying to make a statement with him, I've completely missed it.

Another beef: I don't know why Jane has so little faith in Rochester after she runs away from him. She's constantly fearing that he has gone back to the continent and taken up with mistresses again. Does Jane really not know her man?

Overall, an enjoyable book. Next up, my reviews of the latest adaptation...