Hallelujah!(PART 2 OF 3)
Yes, life is too short, Kato
From: diane03760@vancouver.ca
To: barclay1720@aol.com
Date: Date:Mon, Jun 6, 2011 4:35 pm.
Hi Kato,
Hallelujah to you too, kiddo!
Glad to see you're getting religious.
and you're right, life is too short ~ far too short ~ to go around nursing animosities.
Guess we've both learned a few valuable things on our time on this planet, Kato.
Thanks for sending all of this .. it's always thought-provoking that's for sure.
Love, Diane ~
To tell you the truth, Diane, I was impressed by Helen Burns.
Oh, were you? What impressed you so much?
I viewed the "Jane Eyre" DVD produced by BBC in 1983. Shown in that movie is the following gravestone:
As you see, Helen died at the age of 12.
What a pity!
Yes, it's terribly sad, isn't it? I almost cried to death while watching.
Are you serious, Kato?
I'm dead serious. What really impressed me is that Helen told Jane like a Mother Teresa of Calcutta:
She (Mrs. Reed) has been unkind to you, no doubt; because, you see, she dislikes your cast of charactetr, as Miss Scatcherd does mine: but how minutely you remember all she has done and said to you! What a singularly deep impression her injustice seems to have made on your heart! No ill-usage so brands its record on my feelings. Would you not be happier if you tried to forget her severity, together with the passionate emotions it excited? Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs.
We are, and must be, one and all, burdened with faults in this world: but the time will soon come when, I trust, we shall put them off in putting off our corruptible bodies; when debasement and sin will fall from us with this cumbrous frame of flesh, and only the spark of the spirit will remain,---the impalpable principle of life and thought, pure as when it left the Creator to inspire the creature: whence it came it will return; perhaps again to be communicated to some being higher than man---perhaps to pass through gradations of glory, from the pale human soul to brighten to the seraph!
Surely it will never, on the contrary, be suffered to degenerate from man to fiend? No; I cannnot believe that: I hold another creed; which no one ever taught me, and which I seldom mention; but in which I delight, and to which I cling; for it extends hope to all: it makes Eternity a rest---a mighty home, not a terror and an abyss. Besides, with this creed, I can so clearly distinguish between the criminal and his crime; I can so sincerely forgive the first while I abhor the last: with this creed revenge never worries my heart, degradation never too deeply disgusts me, injustice never crushes me too low: I live in calm, looking to the end.
SOURCE: Chapter 6 "Jane Eyre"
Diane, can you believe that Helen was a mere 12-year-old in the film, and told Jane like a Mother Teresa?
Don't be silly, Kato. Charlotte Brontë told us throught the mouth of Helen Burns. It's obvious!
Well, you're right, Diane. After all, "Jane Eyre" is a fiction.
Yes, that's right.
But, you know, Diane...when you write a fiction, characters in the book, or in the movie for that matter, should be easy-to-believe figures. Otherwise, the whole story would become somewhat silly, if not unbelievable.
I think what really matters is whether you're impressed or not by the plot. Apparently, you were impressed by what Helen told Jane, weren't you?
Yes, absolutely, I was.
So, you don't have to be too picky or critical. Simply get down to the nitty-gritty of the story. That's how you appreciate a fiction, I suppose.
You're right, Diane. So, you believe in what Helen told Jane, don't you?
Yes, of course, I do.
So, that's why I told you that you were uncorruptible.
Oh...?
You see, Diane, even if we have our corruptible bodies, the time will come when debasement and sin will fall from us with this cumbrous frame of flesh, and only the spark of the spirit will remain.
Amazing!...Kato, you're really getting religious!
By the way, Diane, I've also seen the "Jane Eyre" film made in 1944, in which the late Elizabeth Taylor plays as Helen Burns. Here's the video clip you might be interested in.
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AS6qyMNqa_w" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Jane Eyre (1944 film)
Jane Eyre (1944) is a classic film adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel of the same name, made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by William Goetz, Kenneth Macgowan, and Orson Welles (uncredited). The screenplay was by John Houseman, Aldous Huxley, Henry Koster, and Robert Stevenson, from the novel by Charlotte Brontë. The music score was by Bernard Herrmann and the cinematography by George Barnes.
The film stars Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine, Margaret O'Brien, Peggy Ann Garner, Sara Allgood, Henry Daniell, Agnes Moorehead, John Sutton, with Betta St. John and Elizabeth Taylor making early, uncredited appearances.
Production notes
The film's screenplay was based on a radio adaptation of the novel by Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre on the Air, which John Houseman collaborated on.
The film was acclaimed for its recreation of the Yorkshire Moors. It was actually filmed entirely in Hollywood on a heavily disguised sound stage. The long shadows and heavy fog, which added the air of a Gothic novel lacking in so many remakes, were rumored to have been the brainchild of Orson Welles. He was offered a producer's credit as thanks for his contribution but declined the offer, believing that a person who is not a director shouldn't be "just" a producer.
This was the 7th film version of the novel.
It was during his scoring of the film that Bernard Herrmann started working on his opera Wuthering Heights, based on the novel of the same name by Charlotte Brontë's sister Emily. He quoted some themes from the Jane Eyre film score (and other of his earlier scores) in the opera.
Tagline: A Love Story Every Woman would Die a Thousand Deaths to Live!
Cast
Joan Fontaine - Jane Eyre
Orson Welles - Edward Rochester
Peggy Ann Garner - Jane Eyre as a child
Elizabeth Taylor - Helen Burns (uncredited)
Edith Barrett - Mrs. Alice Fairfax
Agnes Moorehead - Mrs. Reed
Margaret O'Brien - Adele
Sara Allgood - Bessie
Henry Daniell - Henry Brocklehurst
Hillary Brooke - Blanche Ingram
Quotes
The film begins with a voice over from Jane Eyre (an original contribution by the screenwriters):
My name is Jane Eyre... I was born in 1820, a harsh time of change in England. Money and position seemed all that mattered. Charity was a cold and disagreeable word. Religion too often wore a mask of bigotry and cruelty. There was no place for the poor or the unfortunate. I had no father or mother, brother or sister. As a child I lived with my aunt, Mrs. Reed of Gateshead Hall. I do not remember that she ever spoke one kind word to me.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
【Himiko's Monologue】
Wow! What an amazing video clip!
Whenever I watch the "Jane Eyre" film, I always cry at the scene of Helen Burn's deathbed.
It is quite sad, isn't it?
Actually, the eighty pupils at Lowood are subjected to cold rooms, poor meals, and thin clothing.
Many students fall ill when a typhus epidemic strikes.
Jane's best friend, Helen Burns, dies of consumption in her arms.
When Mr. Brocklehurst's neglect and dishonesty are discovered, several benefactors erect a new building and conditions at the school improve dramatically.
Anyway, the Jane Eyre drama is one thing; romance is another.
Come to think of it, I've never met a decent man in my life.
How come I'm always a loner?
I wish I could meet a nice gentleman at the library in my town as Kato met Diane.
Well, they say, there is a way where there is a will.
Have a nice day!
Bye bye ...
(To be continued)