The esteemed Zeffirelli, with his Italian, operatic sensibilities, is probably the wrong choice of director, though he directs with much sense and sensibility.Ī plush production and generally capable acting make up for a chilly and sombre mood – and the lack of passion. The British acting worthies are encouraged to bang on a bit and overplay to fill the vacant spaces in Hugh Whitemore and Zeffirelli’s screenplay, which compresses and eliminates most of the plot in the book’s last quarter to shrink it into a 116-minute movie. She becomes the plain, impoverished young woman who is hired by Mr Rochester through the housekeeper Mrs Fairfax (Joan Plowright) to work at Thornfield Hall as a governess for Adele (Josephine Serre). Jane is the girl cast out by her aunt, Mrs Reed, and sent to be raised in a harsh charity school for girls. And Anna Paquin is fine as the character’s younger self.

But a very considerably better Charlotte Gainsbourg does sterling work as tragically abandoned, waifish Jane. Although the film is highly polished and has several redeeming features, including Charlotte Gainsbourg’s stellar performance as Jane Eyre.Ī miscast, hangdog William Hurt (with a too deliberate, carefully studied English accent) stars as Mr Rochester and gives a struggling turn as a Byronic anti-hero tormented by family troubles, injustices and secrets. Jane Eyre *** (1996, William Hurt, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Anna Paquin, Joan Plowright, Richard Warwick) – Classic Movie Review 2671ĭirector Franco Zeffirelli’s 1996 version of Charlotte Brontë’s 1847 classic novel is rather flat, un-dynamic and un-vibrant.

Jane eyre movie rating