“JANE EYRE” (Available Aug. 2)
It’s an old story in Hollywood: A fresh young director makes a splash with a first movie, but loses his/her way with a followup effort.
But Cary Fukunaga has avoided the sophomore slump. His “Jane Eyre” got rave reviews when it opened in March, and despite coming out on DVD this week the latest adaptation of Emily Bronte’s Gothic romance is still playing theatrically in Kansas City (it’s more or less taken up residence at the Screenland Crown Center).
Fukunaga, 34, is a native of Oakland CA and a film graduate of NYU who wowed many of us two years ago with “Sin Nombre,” a Spanish-language yarn about a Central American banger who hops a northbound freight train to elude his murderous fellow gang members and travels right up to the U.S. border, befriending a young woman hoping for a better life in America.
“Sin Nombre” suggested a major talent; “Jane Eyre” confirmed it.
In a recent phone conversation, Fukunaga said that both films reflect one of his major concerns.
“I’m interested in companionship, in broken families and tribes and in reconstructing communities,” he explained.
“But you know, it’s a focus that sort of snuck up on me. I went to the Sundance lab to develop my first film, and in those circumstances you start to discover why you’re writing what you’re writing. Up to that point my choices had been unconscious. Only in hindsight do I see that companionship, loneliness and solitude are things that I tend to obsess over.”
Anyone who’s been on a movie set would quickly conclude that there are so many people doing so many different things that loneliness would be impossible. But that’s an illusion, Fukunaga said.
Cary Fukunaga
“If you ever want to be really lonely, go where people are really busy. From outside you might see moviemaking as a glitzy, social world.
“But I’ve made a point of talking about this with successful actors, writers and directors, and they confirm that they spend so much time on their own, in hotel rooms, trying to carry on relationships on Skype.
“So companionship is a big issue in this industry.”
Today’s high-tech communications don’t so much minimize isolation as enable it, he said.
“When I’m plugged in I’m definitely less attached. After spending so much of your time communicating electronically, it takes a while to get used to talking to people face to face.
“The saving grace for me is that in my job you’ve got to have people skills. You’ve got dozens of people looking to you for guidance.”
Though there have been numerous film and television versions of “Jane Eyre,” Fukunaga’s vision (the screenplay is by Moira Buffini) emphasizes the individual isolation of the film’s heroine, governess Jane Eyre (“Alice in Wonderland’s” Mia Wasikowska) and her odd, hard-to-read employer, Rochester (Michael Fassbender).
"JaneEyre"
These two characters have always been emotionally damaged, but Fukunaga’s film emphasizes their alienation almost to the point of discomfort.
“That was what the novel expressed to me,” he said. “You’re dealing with an incredibly hard childhood for Jane — a really brutal upbringing in an orphanage. And life isn’t all that much easier for Rochester.
“The basic story is that these two people who haven’t had much of a shot in life meet each other and there’s this chemical and intellectual attraction.
“But there’s this obstacle, too, this marriage Rochester cannot get out of.”
Far from being intimidating, adapting a classic was a joy, Fukunaga said.
“The great thing about literature is that with a book you can learn so much about these characters.Typically when you write feature films you have relatively little information into what your characters are all about. But with a book you have hundreds of pages that tell you who these people are. You can’t film every scene in the book, but that information informs your approach to the material.
“I’m actually kind of stunned by Charlotte Bronte’s great insight into the human condition. She was raised in this isolated parsonage in the north of England and grew up with little contact with the outside world.
“But obviously her family gave her a rich emotional life.”
Fukunaga said he’s currently trying to decide what his next project will be.
“Right now I have no idea. It could be a musical, a sci-fi adventure or a Civil War drama.”
| Robert W. Butler
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