High-toned, well-read femininity is on the rebound, as the recent theatrical
release of Becoming Jane and The Jane Austen Book Club both showcase.
And two of literature’s favorite sisters are reunited with WGBH Boston Video’s
release of the superb The Brontë
Collection, a special DVD packaging of two classic romances produced for
the award-winning Masterpiece Theatre series.
Kicking things off is a lavish version of Charlotte Brontë’s
classic novel, Jane Eyre. After a
wretched childhood that leaves her yearning for new experiences and wider
vistas, both figuratively and literally, the orphaned title character (newcomer
Ruth Wilson, delivering a fantastic performance) accepts a governess position
at Thornfield Hall, where she tutors a lively French girl named Adele (Cosima
Littlewood). Jane soon finds herself falling in love with the brooding master
of the house, the passionate Edward Rochester (Toby Stephens, of Die Another Day), and though she gradually
wins his heart, they must overcome the dark secrets of her past before they can
find happiness.
When Jane saves Rochester
from an eerie fire, she begins to suspect that there are many mysteries behind
the walls of Thornfield Hall. Her fears are confirmed when Rochester’s
own secret past is revealed, destroying her chance for happiness, and forcing
Jane to flee Thornfield. Penniless and hungry, she finds shelter and friendship
in the form of a kind clergyman and his family. Costarring Francesca Annis (Wives and Daughters), Lorraine
Ashbourne, Andrew Buchan and Arthur Cox, among others, this sensual new version
of Brontë’s classic novel is modern and moody — nicely directed by Susanna
White, who previously brought a deft touch to 2005’s serial Bleak House and scored a deserved Emmy
nomination here for her efforts.
Sister Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, meanwhile, is another timeless
tale, read in high schools across the country. This 1998 production, helmed by David
Skynner, breaks new ground by covering the complete story of a love so powerful
that it reaches beyond the grave. Orla Brady stars as one of literature’s most
controversial heroines, the spirited but tragic Cathy. Robert Cavanah plays
Heathcliff, the dark stranger whose love for Cathy leads him to take terrible
revenge on anyone who comes between them.
Nothing is known of Heathcliff’s mysterious past when kindly
Mr. Earnshaw (Matthew Macfayden) adopts him into his family, but his daughter
Cathy sees in him a soul very much like her own. They are divided by birth,
class and Cathy’s jealous brother, but nothing can break the bond between them —
not even when Cathy marries the wealthy gentleman Edgar Linton (Crispin
Bonham-Carter, cousin of Helena). Neil
McKay’s adaptation captures all of the windswept love and foreboding of the source
text, and Brady and Cavanah deliver riveting performances.
Presented in full-screen, both Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre come housed in individual slimline snap cases, and are in
turn jointly housed in an attractive, single cardboard slipcase. Jane Eyre’s bonus features include interviews
with the cast and crew, a small collection of deleted scenes, hour-long audio
commentaries for two of the episodes, and trailers from the program’s original
British broadcast on BBC. To order any DVD release from WGBH Boston Video,
including The Brontë Collection, phone
(800) 949-8670 or simply click here. B+ (Movies) B- (Disc)
 shaken up when a graduate student (Lauren Ambrose) invades his solitude to mine his life for her thesis work about his out-of-print novels.</p>
<p>They’re very different works — and one is much more successful than the other; more to soon follow on this — but <b>each film tries to tap into the parallel aspiration of artistic and intellectual pursuit — how such devotion compels action but also stunts other behaviors</b>. Artists, writers, academicians and the like are frequently and not always wrongly knocked as selfish, a less-than-venal sin for which the characters here certainly don’t get off free and easy. But <b>there’s a necessity to such self-motivation, which feeds thought and spurs invention as much as salves the soul of the creator</b>. Or at least that’s the justification one peddles…</p>
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