) answers both of those questions with surprising clarity in her dark, energetic take on Charlotte Bronte's feminist novel, Jane Eyre
.Jane Eyre(Mia Wasikowska) is a poor, but feisty girl living a life of utter turmoil. Her parents both died of Typhus, she's been sent to live with her horrible Aunt Sarah(Sally Hawkins, playing against type). Sarah hates Jane for reasons that aren't quite clear. Jane is badly mistreated by her cousins, both physically and mentally, finding herself locked away in the "red room", which she believes to be haunted. Sent off to a strict, cold boarding school, Jane develops a zest for life and hard attitude towards those who would hurt her. Years later as a fully blossomed young woman, she leaves and takes up a job as a governess, tudoring the French daughter of Edward Rochester(a volatile Michael Fassbender).
Despite being thrown(literally) for a loop in their initial meetings, Rochester and Jane grow close. Rochester is a rough, mercurial sort, quick to anger and doesn't suffer fools lightly. So he takes a liking to Jane. Despite her ordinary appearance, she's smart, feisty, and is one of the few who can leave Rochester flustered. As love begins to spring forth between the two, Jane starts to realize that something weird is going on.There are secrets hiding deep within the house of Rochester, secrets that may drive a wedge between her and her true love.
Classical dramas are a rite of passage for any up and coming starlet. Reese Witherspoon had hers(Vanity Fair
, The Importance of Being Earnest
), so did Keira Knightley(Pride and Prejudice
), Abbie Cornish(Bright Star
), and any other one you can think of. Some are better suited to it than others. Wasikowska, who scored big last year with Alice in Wonderland 
and The Kids Are All Right
, is a pitch perfect Jane Eyre. An unconventional beauty, it's the fire and spirit Wasikowska brings that makes it easy to understand why a man would fall in love with Jane so easily. Michael Fassbender is equally powerful as Rochester. Always an intense actor, he has the hardest job by far turning Rochester into a believable love interest. He does it with seeming ease, slowly evolving Rochester not just through poetic words but by the way his body language changes when in Jane's presence. You can see him softening with every scene. By the time Rochester gets around to spilling his most heartfelt desires, I would've married the guy. There's an energy coursing through this story that I just don't find in many movies of the type. Too many period pieces are slow, plodding, too aware of the confines of the source material to ever do anything new and surprising. Fukunaga changes that up ever so slightly by highlighting some of the darker elements of Bronte's novel. Some scenes take on the tone of a modern psycho-horror, and are extremely effective. A grand, sweeping score carries you through the emotional highs and despairing lows.
Jane Eyre's quest to overcome a stifling past to find love and acceptance is one that everyone can relate to. Hers is a story that isn't just relevant, it's eternal.
