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USA & UK COVER STORY
LOCATION, LOCATION
“THE APPROACH WAS SOFT CONTRAST, MEANING, NOT MUCH DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ‘THE BRIGHT SIDE’ AND ‘THE DARK SIDE.’”
Photo above: Jane Eyre Director Cary Fukunaga main: Mia Wasikowska as Jane Eyre; right l-r: Judi Dench; Jamie Bell; Mia Wasikowska with Michael Fassbender in Jane Eyre
ia Wasikowska, the 21-year- Mold star of Tim Burton’s
Alice In Wonderland, plays the title role of Jane Eyre in the latest screen version –
more than 20 to date for film and TV – of Charlotte Brontë’s 19th Century moody masterpiece.
The Canberra-born actress, who also recently appeared opposite Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, in The Kids Are All Right, heads a cast that also includes Michael Fassbender (as Mr Rochester), Jamie Bell, Judi Dench, Imogen Poots, Holliday Grainger and
Sally Hawklins.
Adapted by Moira Buffini
(Tamara Drewe), the film marks a second collaboration for American director Cary Fukunaga and Brazilian cinematographer Adriano Goldman AFC following their
2009 Sundance Festival winner Sin Nombre.
This time round they’ve swapped raw Mexican locations for the fleshpots of heritage UK with shooting taking place at such lavish country piles in Derbyshire as Chatsworth, Haddon Hall (doubling as the book’s Thornfield), North Lees Hall and The Fox House.
Once the script was ready, British producer Alison Owen sought a director who would be on the same wavelength. Student Academy Award winner Fukunaga had just made his breakthrough feature debut Sin Nombre.
The epic dramatic thriller about Central American immigrants seeking the promise of the US, “although seemingly quite far removed from the story of Jane Eyre,
also tackled the subject of loss and the search for a better life,” notes Owen. “What is apparent as soon as you watch Cary’s work is that he’s a visceral filmmaker with a strong au- teur voice – something that we very much wanted for Jane Eyre.”
Fukunaga admits to having entertained the idea of a Jane Eyre movie before, noting that “a few years ago, after writing Sin Nombre but prior to shooting it, I was looking for material to adapt that was in the public domain.
“Jane Eyre was one of the first novels to pop into my head. I’ve always liked exploring the idea of ‘family’ or lack thereof, and particularly remembered the protagonist’s having to overcome so many challenges in her youth to find love and true family.
“While I was in the UK for the opening of Sin Nombre, I learned that a feature version of Jane Eyre was in development. I wanted a chance to read what was being done, so I arranged a meeting.”
However, having previously been writer/director, Fukunaga admits that the prospect of collaborating with a screenwriter made him “apprehensive at first. What made it viable to me was that Moira’s adaptation was founded on a structure that had an immediate, contemporary feel, while also remaining faithful to the story.
“I could see the movie I wanted tomakeoutofit,soitwasa compelling and convincing starting point. At the end of my very first meeting with Alison and Moira I said, ‘I’d like to make this movie’ and, surprisingly, they said, ‘We’d like
you to make this movie.’ So it was off to the races.”
Fukunaga continues “I knew I was taking on a story that is a period film and a romance with elements of horror. Walking the line among these tones would be difficult, because it’s easier to default to one or the other. I wanted to maintain consistency in the style of telling the story.”
Fukunaga called in Goldman early. He adds: “For a cinematographer from Brazil, the prospect of shooting a period film in England was so in- triguing, that it was enough for me to commit.”
They decided, says Fukunaga, that their approach to Jane Eyre
“was to be more traditional [than Sin Nombre’s shooting style]. For one thing, on this movie we had trained actors. We never considered going digital; this was always going to be filmed on 35mm.
“The next question was, which shooting format? 2.35:1 is the obvious choice for an historical film. But what are important in Jane Eyre are the relationships; Rochester and Jane’s pivots on tête-à-tête conversations, and there is tension underneath.
“So we flirted with going 1.33:1, which would certainly have put the
32 • EXPOSURE • THE MAGAZINE • FUJIFILM MOTION PICTURE
FROM CONTEMPORARY SOUTHERN MEXICO OF SIN NOMBRE TO PERIOD ENGLISH MOORLAND DIRECTOR CARY FUKUNAGA AND CINEMATOGRAPHER ADRIANO GOLDMAN ABC RE-UNITE FOR JANE EYRE