Movie Review: Cary Fukunaga's "Jane Eyre"

This is a film I meant to see in theater, but just missed, and having watched it now on DVD, I'm even sorrier I didn't get to see it on the big screen, because it's one of the most visually stunning films I've ever watched.
Cary Fukunaga's "Jane Eyre" stars Michael Fassbender as Rochester and Mia Wasikowska as the titular Jane, and if the visuals are the best part of this movie, the acting is the second best part. Fassbender is utterly convincing as the compelling, brilliant, and sometimes cruel master of Thornfield Hall, and Wasikowska manages to play Jane as both reserved and strong, while also conveying her inexperience. And all this without making Jane the least bit boring; instead Jane comes across as intelligent and interesting - interesting precisely because of how interested she is in the world and people around her.
Despite these strengths - and they're huge strengths that I think make the movie worth a viewing despite what I'm going to say next - the movie suffers when it comes to the script. As with any adaptation, what the scriptwriters leave out matters almost more than what they leave (or add) in. While I didn't notice anything in the movie that departed greatly from Brontë's words, I noticed a lot that wasn't there.
Most especially, I missed Jane's faith. In this movie, you're left with the impression that the story is all about Jane's self-respect. And that's true as far as it goes. But it's the basis for Jane's self-respect that is missing. In the book, it's very clear that the reason Jane sees herself as a worthy match for Rochester is that she, like he, is a creature of God. It's her value as a created being who abides by God's law that bears her up in the worst of her struggles.
I found it very telling that in the scene when Rochester is pleading with Jane to stay (a scene that the actors hit out of the park, btw), Jane's impassioned speech about the purpose of law is missing:
Still indomitable was the reply: "I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man. I will hold to the principles received by me when I was sane, and not mad - as I am now. Laws and principles are not for times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth? They have a worth - so I have always believed; and if I cannot believe it now, it is because I am insane - quite insane, with my veins running fire, and my heart beating faster than I can count its throbs. Preconceived opinions, foregone determinations are all I have at this hour to stand by; there I plant my foot."
It's as if the screenwriters were looking at the book with a magnifying glass and found all of the passion and self-determination, but missed the larger frame surrounding it. Which made it feel, in the end, disappointingly empty.

But still so very pretty. And there were several scenes that I feel like I understand better after watching them acted by Fassbender and Wasikowska - I think having their interpretations of the characters in my head during my next read-through will add to my enjoyment of the book. So I would still recommend it to fans of the book, with the caveat that it'll feel a little bit like you've had a lovely dessert that tasted great but left you a bit empty, rather than filling up on the glorious, full, five-course feast you might have been expecting.
Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell