Masterpiece Theatre - Jane Eyre, Part Two

There are five scenes that I look forward to the most when it comes to any version of Jane Eyre:

1. The fire rescue scene


2. The proposal scene


3. The courtship scenes post proposal


4. Rochester's pleas for Jane to stay after the aborted wedding


5. Their reunion

Four out of the five appeared in part two of Masterpiece Theatre's wonderful version of Jane Eyre.

Out of all the versions that I've seen (and I've seen eight of them) this one has hit all the parts I love best exactly right.

Of course my thoughts on the fire scene was said previously but if not I loved that part. The way it was shot in shadows with those two so close together that you felt their chemistry and you wanted them to kiss and the scene afterwards where Jane believed that Mr. Rochester might actually return her feelings for him.

And you know he did in the proposal scene. Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens were wonderful in that scene: painful, emotional and passionate.

My absolutely favourite scene in this production was the morning after the proposal and credit goes to Wilson for making it such a wonderful scene. It is the scene where Jane is lying on her bed with the sunlight softly illuminating her face as thoughts were on the night before. She rises takes a look at her face in the mirror, she touches it and her mouth scarcely believing what has transpired and then she spins around like a schoolgirl in happiness before she plops back down on her bed. That scene was so beautiful and punctuated by an emotional score by Rob Lane -I wish a soundtrack would come out for this production.

Now I come to screenwriter Sandy Welch. What she has done to this version is miraculous, bringing passion to this tale that has been sorely lacking in past versions.

Her best job came tonight during the St. John scenes which are usually slow and boring. The reader and audience are just waiting for Jane to hear Rochester's voice across the moors and reunite with him.

In all other versions I have seen, Rochester's pleas for Jane to stay are usually before the St.John bits but what Welch has done is mix those scenes in with her time with the Rivers making that part of the production way more interesting. The scenes with Rochester and Jane, while not exactly following the book, were sizzling. I love those scenes. You see both their despondence and their passion for one another. Stephens was magnificent in these scenes the passion and desperation in his voice and the way he touched and kissed Jane would have convinced me to stay or in his words would have "tempted me in a life of sin."

As for St. John, Andrew Buchan has been one of the better ones I have seen in recent versions. He is handsome but a cold fish as he was written unlike the St. John's of 1996, 1997 and the musical.

The final scene where Jane and Rochester have married were a nice glimpse into their married life and you get to see the full transformation of their characters. Jane, who started the story with no family or love has finally found love and a family. Rochester, who throughout was brooding and unhappy at life, is joyously happy with his life.

I read in the production diary that the man paiting their portrait was the same man who did the Reed's portrait. A nice connecting piece there but too bad you didn't see his face.

Four final words to close my thoughts on this: Best. Jane. Eyre. Ever.