Movie Review: Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre Poster Image via Kurtodrome

On their first meeting, Jane Eyre tells Mr. Rochester she has no tale of woe. This isn't true. Jane has woe, she just doesn't want to tell him about it. She grew up an orphan with a nasty aunt who favored her own spoiled son who, predictably, enjoyed tormenting Jane. Eventually, she is sent to reform school where the ruthless nuns take an instant dislike to her, encouraging all her peers to do the same. She spends her first day standing on a chair above the others, without food or water as public humiliation for a vague charge of lying. Her best and only friend dies of fever within a few months. But that woe is hardly worth mentioning, considering what lies ahead for old Jane.

Mr. Rochester has hired Jane as governess for his niece, whom he has adopted after her mother's death. His estate sits on a desolate part of the heath where there is rarely other human companionship, especially of the quality deemed appropriate for Mr. Rochester. Obviously, in Victorian England, someone like Mr. Rochester cannot converse as an equal with mere servants. As a well educated and refined young woman, Jane is excluded from this rule. Mr. Rochester's brutish attempts to draw Jayne out irritate her at first, but it soon becomes clear that he is suffering from a broken spirit and a very strange secret. Slowly, they become friends, and eventually, she begins to feel strongly attached to him, even though she knows their love can never be. Talk about Romantic Longing! This has it ALL OVER Twilight, people. 

I'd read the novel many years ago, and I remember crying my eyes out when I finished- so tender, so heartbreaking, and so exactly the kind of dramatic, passionate love that every young girl fantasizes about. I wasn't sure what to expect from the film, but I was delighted by every frame. It perfectly captured the haunting, brooding mood of this story set on the dreary, windswept moor in a dark and grand old castle. 

Actress Mia Wasikowska portrays Jayne perfectly as rather a plain, quiet, person with a burning spirit within her. Her manner and costumes reminded me of the one photographic portrait of poet Emily Dickinson. Jane seems quiet and mousy, but her interior world is ablaze with life and passion. Michael Fassbender is unbelievably sexy as the tortured Mr. Rochester. That their love cannot be acted upon only ignites their passions further. I'm telling you, Charlotte  Bronte, Moira Buffini and Cary Fukunaga gave Eric and I a great date night flick.

Have you watched anything great lately? I'd love another romance as smart and sexy as this one.

Movie Review: Midnight in Paris

Do you try to watch the Best Picture nominations every year? It's tricky seeing some of smaller pictures here in rural Hawaii, but I've managed to get six of the Oscar nominated films under my belt. We recently watched Midnight in Paris, which tells the story of an American screenwriter whose fantasy of traveling back in time to the Paris of Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso and Earnest Hemingway suddenly becomes a reality.

This certainly was a beautiful looking film, every shot a gauzy dreamscape of filtered light and Parisian romance. The beautiful cast, clad in the silky designer garb of the blatantly wealthy, sipping champagne and staying in the poshest hotel suites all added to the haze of luxury and fantasy pervading every shot.

But.

The story itself left a great deal to be desired. The female characters were all either shrews or sexpots inexplicably drawn to a schlumpy Owen Wilson who is nothing more than a Woody Allen stand in. (Is he unable to write another character, or just unwilling?) The movie's central idea that we romanticize the past in order to escape the unpleasant realities of the present could have been an interesting idea to explore. However, it was sullied by the main character's complete lack of struggle or self awareness.


Owen Wilson's character did nothing to achieve the realization that an artist has no choice but to live in the present moment. Each and every thing he hoped for in the movie was handed to him from on high.


Dream of visiting the Paris of 1920? Poof! There you are. Shallow but rich and gorgeous fiancee nagging you about buying a beach house in Malibu? Poof! The luminous Marion Cotilliard is smitten with you in a secret midnight dream world instead. Worried she might find your ways from the future odd and repulsive? Poof! She finds you mysterious and magnetic instead. Realize that you have to return to the present and change your life? Poof! You're back, break up with fiancee with no trace of regret or pain and wander off into the twighlight with another impossibly hot Parisienne.

Talk about a fantasy.

Real people have to struggle to find enlightenment and that is why the lessons resonate with those of us in the audience. This schmuck didn't learn anything and it turned this film into something utterly forgettable. Root for The Descendants or Hugo on Oscar night instead.

Movie Review: The Descendants

Have you seen The Descendants yet? I've been waiting ages for it to come out here on The Big Island, and I've just seen it for a second time- it was that beautiful. Director Alexander Payne is one of my favorite film makers. I remember watching Sideways at a little arts theater when I lived in Chicago and being overwhelmed by the simplicity and truth of what was on the screen. I felt that hum of recognition inside my body- a part of me knew exactly the loneliness, humor and absurdity flickering across the screen. I sought out all his movies afterwards, and have yet to be disappointed by one.

What I continue to return to are the details in his films that make them feel so authentic. The actors aren't perfectly coiffed and made up. They are people, real people, with real faces and not too much makeup. Their clothes are rumpled, faded and pilled from a thousand washings. Their houses look lived in and full of odd objects, paperwork, clutter, and mismatched towels, just like real homes are. (I wonder if the homes are scouted instead of set pieces. It seems like a touch Mr. Payne might approve of, given his penchant for working with non-actors. ) In an age where movies are two hour long lifestyle advertisements and magazines are filled with Hollywood set and costume designers' finds, it's refreshing to see a film that uses every available inch of screen to tell the story at hand, without editorializing, creating a veneer or relentlessly selling products.

The authenticity in this movie in particular meant a great deal to me, because I often struggle to articulate to friends on the mainland what it is like to live here in Hawaii. It isn't at all what I expected when I came here. There is a softness here- the climate of course, and even the air and gentle breezes. But there is also a beautiful softness to life, an openness and willingness to slow down and use time to be kind and friendly with each other. "No worries" is one of the most common expressions you hear Hawaiians say. Although the characters in this film are struggling to find that same openness within themselves and towards one another, the environment around them exudes it.

Another fact of life in Hawaii is the varied, surprising and constantly evolving blend of cultures and influences. There are Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Hawaiian and American cultures all interacting and constantly being reconfigured in a way that is complex, sometimes tense, but more than anything, just truly special. I've never lived anywhere where I felt so moved by the way the culture is being both preserved and lived in at the same time. And I've never lived somewhere where I felt so much that the culture does not belong to me.

There is the isolation that one can feel here, especially as a haole, or white person, without the sense of stewardship and belonging that others have for this beautiful place. (Certainly, that is one of the themes of the movie as well.) Because of their isolation, these islands seem to demand self confrontation and growth. If you can't tolerate yourself, you have no choice but to suffer, run away or grow.

After watching, I also felt strongly that movies like this one, which attempt to describe life as it actually is, instead of some id crazed Hollywood exec's idea of what it should be like, (which inexplicably seem to revolve around massive orange and black explosions, flipping cars and women in scanty lingerie with knives hidden in their stilettos) are the ones I want to see more of. (If you like these movies too, Nicole Holofcener creates similar kinds of stories on film.) I read a few interviews with Mr. Payne and this quote stuck out:

"We don't have movies about ourselves, and we don't have a national film culture. It shouldn't be an epic aspiration to make simple human stories, but it is."

And isn't that a shame? Our simple human stories are worth telling, and they echo through my daily life so much more deeply than any Michael Bay flick.

Have you seen any great movies lately? What should I watch next?

Munching with the Muppets

Have you seen the New Muppets movie yet? Before we head out to the theater, we thought we'd brush up on The Film That Started it All: The Muppet Movie.

It was charming, of course. Also, wholesome, zany, silly, campy and wonderful. The film opens with Kermit sitting in the swamp singing Rainbow Connection, playing his banjo amid the whir of fireflies. A lost tourist (who turns out to be a Hollywood agent) tells Kermit that he is talented and should be making millions of people happy. Pretty soon, he's headed for California, and finding lost Muppets at every turn along the way. Your whole family will love it. (Animal is my favorite Muppet. Which is yours?)

While we watched, we munched on this fun party mix from O Magazine. The heat and spice of the Worcestershire and wasabi are balanced out by a sweet hint of honey. It's even better than Chex Mix. For real. We left out the cereal and did about half as much popcorn, but it was fabulous. Try it next time you snuggle up with a flick.

What is your favorite Movie Night snack?