Movie: Jane Eyre

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Genre: Classic, life, romance, period drama

Primary actors: Samantha Morton, Ciaran Hinds, Gemma Jones

Length: Two hours (so it felt fast…Jane Eyre is a big book)

Based on: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Time period: 1800s

Year it came out: 1997 (this is the A&E version)

My overall opinion: Well, Jane Eyre has some strange parts, but this movie didn’t play them down at all, that’s for sure! I’m not saying it made them bigger than they were either, but they certainly weren’t hidden at all. As you period-drama-knowledgeable readers may have noticed, this film included several Doubles. These included Samantha Morton (Harriet in a version of Emma), Ciaran Hinds (Captain Wentworth in the 1995 Persuasion), and Gemma Jones (Mrs. Dashwood in the 1995 S&S). There was one other as well, an older lady who appears in Wives and Daughters and Cranford as well. 

The costumes were quite unremarkable. I understand that Jane had little money for clothes, but I did feel that she had one dress (a purple one) to wear most of the time and another (a green one) to wear on occasion…and that was all. I like variety in my clothes and in the clothes of people in period-dramas, so that was a bit disappointing. The soundtrack too was unremarkable. 

However, this version stayed quite close to the book, though as I mentioned, it felt rushed. Two hours…it’s hard to get a book that size into so little time. Interestingly, it didn’t show the most climatic scene (well, actually, maybe it’s not…the scene…how to describe without giving it away…the scene in which Mr. Rochester changes). It was merely described later. That’s also how it is in the book, but it seems like something that a movie would have been tempted to overplay. So all in all…it was a good movie, though not amazing.

Male Doubles: Post 4

I accumulated so many short posts adding one or two doubles that I decided to combine all the male ones into another big post. So here it is -- Male Doubles: Post 4! Note that all of these have been published previously...no new ones here. But soon, Male Doubles Post 5! That'll have new ones. :)

John Rhys-Davies

Gimli (Lord of the Rings, 2001, 2002, 2003)

Sallah (Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc 1981, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 1989)

A Turk (?) (King Solomon's Mines, 1985)*

Voice for Cassim (Aladdin, 1995)*(correct picture?)

Ciaran Hinds

Captain Wentworth (Persuasion, 1995)

Sir Tarleton (Amazing Grace, 2006)

Bill Paterson

Mr. Gibson (Wives and Daughters, 1999)

Lord Dundas (Amazing Grace, 2006)

Andy Serkis

Voice for Gollum (and Gollum's actions were based on his own) (Lord of the Rings, 2001, 2002, 2003)

Captain Haddock (Tintin, 2011)*

Rigaud (Little Dorrit, 2008)

Alun Armstrong

Flintwich (Little Dorrit, 2008)

Bucket (Bleak House, 2005)

***Interesting, Alun Armstrong has also acted in two versions of Oliver Twist, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield, AND The Mystery of Edwin Drood. I think we could say he's essential to Dickens!***

Movie: Amazing Grace

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.75 (we’ll round to a 9)

Genre: Adventure, biography

Primary actors: Romola Garai, Michael Gambon, Ioan Gruffudd

Length: About two hours

Based on: William Wilberforce’s life (you also meet John Newton!)

Time period: 1700's and 1800's

Quote(s): We are too young to realize that certain things are impossible...so we will do them anyway.

Year it came out: 2006

My overall opinion: I didn’t love it as much as I’d hoped to, but it was still a very moving movie. Wilberforce did an unbelievable amount of work against slavery! I had no idea that he’d spent as many years as he did working on that. It was very eye-opening.

There were some wonderful recognizable actors in here…see the post about the Doubles for this movie that comes out later today. :) They included Romola Garai (2009 Emma), Michael Gambon (with Garai in the 2009 Emma and in a lot of other period dramas, among others), Ciaran Hinds (if you don’t know, you have to wait and see!), and Bill Paterson (same as the latter).

I did enjoy Romola Garai’s dresses! Absolutely stunning. I want one.

I think Amazing Grace is rated PG – there is some heavy material. A little swearing, and some rather disturbing images too. I wouldn’t recommend for anyone under 13, though of course, it depends on the child. However, if you are a period drama lover – check this one out!

Movie: Persuasion

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9

Genre: Romance, classic, life

Primary actors: Amanda Root, Ciaran Hinds

Length: About one hour and 40 minutes

Based on: Persuasion by Jane Austen

Time period: 1800’s

Year it came out: 1995

My overall opinion: This version of Persuasion is the only one I’ve seen, but I must admit that I’m quite happy with it. A few quick thoughts about the characters are below, and I’ll do a comparison after I see the 2007 (?) version. Anne is sweet and just like Anne should be, Captain Wentworth is rather nice as well, and I especially think that Mary was well-casted. The music isn’t something that stands out at all in this movie, but it does in the scenes at Lyme, where it is very pretty! If you like period dramas, watch this one. :)