I watched the 1996 version of Jane Eyre recently and here are some obervations:

*Anna Paquin is a good enough Young Jane. I wish she had been considered to play the role of older Jane (perhaps in the new BBC version, although Ruth looks promising as well), now that she is 10 years older than she was in the 1996 version. It will serve as a wonderful follow-up if the same person played both young and old Jane!

*Mr. Rochester is quite the melancholy kind in this film. He broods too much. But I didn't find it unpleasant in the least. In fact, it evoked more pity. Dalton was more irate, but thankfully, not half so much as Hinds!But Hurt is the saddest Rochester I've seen so far.

* Rochester's complicated relationship with Adele: I liked the Adele in this film. She is a lot more visible and lively. Rochester also treats her decently and even wraps his arms around her once. We can definitly see his growing attachment to his ward.

*Jane's hair: They had her hair untied, loose, and flowing in both the after-the-fire scene as well as the one with the wounded Mason. Were they trying to clue us in on Jane's wanton nature by portraying her hair like that?

*The Rivers Family: Besides having St. John as the man in charge of disposing Mrs. Reed's wealth, this script also showed him as a goofy man, tumbling over in the grass, instead of the serious missionary he is supposed to be according to the book. In addition, they only showed one of his sisters, and she is never named. I always wondered why Charlotte Bronte created both Diana and Mary instead of just one of them.

*Bertha/Jane connection: I LOVED thinking about this aspect of the film. Bertha's hair is the same color as Jane's. When we first see Bertha, she is dressed in a white nightdress and looks very much like Jane when we saw the latter in the after-the-fire scene. Also, it is insteresting how Jane comes veiled when she enters the room and just before we see Bertha on screen, Jane unveils herself. It is like saying that Jane is another verison of Bertha. Bertha sets fire to the house when Jane leaves and this is like saying that she cannot live without Jane. Also, there is more pity for Bertha when she sees Grace dead and then kills herself. This shows that she might have felt affection for Grace Poole, who looked after her.

*The Voice: Jane hears Rochester's voice at the grave of Helen Burns'. This is to show that the Voice has a very religious basis, in that it comes from God, since Helen is supposed to embody religious uprightness. Also, since Jane liked Helen, hearing the Voice at her grave is an indication that the voice is a positive sign, instead of something evil.

* I liked the Thornfield in this film. I thought it looked bright and gay, unlike other films' portrayal of it as something dark and gloomy.