So yesterday afternoon, I sat down to see if there was anything worth watching on TV and the recent BBC/Masterpiece Theatre adaptation of Jane Eyre caught my eye. I'd heard some good things about it so I decided to check it out.
And then proceeded to get completely sucked in for the entire FOUR HOURS (with only one commercial break, since it's PBS), because it was so just so damn good!
Now, I'm not a Jane Eyre purist at all. I read the book a long time ago and it hadn't really a favorite of mine. I thought that parts of it were actually kind of bizarre and I think that perhaps I might have been too young when I read it to really "get" how amazingly romantic it is. I also haven't watched any other film or TV versions of it, which is impressive considering that there are a huge number of them. So I half felt like I didn't really have the proper background to judge this adaptation, but I do have to say that I now have completely renewed appreciation for the story. I'm definitely going to have to read the book again.
I did kind of wonder though, if this Mr. Rochester (played by Toby Stephens) was almost too hot. I felt a little like they were trying to recreate the Colin Firth effect (see Pride and Prejudice), and they definitely introduced quite a bit more um, kissing, than is usual in these kinds of period dramas. Again, I'm going to have to revisit the book, but after watching this yesterday? I'm this close to adding Mr. Rochester on my list of all-time biggest literary crushes (along with Mr. Darcy and Gilbert Blythe).
Anyway, as is customary in most of these BBC/Masterpiece Theatre series, the production quality was excellent, and I thought that Ruth Wilson was quite good as Jane. All in all, an excellent way to spend four hours on a frigid Sunday.
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