Wide Sargasso Sea | | Cast : | Karina Lombard, Nathaniel Parker | | Director : | John Duigan | | Studio : | New Line Home Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | April 16, 1993 | | DVD Released Date : | November 04, 2003 | | Language : | | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 21, 2005 | | Summary | Feminist Response to Jane Eyre | Content
 | This is a great response to Bronte's Jane Eyre. Here we get Edward Rochester's wife's version of the story. She portrays Rochester as a second son who travels to the Caribbean seeking a rich wife. Instead of the Byronic hero that Bronte depicts, here Rochester is a young, selfish, Englishman who disregards the needs of his wife as well as all the pledges he made to her prior to her acceptance of his marriage proposal. Typical of his class, he indulges his desires selfishly. After his brother dies unexpectantly, he inherits his family's money and position. Then contrary to all his previous promises he uproots the youthful and very innocent Antoinette (Bertha in the Bronte novel) and drags her off to his foriegn and bleak homeland. I use this movie often in my Women's Lit courses in conjunction with the 1944 version of Jane Eyre. The Wide Sargasso Sea has some rather erotic love scenes that the more conservative of my students find offensive, but I always make it available to my students with the requisite disclaimers. It is a lushly beautiful film. Its setting and cinematography alone make it worth viewing. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 30, 2004 | | Summary | Nothing but soft porn | Content
| The novel of Wide Sargasso Sea was decent book. A re-writing of Jane Eyre's Bertha. But the film is really hard to tolerate. It starts out ok. Although it seems to start deviating from the book early on. Past the point where Antoinette marries Rochester the film turns in to nothing but soft porn and the acting gets worse too. |
| Rating | | | Date | October 24, 2004 | | Summary | Erotic tale behind Jane Eyre | Content
| "Wide Sargasso Sea" is the 'prequel' to Jane Eyre. It's the story of an 18th century, Jamaican heiress Antoinette Cosway (Karina Lombard) and her arranged marriage to the young Edward Rochester (Nathaniel Parker). Rochester isn't too thrilled about marrying an unknown foreigner, but as a good, obedient second son with no prospects, he accepts his father's wishes and sails to Jamaica. Antoinette isn't exactly ecstatic about the match either, but her family has a troubled history, and Rochester, as an outsider hasn't heard the tales. But Rochester isn't unhappy when he sets his eyes on his luscious, nubile new bride, and soon the young couple moves to the bride's country estate of Coulibri. Once they are established here, things begin to go wrong. Rochester loathes the unruly, lush surroundings, and Antoinette's voodoo-addicted servant, and he's also both bewitched and uncomfortable with his bride's rampant and frank desire.
While the book (by Jean Rhys) emphasized Antoinette's instability, the film focuses more on Edward. He is, at first, happy to embrace all the passion of his new conjugal relationship, but quite soon, it's clear that he resents this passionate release, and he also resents the cause of it. Jamaica represents a lawless, uninhibited place, and he verves away from it as one makes a conscious choice to avoid bad habits. He simply can't grasp the servants' status. He gives an order and expects it to be mildly obeyed--instead he meets sullen resistance. He doesn't understand the history of slavery on the island, the slave revolts or the inevitable consequences.
"Jane Eyre" is one of my favourite novels, so when I heard that "Wide Sargasso Sea" picked up the Jane Eyre story, I was fascinated. Visually, the film is stunningly beautiful. Edward's nightmares are eerie and beautifully photographed. Somehow the film captures the essence of the theme--rot and decay at the heart of beauty. It's a little cheesy in parts, but the film also delves into some rich food for thought--the Victorian suppression of sexuality, and the results of imperialism, for example. Not many books or films can interject into an established story both seamlessly and effectively, but "Wide Sargasso Sea" manages to do just that. Edward Rochester always seemed a bit on the shady side to me, and "Wide Sargasso Sea" explores many of the unanswered questions left by Charlotte Bronte's masterpiece--displacedhuman
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| Rating | | | Date | September 02, 2004 | | Summary | To buy or not to buy | Content
| I was dispointed from seying this movie. After seing Wild Orchid movies, 9 182 weeks movies and two moon junction movies i was expecting Wide Sargo Sea to be a great movie after seing the editorial about it. The course of the movie was really good but near the end when she looses everything was tragic to mee. I did not get the point of this movie. it's worth renting. But I certainly would not buy it. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 25, 2004 | | Summary | wide sargasso sea | Content
| this movie made me finally understand the whole story of Jane Eyre, I understand and look at the people much better ,and understand the women called insane,as drivin that way by lonliness,I look at the master of the house with different eyes. it opens many questions Jane eyre leaves open for thought. |
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