Jane Eyre is the classic, Gothic tale of an orphan that was born in misfortune.

The film adaption beautifully captures the emotions of the book and is visually seductive.

And I loved Dame Judi Dench as Mrs. Fairfax, the housekeeper.

Jane (Mia Wasikowska) grew up with a family that detested her and was eventually sent to a boarding school where she finally made a friend. But the school was hell, the children were beaten, and her best friend died of illness.

Fast forward to when Jane is old enough to leave the school. She takes up a job as a governess at Thornfield Hall, the isolated and imposing residence, whose master is Edward Fairfax Rochester (Michael Fassbender). She tends to his ward while a friendship and her attraction to Rochester, who can be quite changeable, slowly builds. However the developing love story between Jane and Rochester means the ghosts of the past must be faced.

Director, Fukunaga stated, “I’ve spent a lot of time rereading the book and trying to feel out what Charlotte Brontë was feeling when she was writing it. That sort of spookiness that plagues the entire story… there’s been something like 24 adaptations and it’s very rare that you see those sorts of darker sides. They treat it like it’s just a period romance and I think it’s much more than that.”

Jane Eyre is directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga. The screenplay is written by Moira Buffini based on the 1847 novel of the same name by Charlotte Brontë.  Academy Award winners: Dario Marianelli composed the score and  Michael O’Connor designed the costumes.

Filming locations included London and various locations in Derbyshire, including Chatsworth, Haddon Hall, Derbyshire Dales, Froggatt and Fox House in Sheffield. Fukunaga looked at some 60 residences for one to represent Thornfield Hall but settled on the previously-used Haddon Hall as it had not undergone much redecorating.