Interesting casting! 

Love Jane Eyre, LOVE Ellen Page, but I'm not sure I see it.  But I will most likely go and see it.

I'll go see it just because I'd be curious to see if Ellen Page can pull off an period English accent :). If she nails her role in this film, she'll be gauranteed a long and fruitful career.

Hmmm, I wonder who should play the role of Mr. Rochester. As it was mentioned in some other article, if Mr. Rochester is played by too old a man, it may come off somewhat creepy as Ellen Page looks so young. How old is Jane Eyre supposed to be?

My suggestion for Mr. Rochester: Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love)

best. news. ever!

I heart Jane Eyre, tis my favorite novel... and Ellen Page = magic love! uberlyuber excited

... plus ...Wuthering Heights - 1. novel is great 2. Natalie Portman is hot and awesome.

screw your typical hollywood action films... hooray for hard core classic literature adaptations!

brap.

Why watch the movie when you can read the book? 

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-Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.

Who doesn't blog these days?

I'd definitely go for it.

At least to see Ellen Page performing as a different character (I'm still not sure if I fell in love with her or with Juno).

I think this is my absolute favourite Bronte novel and is certainly my ABSOLUTE favourite Canadian! I'll be there at the cinema with bells on.

Can I please hug this Jane Eyre with my legs in friendship?

pass

-Nathiest
live for lust die for love

I do love both Nat and Ellen, period films and Bronte. I'm sure I'll end up only renting them though. I'm intrigued to see Ellen Page in something different but do we need another remake of Jane Eyre? The last BBC adaption was lovely.

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What the heck?

BBC just did the perfect mini series adaption in '06 (and I've seen them all). This so does not need to be redone right now.

And Ellen Page? I think she is great, but Jane Eyre she most definately is not.

Ellen Page just isn't Jane Eyre for me. I'll see the movie (because I freaking love JE, though not as much as I used to) but highly doubt that I'll be pleased with Page in the part. Honestly, it sounds like a trainwreck.

I'm more confident  / hopeful about Portman's portrayal of Cathy. (As well as the rest of the cast for that film).

It's not just sister-against-sister; the biopic of the Bronte siblings -- aptly titled "Bronte" -- is still in the works. Raise your hands if you think Anne'll be ignored!

People seem to be kind of "blah" at the selection of Page as Jane Eyre...am I the only one who totally sees it? Admittedly, I haven't seen any live-action reworks of the novel, so I have nothing to base it on in that respect, so for all I know it was done perfectly before; however, I just finished analyzing and re-analyzing the novel for my (high school) senior AP English class, and I can totally see Page as Jane...

(***SPOILERS AHEAD***)

First of all (note: all this is just my personal opinion...haha, feel free to call me a total moron at any point), Jane is a very independent character. Even when she and Rochester hook up, she keeps up their sniping banter to keep him "in check" so to speak after he starts piling on the gratuitous flattery, and gets upset when he lavishes her with fancy things. Though she gets excited about marrying Rochester, she, however, has reservations; things seem to be going too well, and also, she distrusts marriage in general, believing it cools off relationships and becomes instead a factor of social class. When it's revealed that Rochester has another wife, she flees not only moral grounds, but also explicitly states that she would just become Rochester's mistress in France, implying she does not want to be entirely beholden to him with no independent identity of her own. Personally, I think the ending of the novel is the only way the two could have been together, with Rochester at least partially dependent on Jane in more than just the emotional sense.

(End spoiler)

If you search quotes by Ellen Page, you'll see that she's all about women being independent, etc. Of course, in Jane Eyre there's an interesting tension in Jane due to her wanting to be independent and yet submissive (in terms of social classes) at the same time, due to upbringing/early experiences, but that's another story...

Jane is also very intelligent and is extremely intellectual...as is Ellen Page.

Jane is described as being slight in stature and is mistaken for being younger than she is at some point (she is 19 in the novel during her stay at Thornfield, if I remember correctly, which is 2 years younger than Page's current age)...like Ellen Page.

Of course, I would hardly call Ellen Page plain (I have a huge crush on her, hahah...so I'm biased anyway), but otherwise she seems to fit the role rather nicely. I can imagine her being the rational-but-with-passion-simmering-below-the-surface Jane of Thornfield fairly easily. (I wonder who will play the young, unrestrained/irrational Jane of Gateshead?)

Edit: Actually, in retrospect, there is some implication in the novel - particularly at Gateshead - that Jane merely sees herself as plain due to the things others have said...Mrs. Reed calls her ugly - and she says this explicitly if I recall - because of Jane's personality, not necessarily due to her actual physical appearance. It is also suggested later that it is more her manner of carriage and dress (bland grays, etc.) which get her labeled as plain. But Bronte never really says one way or the other...as this is all Jane's perspective (and really, how many women out there call themselves beautiful anyway...).

Anyway, I'm excited...because (truth to be told) I'm not a huge fan of either Bronte. For whatever reason, I'm unable to fully connect with the novels in any way that impacts me as much as it seems to impact others, but oh well (I don't tend to enjoy novels which dote heavily on romance anyway). I look forward to Page's portrayal of Jane - maybe her interpetation will add something I can't seem to get from the text itself.

"This is a tree on fire with love, but it's still scary since most people think love only looks like one thing instead of the whole world."

Remember when Winona Ryder was in that period piece? Actually she did two back to back and that is why I saw those movies. It was kinda odd and not totally believable, but I love seeing Winona in films. It's sort of similar. I'm excited to watch Ellen page in Jane Eyre.

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As if that wasn't obvious - this is just a whole world of wrong! 

 As Jane herself concedes - she was not just plain - she was certifiably unattractive! I'm not gonna drone on about the subtleties of the plot, but part of the importance of the story was the mis-match between class, attraction and circumstance...I have nothing against young, beautiful, talented actresses, but to pull off this role requires that the actress be pretty darn plain, or at a minimum have the necessary gravitas to make us believe it.

Indeed! This is wonderful news. I am a little unsure about Ellen Page as JE as well, due to the aforementioned filmography. She does tend to play more...contemporary characters, however a period piece could be an interesating exploration for her, possibly help build up her acting chops.

Honestly, I am worrisome about North American actresses donning terrible English accents, does anyone remember Becoming Jane? I shudder thinking of Anne Hathaway's massacre of random intonations and fickle inflections. However, it was a courageous attempt nonetheless, I will give her that. But, alas, Page is Canadian, this could be to her advantage.

Aha! The verdict is in: I believe in Page regardless of her experience in such a genre or as an actress overall. I think she may pull through and produce a memorable interpretation of the character that no one expected. Plus, Ellen as Jane is just a yum concept right there....

Natalie Portmen in Wuthering Heights! Yes! I have no doubts concerning this period production. After watching her amazing and thoroughly engaging performance in The Other Boleyn Girl, I am confident that this will be another wonderful performance from Portman.

Also, I have watched a lot of production of JE and by far the Charlotte Gainsbourg version (released in 1996) which you have pictured above is my all-time favorite. Mmmm.. Charlotte Gainsbourg.... Ahem! Excuse me.

As much as I love Ellen Page, this movie just does not need to be made - I'm sure there are people in Hollywood capable of coming up with an original storyline, why not spend money on developing those indeeds.

A very gorgeous version of Jane Eyre was made recently with the lovely Charlotte Gainsborough and William Hurt and Joan Plowright which I have seen many times - when such a fine example of the film already exists I cannot see anything new being added - waste of money and time.

Make something new already...with lesbians

Just askin'

I thought Charlotte Gainsbourg was a great Jane Eyre. Ellen Page seems too modern, but she's a really great actress and I hope she pulls it off. It's one of my all time favorite books.  

" Ilene Chaiken doesn't need tools...if you know what I mean."

...if she can pull off an English accent. While I think she's a great actress, no accent, no show.

As for your mini-summary:

Plain-looking Jane comes to work as a young governess for a much older man named Mr. Rochester (think Hugh Hefner). The two exchange flirty glances all throughout the mansion and eventually fall in love with each other. 

Um, have you actually read the book? Hugh Hefner? Flirty glances? Puhlease. Maybe last year's Beeb effort (Jane was good, but everything else was crap) is showing its undue influence here.

I think the casting of Page is an intriguing one purely for the fact that she's one of the most changeable actresses I've seen a long time.  It's nice to see a girl with ambition, drive, intelligence and more than a little wit packed into such a small frame.  There's the role models girls should aspire too, not the Hilton's, Montag's and Spears' of this world.

Anyone doubting whether she's a one-trick pony needs to watch An American Crime.  It premieres on Showtime tomorrow night (but be warned, the subject matter is not light).  If you class 60s as period, which I guess it is, then Jane will mark her second period outing.

I guess I should be aggrieved that a Canadian actress is taking on the part of an ostensibly British heroine (being a Brit myself), but somehow, I can't see to become angry at it, since Ellen seems the right kind of person to play Jane.  My biggest fear undoubtedly is that it may become a glossy redux in the Becoming Jane/Other Boleyn Girl style. 

I just hope it retains some of what made the Zeffirelli/Gainsbourg version so wonderful.

"but to pull off this role requires that the actress be pretty darn plain, or at a minimum have the necessary gravitas to make us believe it."

I beg to differ Rituximub. Isn't this what Award winning actresses do all the time? Remember Nicole Kidman in The Hours? Remember Charlize Theron in The Monster? I reckon Ellen Page has the talent and instincts to carry it off.

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Kisses!!@@

i hate period films. the only person that can make a period film worth seeing, in my opinion, is winona ryder.

so much shouting,

so much laughter