Can there be too much of a good thing when it comes to literature on the big screen? I guess we're going to find out.I learned earlier this week that there is to be yet ANOTHER Jane Eyre adaptation. It seems like we just had one of these, so I checked and there was one in 2006. This will make the 9th adaptation! (The third in 15 years.)
It amazes me how many times certain novels can be adapted to the screen and sometimes in nearly back to back years and others remain with only a single filming. For example, Gone With the Wind was filmed in 1939, but over 70 years later it remains the only adaptation of that novel. Yes, there have been wanna-be sequels, but no remake of the original script has been filmed. Why is that? Is it because that adaptation was so great it just cannot be topped?
If that is the case what does that say about the classics by Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters that have been filmed time and time again? Pride and Prejudice has been adapted five times, Emma five times, Oliver Twist seven times, Wuthering Heights no less than 11 times and now Jane Eyre for the 9th time!
What is it with these stories that make screenwriters, directors, and producers want to film them again and again? Is there still something left to be brought to the screen? I guess we'll have to wait until March 2011 to see for ourselves.
I will say this much, from the movie trailer it looks like it will be a good adaptation. It is produced by the same company (Focus Features) that adapted Pride and Prejudice in 2005. Although that version of P&P is not a favorite of mine it was a fairly good adaptation. So with that in mind I am both curious and interested in their adaptation of Jane Eyre.
Curious to learn more? Check out One Literature Nut's blog post: The Bronte Sisters Take Popular Culture By Storm... Again.
3 comments:
It does look good! And Judi Dench is in it, soooo, it has to be! Actually, I've not yet seen a Jane Eyre film I actually liked. Before this comes out I'll have to reread the book because I don't remember the details.
It's like A Christmas Carol. How many times . . . ?
Thanks for the mention. This is a great post!
I'm really interested to see how this newest Jane Eyre movie turns out. I showed the trailer to my AP Literature students at school and had a great response. Of course I've encouraged them to read it before they go (since we'll be reading Tess of the D'Urbervilles instead), but I thought it was interesting how many of them are now MORE interested in the story. We'll see how it turns out though. I'm hopeful!
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