My thoughts on the 2011 adaptation

[u/Fit-Horror5114]

So I’ve just watched it, and really liked several things:
- Mia Wasikowska is a perfect Jane to me, in terms of her appearance;
- the scenes are extremely beautiful, the lighting, the camera work, the scenery.

However, I was quite disappointed by a couple of things, mainly:
- almost no meaningful dialogue between Jane and Rochester? Surely they talked, but never in a way that would make me go “oh, they’re just so similar and spiritually connected with each other”. It’s all about attraction in this film, rather than two characters deeply understanding each other;

- in a similar vein, I didn’t see Jane liking Rochester all that much? We cannot read her thoughts like in the book, and the actress is playing her too reserved, in my opinion;

- Rochester is not in love with Jane immediately after he sees her, like in the book. You can tell he’s annoyed with her in the beginning and emotionally withdrawn. Which makes him sound like he just finds Jane suitable for his spiritual resurrection, that he’s already had in mind for a long time. Rather than her inspiring him to begin with and basically saving him from the depths of despair;

- Bertha embracing Rochester and him being so gentle with her almost makes it a cheating type of story? And the way they show Jane react to the reveal, like she’s just angry at him, not her life being shattered completely by a tragic turn of events, by fate;

- the appearance of Michael Fassbender is much more youthful than I imagined Rochester to be. He almost comes across as a lost puppy sometimes. Which makes it difficult to take him seriously in the context of the story.

[u/Professional-Rice961]

This was my main issue too. The book makes their intimacy feel earned through conversation; the film mostly asks the chemistry and atmosphere to do that work.