George C Scott sports his ugly mug and gruff demeanor expertly in another Victorian Classic (he aptly played Scrooge in a competent adaptation of A Christmas Carol). Although he looks a little older than Rochester's late 30's as envisioned by Bronte, I can't really imagine anyone doing her vision more justice. Leaps and bounds better than the 2015 adaptation of Far from the Madding Crowd that sported some sort of male model playing Hardy's homely Gabriel Oak.
The actress playing Jane, while also visibly older than the teenaged Jane of the novel, is expertly cast; she's not exactly ugly as Jane seems to have been meant to be, but she does have Jane's restrained passion and she very much fills hearts with compassion, embodying that weathered but also lonely personality that you'd expect me an adult raised in an orphanage to have.
If you love the book, you'll love this version, no doubt. It's got the casting and the settings.
Unfortunately, if you're not just singing along to a well-known tune with knowledge of the source material, you might be confused. The whole novel is covered here, which means that the story is very much simplified and you have to already know what's between the lines to really see its brilliance as a supplement to the novel. We never see Jane fall in love with Rochester, nor vice versa. In fact, the movie just lunges from the initially prickly Rochester to the two protagonists' emotional proximity with little development or explanation. Along the same lines, Rochester remains a rather brusque fellow throughout and he doesn't really earn the audience's endearment.
If you know and like the book, it's a highly fitting companion, though.
Honourable Mentions: Hardcore (1979). Scott plays a father looking for his daughter amongst the pornographic rubble of a decadent Los Angeles. Along the way he develops a somewhat paternal fondness from a young working woman. I don't think it's an actual romance - perhaps he just sees his daughter in her - even though there are hints, but it's the same dynamic and I think makes for a very nice romantic story - an older man with a tough outer shell comes to fill the emptiness of a lost and lonely woman as they grow close to each other through the course of the work.
The actress playing Jane, while also visibly older than the teenaged Jane of the novel, is expertly cast; she's not exactly ugly as Jane seems to have been meant to be, but she does have Jane's restrained passion and she very much fills hearts with compassion, embodying that weathered but also lonely personality that you'd expect me an adult raised in an orphanage to have.
If you love the book, you'll love this version, no doubt. It's got the casting and the settings.
Unfortunately, if you're not just singing along to a well-known tune with knowledge of the source material, you might be confused. The whole novel is covered here, which means that the story is very much simplified and you have to already know what's between the lines to really see its brilliance as a supplement to the novel. We never see Jane fall in love with Rochester, nor vice versa. In fact, the movie just lunges from the initially prickly Rochester to the two protagonists' emotional proximity with little development or explanation. Along the same lines, Rochester remains a rather brusque fellow throughout and he doesn't really earn the audience's endearment.
If you know and like the book, it's a highly fitting companion, though.
Honourable Mentions: Hardcore (1979). Scott plays a father looking for his daughter amongst the pornographic rubble of a decadent Los Angeles. Along the way he develops a somewhat paternal fondness from a young working woman. I don't think it's an actual romance - perhaps he just sees his daughter in her - even though there are hints, but it's the same dynamic and I think makes for a very nice romantic story - an older man with a tough outer shell comes to fill the emptiness of a lost and lonely woman as they grow close to each other through the course of the work.