In a recent episode of the ITV show “Perspectives”, “The
Brilliant Bronte Sisters”, the actress Sheila Hancock explores the lives of
Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte, and how people and events shaped their work.
Hancock does not really present much that many devotees and fans would not
already know (who else would stay up to watch a documentary about the Brontes
at 10pm on a Sunday evening?). Most know that Charlotte’s infatuation with her
teacher, Monsieur Heger, inspired her passionate but reserved heroine, Jane
Eyre. We have already seen documentaries with presenters running, hair flying,
across the Yorkshire moors crying desperately for Heathcliff in an effort to
emulate Emily’s wildness (though Hancock may well be the oldest!). We are aware
that Anne’s proximity to her alcoholic and dissolute brother, Branwell,
provided the prototype for the abusive Arthur Huntingdon in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
But two
things stand out in Hancock’s piece. A cameraman zooms in on a full stop in a
letter from Charlotte to Monsieur Heger, revealing that it is a tiny love
heart, effectively illustrating Charlotte’s tormented, unrequited love for her
tutor. This excites and astonishes Hancock and the curator of the Bronte
Parsonage Museum. The second affecting moment is when Hancock reflects on the
loneliness Charlotte must have felt as the sole surviving Bronte child, with no
more siblings with whom to create new worlds or share story ideas around the
table. Hancock sheds tears, recalling her own despair when her husband of 28
years, the actor John Thaw, passed away.
These two incidents prove that you do
not need to be an expert or academic to make a moving and stimulating
documentary.
If you missed it, you may be able to catch it on ITV Player!
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