Jane Eyre (2011)

After enduring a cold unhappy childhood, first in the home of an Aunt (Sally Hawkins) and then a cruel Spartan school, a young woman (Mia Wasikowska) accepts a position as a governess in the home of the charismatic but aloof Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender). Charlotte Bronte's great Gothic novel has seen over 20 film adaptations (if you count films like I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE) and over a dozen TV adaptations. The 400 page novel has never been fully done for film but the story is so compelling that it's almost impossible to botch it. The director Cary Joji Fukunaga tones down the romantic elements that often permeated other film versions and concentrates on the harsher aspects of the tale. It's a brisk film and manages to avoid that stately but dull BBC Masterpiece Theatre aura that kills off most classic novel adaptations. Wasikowska is closer to Bronte's "plain" Jane than most actresses who've played the part but the Rochester of Bronte's novel who is described by Bronte as not handsome is played by the handsome Fassbender. In that respect, George C. Scott is probably the closest movie Rochester (1970's Jane Eyre).  With Judi Dench, Jamie Bell and Simon McBurney.