Good Films Show the Novel in Other Ways

Re-creating novels into movies is a tough feat. It's nearly impossible to get the film to match the book word for word. That is why sounds and images are important to tell the story. It's imperative that the way the film is recorded embodies the images and sounds a reader would have in mind. The 2006 BBC Jane Eyre, directed by Susanna White, does just that; the noises and footage put into the film make up for not being able to read the novel exactly how it is written. 

This film opens artistically with the books Jane liked to read as a child, and show how the book is pictured in Jane's young mind. The other films forgo this. The first scene is more closely done to the novel than the other two, which is important. The Red Room in this novel is a little dramatic, but it really drives home the point of how this room may have looked in a young child's mind. Another important detail that this film orchestrated better than the other two is the effect of disease among the school at Lowood. The impact and severity, as well as number of girls, is shown clearly. Even though the transition from little Lowood Jane to grown up Lowood Jane was just as choppy as the first film, this one shows Jane being an adored teacher at Lowood and the other one does not. Finally as far as plot goes, the proposal scene is quite verbally accurate because Blanche is mentioned as well as all the doubts Jane has, and just like in the novel, it rains in the movie during Rochester and Jane's run back to Thornfield. 

When reading Jane Eyre, there is plenty of outside imagery and descriptions of nature. This film captures that best. There were plenty of nature and outside shots shown. During the proposal scene the sound of chirping birds can be heard. The weather and darkness are also created well in this movie. Nature, an important part of the novel, becomes an equally important factor in the movie. 

This take on Charlotte Bronte's novel speaks the most. It represents the novel the best by really portraying images and how they would look to not only a viewer, but characters inside the film/book. The movie focuses on nature, which corresponds with what the book highlights as well. Obviously a film cannot be exactly like a novel, but this movie makes up for it with other artistic ideas of showing plot and moods.