Jane Eyre

A BBC miniseries that aired in 11 half-hour episodes during 1983, this sumptuous adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's famous Gothic romance achieved a level of fidelity unmatched by earlier (or later, for that matter) versions. In part this was due to the near-six-hour running time, which allowed for greater emphasis on scenes that were either truncated or omitted in other screen incarnations of Jane Eyre. But the credit must also go to screenwriter Alexander Baron and director Julian Amyes, whose faithfulness to the original story obviously bespeaks affection and reverence. Zelah Clarke plays Jane, the plain, impoverished young woman raised to be a governess and sent to forbidding Thornfield Hall, where the master--the dark, brooding Edward Rochester (Timothy Dalton, pre-Bond)--keeps some sinister secret. Little by little Jane becomes infatuated with this tragic and tormented figure, and eventually discovers the shocking truth about a certain madwoman in the attic. Striking set designs and carefully tailored period costumes reflect great care (and considerable expense) in the making of this production, and atmospheric lighting helps establish a dreary, doom-laden mood. Dalton is perfectly cast as Rochester, having that saturnine quality so essential to any credible portrayal of Thornfield's master, while Clarke makes a properly soulful Jane: reserved but courageous in her quiet way. A commendable production that may well constitute the definitive film interpretation of Bronte's immortal classic thus far, Jane Eyre bows on DVD with a newly-remastered transfer on a flipper-disc, but without any extras. Recommended. (E. Hulse)