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This acclaimed 2006 adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's sweeping romantic novel features Ruth Wilson as the titular heroine and Toby Stephens as her romantic interest, Edward Fairfax Rochester. Originally aired on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre in January 2007, the BBC-WGBH Boston co-production runs nearly four hours, affording an even richer interpretation of the text than the landmark 1944 film version featuring Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles. It remains, of course, the story of a young orphan girl who eventually finds true love and happiness as an adult. The Chronicles of Narnia's Georgie Henley stars as young Jane, who is orphaned and placed in the care of her cruel aunt. Ridiculed and hated by her family, she is sent to live at a school for girls, where she blossoms despite her dreary surroundings. Eventually, Jane (Wilson) rises to the position of teacher and finds work at Rochester's manor, tutoring his daughter. Taciturn and sullen, Rochester nevertheless grows attached to Jane and begins opening up to her. Jane is likewise attracted to the handsome master of the house and dreams of marrying him. But life -- and love -- in 19th-century England is always fraught with difficulties, and in Jane's case that involves a mysterious brother-in-law, a long-lost cousin, a dead uncle's fortune, and separation from Rochester. To the film's considerable credit, the inevitable romantic outcome is handled with passion and style.

All Movie Guide

Screen newcomer Ruth Wilson assumes the role of Charlotte Bronte's eponymous heroine in director Susanna White and screenwriter Sandy Welch's adaptation of the classic 1847 novel. Jane Eyre is a plain but spirited woman who leaves behind the cruel confines of a charity home to work as a governess for enigmatic Edward Rochester (Toby Stephens). The master of Thornfield Hall, Rochester hires Jane to watch after the young Adele. As a series of increasingly strange occurrences begin to unfold in Thornfield Hall's North Tower, the young governess attempts to maintain her virtue while entering into a soulful relationship with her unrepentantly lecherous employer. Jason Buchanan

Hollywood Reporter

...breathtaking cinematography. Scene after scene transports viewers across time and space to a place made vivid and real. Barry Garron

Wall Street Journal

...the new Jane Eyre may be the truest to the novel precisely because it brings closer to the surface the passion Ms. Bronte herself only dared to hint at. -- Nancy deWolf Smith

USA Today

From sweeping shots of the English countryside through all seasons to intimate scenes in the recesses of the manor house, this adaptation of Jane Eyre shows off a richness American TV projects rarely attempt. Dennis Moore

Product Details

• UPC: 783421416192
• Source: WGBH BOSTON
• Region Code: 1
• Time: 3:48:00
• Sales Rank: 731

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