Classics (Austen/Brontë/Dickens) which film or TV adaptations are best?

[redpickle]

DD is 13 (yr 9) and covered A Christmas Carol at school last term, when she wanted to watch an adaptation on screen I recommended the very best which,of course, is The Muppets. She's now asking about Wuthering Heights but I've no idea which version to suggest? There's a few on Netflix and Prime.
She's a hopeless romantic and I think she would enjoy the Brontë stories too so I'd welcome opinions on the best adaptations of Sense and Sensibility etc too as there are so many! She's a lapsed reader and Wuthering Heights has sparked her interest again (I suspect it's all the passion and young love) so I'm hoping watching some of these will help her turn to the books (optimistic).

I was SHOOK recently to read that Cliff Richard had played Heathcliff in a Wuthering Heights adaptation. So avoid that one at all costs. My mind is boggled thinking about it. And not in a good way.

Yes to Middlemarch currently on iplayer! I also like the 2004 BBC adaptation of North and South with Daniela Denby-Ashe and Richard Armitage.

Kate Beckinsale/Mark Strong is the best Emma adaptation in my opinion (1990s).

The recent Emma is a bit odd, has a kind of Wes Anderson vibe. Enjoyed it but wouldn't be in a hurry to re-watch it. I liked Johnny Flynn as Knightley though.

The Colin Firth/Jennifer Ehle Pride and Prejudice is the classic version. Avoid the Keira Knightley.

Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds in BBC's Persuasion is about the best Austen adaptation ever.

Clueless is a good modern Hollywood version of Emma.

I agree with lots of these- definitely the Collin Firth P&P as well as Amanda Root in Persuasion.

I also like Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow - can't remember what year that was.

@AngeliqueDePeyrac

Kate Beckinsale/Mark Strong is the best Emma adaptation in my opinion (1990s).

Agreed!!

@MissHavishamsMouldyOldCake

The recent Emma is a bit odd, has a kind of Wes Anderson vibe. Enjoyed it but wouldn't be in a hurry to re-watch it. I liked Johnny Flynn as Knightley though.

I agree it is a bit odd, but it's very watchable and a real visual treat. And I loved Bill Nighy as Mr. Woodhouse.

@PuppyMonkey

There is no really good film version of Wuthering Heights, they all try and tone it down and cut out the second half of the book. But I have a soft spot for the Laurence Olivier/Merle Oberon version from the 1930s because it’s so old fashioned and romantic.

There’s a newer version with Tom Hardy from ten years ago that might be available somewhere, ITV Hub maybe? Tom Hardy as Heathcliff is not nearly as good as it should be though.

Agreed that no versions of WH are that satisfactory, just because it's such an odd (though brilliant) novel -- it tends to get misunderstood as this great romance, whereas in fact the female half of the 'couple' dies midway through the novel while married to someone else, and then attention switches to the less interesting next generation, where the aging male half of the original couple tries to screw up the next generation, and is remarkably cruel to the only child of the woman he loved and forces her marriage to his sickly son.

Lots of adaptations leave out the second generation entirely, which means they're very usatisfactory, or struggle with casting, because we follow characters from their childhood to them having adult children of their own -- some adaptations use the same actress for Cathy and her daughter Catherine, despite them not looking alike, but then have to contend with audiences remembering which is which etc.

There's an utterly ridiculous early 1990s version with Juliet Binoche as Cathy/Catherine (Yorkshire women with a pronounced French accent) and Ralph Fiennes in a wig as a rather genteel Heathcliff, and a controversial brutalist recent version by Andrea Arnold that looks interesting, and makes Heathcliff actually black (but only covers the first generation).

I think my favourite of the ones I've seen is an old TV series version from the late 70s, but it looks pretty dated now.

Yes Bill Nighy as Mr Woodhouse, with his draught obsession, was very entertaining.

There are no good adaptions of Wuthering Heights. Although maybe the Tom Hardy one is worth watching if you fancy him. ( shallow, I know.)

The Colin Firth “Pride and Prejudice” is dull.

The Gwyneth Paltrow “Emma” is surprisingly good.
“Love and Friendship” (based on Lady Susan) was decent too.

There was a spate of new Austen adaptations by either the BBC or ITV about 10-12 years ago. I only saw Emma and S&S but I don't think they matched their 90s counterparts. They also did Persuasion (Sally Hawkins), Northanger Abbey (Felicity Jones) and Mansfield Park with, I think, Billie Piper.

I really enjoyed Love & Friendship. I'd forgotten what a good actress Kate Beckinsale can be - the scene where is hilarious.

@Tsuni

There are no good adaptions of Wuthering Heights. Although maybe the Tom Hardy one is worth watching if you fancy him. ( shallow, I know.) The Colin Firth “Pride and Prejudice” is dull.

The Gwyneth Paltrow “Emma” is surprisingly good.
“Love and Friendship” (based on Lady Susan) was decent too.

Is Love and Friendship available via streaming anywhere? I always wanted to see it and missed it when it came out.

Jane Eyre with Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens.

I think GP’s Emma was much truer to the book than ATJ’s. ATJ’s is a Lot of fun though.

@Tullig L&F is on Netflix.

North and South is sublime. It's incredibly romantic and very well done.

Emma Thompson S&S is a very good adaptation, but the TV version with Hattie Morahan is just as good (imo).

Amanda Root Persuasion is the best.

Middlemarch with Juliet Aubrey.

Tennant of Wildfell Hall with Tara Fitzgerald.

I really enjoyed The Buccaneers.

Bleak House with Gillian Anderson.

Wives and Daughters with Francesca Anni's.

The early 2000s Lorna Done was OK.

I wish they'd re-do the Barchester Chronicles .

Yes to Middlemarch and peak Rufus Sewell! Having said that, he was still incredibly hot in Victoria just a few years ago. He made me want Albert to not show up!

I love the Barchester Chronicles with Alan Rickman

@Crowdfundingforcake

North and South is sublime. It's incredibly romantic and very well done.

Emma Thompson S&S is a very good adaptation, but the TV version with Hattie Morahan is just as good (imo).

Amanda Root Persuasion is the best.

Middlemarch with Juliet Aubrey.

Tennant of Wildfell Hall with Tara Fitzgerald.

I really enjoyed The Buccaneers.

Bleak House with Gillian Anderson.

Wives and Daughters with Francesca Anni's.

The early 2000s Lorna Done was OK.

I wish they'd re-do the Barchester Chronicles .

Yes yes to this!

Would add that I really enjoyed the Mia Wasikowska/Michael Fassbender Jane Eyre, think she is fab.

Also a bit more modern but I Capture the Castle with Romola Garai, Rose Cyrne, Tara Fitzgerald is a fab adaptation

I know it's not what you were asking, but came on to recommend the audiobook of Pride and Prejudice on BBC Sounds. It's the unabridged novel read by Clare Corbett, who brings all the characters to life.

Some of Austen's sentences are very long, and hearing them rather than reading them is much easier.

Good as the film versions are, it's worth trying to access the original work, the writing is so witty and clever.

One more vote for Middlemarch, which I very much enjoyed for its faithful representation of a substantial, complex and adult novel.

I've seen most of the above-mentioned and I find that different adaptations have different strengths.
I read Wuthering Heights when I was a teenager and I think the Tom Hardy version was the best I've seen. I don't remember any other version going to the next generation down with Hareton and young Cathy and I was pleased to see that. They were the healing of the torments of the earlier generation. (Read that somewhere - didn't work it out for myself . Emma is on Drama Channel 20 tomorrow, the Romola Garai one I think.

However, the books are the best place to start, I truly think. Once you know the book you've got grounds to slate the adaptors, or praise them, as you will. The best way to come to Emma is to read it first without knowing anything about it.

Ah, dear Tom Hollander in Wives and Daughters. Dear everyone in W and D.

bloodynewusernameagain, I watched the Jane Eyre with Mia Wasikowska again last week - I think she's very good. I can't decide whether I like her or Ruth Wilson better in the role.

Forgot about Little Women - I haven't seen the most recent film but like both the Susan Sarandon and the June Alysson versions.