Will the Better Ciarán Hinds Character Stand Up? Part 1

I often cycle through genre phases (not that I’m the only one), especially when it comes to movies and shows. Currently, it’s all about Christmas movies (got to fit all of those Hallmark movies in somehow), and not long before that was my Regency Era phase. I’m such a Jane Austen fan and have watched several adaptations of her books. I even did a research project in college that had me watching different adaptations. However, it’s been so long that at this point, I don’t even remember what the focus was about. It probably was more about enjoying all the movies than some serious academic discussion. I do believe that in my final semester, I did a similar adaptation comparison project focusing on Jane Eyre (another passion of mine). Personally, I think that everyone should watch the 1949 television version starring Charlton Heston as Mr. Rochester. It’s…special.

What got me thinking about Jane Eyre and Jane Austen? Specifically, a quote, a phrase from Jane Eyre (the 2004 BBC mini-series version). “Still living a tenth of a life, you heiress.” as spoken by Mr. Rochester. And why the quote popped up in my brain doesn’t matter, as the thought train soon took me to Jane Eyre and Persuasion. Because here’s a fun tidbit. In both the 2007 version of Persuasion and the 1995 Persuasion, Rupert Penry-Jones and Ciarán Hinds, who each played Captain Frederick Wentworth, were ALSO in the same version of Jane Eyre (1997) as St. John Rivers and Mr. Rochester, respectively.

Now I adore Ciarán Hinds as Captain Wentworth. I adore him as an actor in general, but he did so well in Persuasion. Magnificent performance on his part. Goodness, I could watch that movie over and over again. It’s that good. However, I only rewatch the 1997 television film Jane Eyre for giggles because his performance of Rochester (as well as Samantha Morton as Jane Eyre) was just off for me. I won’t go into why that version is off for me in this post, but I will do so in the future. I promise I will write a post about it because I have SO MANY opinions about it. Oh, I should rewatch it to make sure I remember all of the views. I will add it to my calendar to get it done (so I don’t procrastinate and forget about it).

So consider this post a two-parter, possibly even a three-parter, after I rewatch both Ciarán Hinds’ Persuasion and Jane Eyre movies. It’ll undoubtedly take a lot to get it all down.