11-11-2008, 11:55 AM
maisonvivante Wrote:The Gothic Romance genre is sorely under-adapted in film and television.
How on earth has there never been an adaptation of a Victoria Holt or Phyllis Whitney novel? How come Mary Stewart only has the one lousy Hayley Mills adaptation? Why does Barbara Michaels only have a couple of tv movies to her credit?
Truly, a lot of Mary Stewart would have adapted very well, and considering how well the Brits do telenovelas, I'm also surprised this never happened with these authors.
But, speaking of which, I caught the 2006 remake of Jane Eyre a few weeks ago. WOW! I "found" it because I had just finished watching the 15 episode "Bleak House" and wondered what else the director, Susanna White, had been up to. Sure enough, Jane Eyre.
This one took a lot of liberties with the storyline, condensing the opening part at Lowood School into 15 minutes among other things, but poured on the gothic imagery without resorting to ham fisted visual cliches. Orson Welles' Rochester has long been my favorite, but Toby Stephens is HOT! The "romance" between Jane and Rochester was the bulk of the 4 hour running time and I hung on every breath, word, and "look" on the actors faces. Highly Recommended.
