'Jane Eyre' plot was pulp fiction, says director Cary Fukunaga

Director Cary Fukunaga has said that the plot of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre was "a bit of pulp fiction".

The filmmaker, who helmed this year's adaptation of the novel starring Mia Wasikowska in the title role, told Digital Spy that the quality of the novel was not in its storyline.

"There are elements to the 19th century which just don't work for contemporary audiences," Fukunaga said. "The surprise of the locked up woman in the attic is an essential part of the story, but some of the intrigue around it feels very dated now.

"What's great about Charlotte Brontë''s book - and this may sound like blasphemy to some - is not the plot. The plot is a bit of pulp fiction, if you will."

He continued: "It's the complexity of the characters, and how well they're described and the quality of the dialogue, which is unsurpassed in some ways, especially in terms of Rochester and Jane's interaction.

"It's just incredibly entertaining and smart and wonderful use of the English language - that's what makes this story amazing. Part of my job was distilling this stuff into something that's still believable to an audience today."

Asked about the pressure of adapting such a classic novel which had been filmed so many times, Fukunaga said: "I only get this question in the UK, because I think that here you grow up with the heritage novels so much.

"For me, the only Jane Eyre that I knew of at the time of signing on to the project was the Orson Welles, Joan Fontaine one, directed by Bob Stevens, and of course the novel.

"There was no sense that it was more important than any other piece of British or American or French literature."

Jane Eyre is available for pre-order on DVD now.

Watch our recent Jane Eyre video interview with Cary Fukunaga below: