Jane Eyre

Drama/Romance. Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender, Jamie Foxx, Sally Hawkins, Dame Judi Dench, Imogen Poots, Holliday Grainger, Tamzin Merchant, Amelia Clarkson, Freya Parks, Settbon Moore, Simon McBurney. Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga.

The Bronte sisters are back in fashion this autumn. November heralds Andrea Arnold’s eagerly anticipated adaptation of Wuthering Heights, distinguished by the casting of James Howson as the first black actor to portray Heathcliff on the big screen.

In the meantime, director Cary Joji Fukunaga spoils us with his artfully composed version of Charlotte Bronte’s timeless romance.

Fukunaga chooses Mia Wasikowska as the much-abused heroine and is rewarded with a deeply moving and emotionally wrought performance.

With a single mournful look into the camera, the fast-rising Australian actress conveys all of the unspoken desires and shattered dreams of a young woman, who has survived as much by her wits as by good fortune.

Michael Fassbender proves a sexy and brooding Rochester, who falls under Jane’s spell but conceals a terrible, dark secret.

Fukunaga’s colour-bleached film opens with Jane (Wasikowska) fleeing Thornfield Hall in tears, where she has been employed as governess for Adele Varens (Settbon Moore), the young ward of Edward Rochester (Fassbender). Stumbling across the moors, she seeks refuge with clergyman St John Rivers (Jamie Bell) and his sisters Diana (Holliday Grainger) and Mary (Tamzin Merchant) at Moor House, where she recalls her turbulent past.

Elegantly adapted for the screen by Moira Buffini, Jane Eyre condenses the source novel into two hours of yearning and regret.

Wasikowska and Fassbender lead an exemplary ensemble cast.

Fukunaga's camera sweeps over the foreboding locations, lashing his lead actress with enough wind and rain to match the emotional battering meted out by Mrs Reed and Mr Brocklehurst.