Wuthering Heights

[GCAcademic]

Anyone planning to see this? From the trailer I was expecting it to be marmite and not in any way a straight adaptation of the novel, but the reviews I've seen so far are universally uncomplimentary. I'd already booked to see it, so will go in with an open mind!

I wanted to see it just because Jacob Oh-Lordy is in it. 😊😍
But the reviews aren't great, so now I'm torn.

Go anyway.

I did not like it, but I am still glad that I went. It has given me a lot to think about relating to adaptations.

As it was mentioned earlier - I have watched the 1970s series (it was on TV recently) and I did not like that adaptation either. It may have been more faithful compared to this recent one, but it was so flat and did not engage me like the book did. I have enjoyed other 1970s adaptations (such as Poldark) so it is not the style of filming and the lower budget that was my issue. This new version has sumptuous filming and a big budget. It is a 14 year old's take on the book and the characters do suffer because of this. So, different issues and I have enjoyed thinking about it and analysing it.

I'm trying to remember if I knew about BDSM when I was 14 ....

It was Fennell herself who specified 14 years old.

'Fennell's maximalist bodice-ripper instead embodies the story the Promising Young Woman and Saltburn filmmaker felt she experienced when she first read Wuthering Heights at age 14.' time.com/7377730/wuthering-heights-emerald-fennell-villain-nelly-heathcliff/

She could, of course, have added some aspects between then and now.

She must have read it in the dark then.

It was awful but im quite glad I saw it on the big screen. If you put all thoughts of wuthering heights out of your head its an interesting watch, occasionally spectacular. There's a lot of sex.

It was an entertaining 2 hours followed by an interesting 2 days since reading up on all the cast, etc.
I didn’t know Jacob Elordi was Australian!?
I love the soundtrack and actually the film sort of felt like a music video with all the visual effects. I’m ok with it not being a faithful adaptation as that’s not what I went in expecting. Although it has made me reread the book and rewatch the Tom Hardy ITV version.

Ooo there’s a Tom Hardy version! Now you’re talking!

I absolutely loved it. I also love the book but I took it for what it is, an inspired by. The title on the poster is in quote marks so pretty clear. I am a fan of the director though so wasn’t shocked by her vision.

i thought it was beautifully shot, music stunning and Margot Robbie was fantastic, very intense.

it won’t be for everyone though, can see why some won’t like it, it’s very sexual etc. But if you can let go of it being an adaptation of the book etc and go in with an open mind you might like it.

Saw it today and I'm not sure how I felt about it!
Definitely worth seeing although I found the soft porny second half a lot duller than the first half. For me, the point was the longing between the two characters, I did not want to watch them having loads of sex.

Found the whole thing with Isabella uncomfortable too - though really enjoying her retelling of Romeo and Juliet.

Her retelling of Romeo and Juliet was hilarious!

I was slightly worried going in because of all the terrible reviews, but I loved it!

I thought it was a joy to watch. The chemistry between Margo and Jacob was believable, the sets were perfect and the soundtrack was too.

Honestly not going to take any notice of crappy reviews any more!

Looking forward to watching it. I liked Fennell’s other films.

Exactly this 💯

He was great!

I’m watching the 1970s version on iplayer and the film isn’t that far from the basic plot, which I think is one of the main criticisms.

I enjoyed the film, I’m surprised it’s not been mentioned more at the BAFTAs tbh.

This is going to annoy me as I read a book many years ago which deals with heathcliff's missing years and he met Jane eyre's uncle, but it can't have been that book as it must be 30 odd years old. Going to investigate now.

I watched the 1939 film today. I liked it, but it was also an adaptation of the book, not the book itself. It was anachronistic; it was clearly set in the Victorian era when all the action in the book takes place decades before Victoria is born. In that sense it's no different to what Fennell has done, minus all the (imo) gratuitous rubbish.

There's lots of dialogue that isn't from the book. Laurence Olivier is hot but he's too smooth a Heathcliff. Cathy tells Isabella he's wicked but we don't see any evidence of that in the film. It's very sanitised and very pretty. No Yorkshire accents though Flora Robson does attempt one.

I enjoyed it for what it was and tried to forget the book for an hour or two.

Mark Kermode’s review talks about all the other adaptations of WH, and how nearly all of them just focus on the Cathy/Heathcliff love story at the expense of the book’s plot. It makes sense though - the super faithful 1978 version is a tv series, not a one-shot movie. There’s a lot of plot to squeeze into just two hours’ max runtime.

I’m watching the 1978 version now, Heathcliffe is so awful 🫤 it’s hard to watch when none of the main characters are likeable.

Went to see it this evening. Unfortunately it didn't work for me for many reasons. Primarily I did not like Margot Robbie as Cathy at all. Dyed blonde hair and perfect wide smile just doesn't have that ethereal pale skin dark hair beauty I associate with Cathy in my mind.

The only sex scene I liked was the first one as that was more about the tension between H&C. The others felt pointless and gave me the ick. Also didn't get the 'dog' scene. With the sex scenes and styling it did seem like a Bridgerton take on WH with the corsets and excessive cleavage.

Because they missed out on the build up, there was no Hindley and no second generation, it just felt quite empty with the whole film focused on "I love you Cathy, I love you Heathcliff" personally I didn't feel any deep emotions from any of the characters.

I didn't laugh during it, although I could see there were scenes that were meant to be funny. But for me they fell flat, oh apart from the doll scene that was amusing!

Also it was so long! Or maybe it just felt that way.

I thought it was brilliant, one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while, it’s very long and I was absorbed to the end,

Had decided not to see it but I am intrigued by some people saying they loved it - seems to be a real marmite film

The book was a similarly marmite affair when it was published.

And it was reviewed entirely differently when the author was thought to be a man compared to how it was reviewed when she was revealed to be female.

Finished the book this week and also saw the film - surprised myself by enjoying the book a lot less than I thought I would and the film a lot more.