Which Wuthering Heights should I watch?

[waltzingparrot]

Never read the book or seen it on screen. So many TV and film adaptations 🤔

Which adaptation do you think is the best?
Is it close to the book?

I really really love the 2011 one with Kaya Scodelario but I don't think there is any adaptation that actually does justice to the book. It's just one of those books that is much better than read than viewed on screen. 1992 is a pretty good version as well.

Sidenote but my dd15 who loves wuthering heights has been ranting today about how disappointed she is on the casting for the new adaptation which is Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi

Emerald Fennell is making a film of WH, so I'll be avoiding that one!

None are anything compared to the book but I liked the 2011 one too!

I agree with the previous posters. The 2011 version is the 'best' but it's a book that should be read.

Ones I've watched:
Laurence Olivier & Merle Oberon from 1939 fairly ridiculous, but Larry was a good Heathcliff imo
Ralph Fiennes & Juliette Binoche, early 90s, pretty faithful to the book, but Cathy had a decidedly French accent. Ralph as Heathy was tres dramatique and very handsome.
Tom Hardy tv series version, early 2000s (I think) his wig was so bad it distracted me throughout and needed it's own credits imo.

Hmm have I watched any others??

I've never watched the 2011 film, I'll give that a go because I like Andrea Arnold's films.

Honestly, read it. You won't regret it.
I'm currently reading it again.
I don't think any of the films/series - with the exception of the Ralph Fiennes/Juliet Binoche version - actually cover the whole story anyway. So if you watched the Olivier version, for example, you'd think you knew the story, and you wouldn't. I think it was famously regarded as unadaptable. I will be interested to see what Emerald Fennel does with it.

It's one of my favourite books, but no adaptation I've ever seen does it justice. It's a gothic novel, and the characters aren't lovable romantic heros. Read it, it's quite unique!

I agree read it , then watch the original 1939 black and white version.

I love the 1939 version - always makes me cry, even if it is a little corney - I especially like the scene where Isabella is pleading with Heathcliff... but I haven't read the book either - really struggle with "the classics"!!!

LO is drop dead gorgeous in it too which is a bonus!

Oh wow I didn't know there was a new adaptation on the cards!

I agree though, the adaptations never live up to the book.

It's been my favourite book since a teen. In 2011 my 'dear husband' bought me an old copy for Valentine's Day and wrote the quote "I cannot live without my life, I cannot live without my soul" on the first page. Obvs left for the OW the next year 😂. Still my favourite book of all time though.

The Ralph Fiennes/Juliette Binoche version. It covers the whole book and shows Cathy and Heathcliff to be as cruel as they were in the book. Also Ralph Fiennes is insanely hot as Heathcliff. It's my favourite book, I've watched all versions and none of them are perfect but that's the best one.

I'm in a quandary now......

Should I read the book first but be forever disappointed by sub par films or

Watch one of the better films and have the joy of finding out the book is so much better than the film?

read the book, watch the film and listen to Kate Bush then come back here and give us all your reviews 😂

Please read the book. Admittedly the adaptations will then never live up to what you hoped they'd be but it's really worth the read!

Timothy Dalton and Anna Calder Marshal version is great , Timothy Dalton is wonderful, so handsome , so brooding , and of course he played the best Mr Rochester ever years later.

Is MR Cathy? She's too old.

I would say the 1939 film is the one to watch. Like Rebecca, the original and the best.

Happy to send you my copy OP! 😂

The book is so, so good! I really wouldn’t bother with any one the films/ t v shows. As others have said a dramatic portrayal doesn’t do it justice.

If it seems a bit intimidating, maybe you could give the audio book a go.

and if you had to watch an adaptation, what about the 1996 Cliff Richard penned musical “Heathcliff!”.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathcliff_(musical)

Heathcliff is a deeply unpleasant character. He murders animals and beats his wife. He is horrible, and yet he's portrayed on film as attractive and romantic.

In a completely random post here's a link to the Wuthering Heights day in Folkstone this year.

Hard to argue with this tbh. But re the animal thing, are you referring to Isabella’s dog? I think that creature lives in the end, it’s just not that clear from the text.

(sorry OP, if that is a spoiler).

This is my favourite book and I haven’t seen a single TV/film adaptation that I’ve liked. As pp said they never get Heathcliff right. Read the book.

My favourite ever depiction of Heathcliff was that of Ken Hutchison in the 1978 TV production. It's also one of the few productions to tell the whole story. It's available on youtube

Yes, OP - I am so sorry if these are spoilers!
No, I meant the other incident, but I won't say more because I'm aware I may already have said too much!