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!

Well, Jennifer Ehle (who is naturally blonde) has said in interviews that she knew the producers of the BBC Pride and Prejudice would screentest all potential Elizabeth Bennets in period wigs to see if they looked right, and that as she really wanted the part and knew EB was dark, she dyed her fair eyebrows dark the night before so as to look properly brunette in the wig.

I read it at 12 I think and thought the bit where he digs her up was the best part. I've loved anything nasty ever since. (In films and books, I hasten to add; I'm not out in midnight graveyards.)

I don't get the Jacob Elordi thing and I can take or leave Margot Robbie. I get her mixed up with the one from My Name Is Earl. I might read the book again and give the film a miss!

no. sounds like a lot of gothic tosh
though emerald can make whatever film she likes I think it sounds more like for teenagers. If I was 16 again I'd be rushing.
The book is powerful in itself

I just cannot see Margot Robbie as Cathy at all. She is Barbie to me. Don’t know the chap.

She’s a very versatile actress. She was brilliant in that film about Tonya Harding.

Loved it.

It's not the book. At all. But still loved it.

I agree she's versatile, and that she was excellent as TH. But TH was a contemporary role. MR has those all-Australian, symmetrical good looks of the kind that often feed through to Hollywood from Australian soaps (the fact that British soaps tend to hire much more ordinary-looking actors means that there's far less of a pipeline from UK soaps to Hollywood) that seldom translate well to period roles.

I mean, she'd be fine in Bridgerton, but she'd have looked very strange and anachronistic indeed playing Anne Elliott in the 1995 BBC Persuasion (with Amanda Root) in no makeup, opposite Ciaran Hinds, Sophie Thompson and co, even wearing no makeup.

The old guy Joseph seems to have got hold of a time machine because he's about 20. He's shagging Zillah in the barn after whipping her and putting her in a horse's bridle. Zillah is only in the book when Lockwood rents Thrushcross Grange so it's inaccurate. Some more whipping. Isabella tied up like a dog. Cathy masturbating behind a rock. Heathcliff and Cathy going down on each other.

The completely made up opening scene is stolen from A Tale of Two Cities with women knitting whilst some bloke is hanged and Cathy and Nelly laughing at him having an erection.

It's absolutely stupid.

Here is Margot Robbie in “I Tonya” being a great actor:
I think I’ll watch this again instead of going to see WH

As for WH I think the 2011 version is the best. Certainly the Moor is a character as it should be

I like the 2009 2 parter with Tom Hardy.

Aside from Binoche attempting the accent 🧐 was this version more faithful to the novel?

I like the novel. I really do not want watch this more recent version 50 Shades of t' grey moors starring 19th Century Barbie

If you listen carefully towards the end of the trailer, you can actually hear Emily Brontë spinning in her grave

Well, yes, partly, in that it is comparatively unusual in including both generations, including the one in which Heathcliff can't be spun as a Byronic lover, but is an increasingly nakedly psychopathic grasping domestic tyrant and abusive father and abusive father-in-law.

Juliette Binoche plays both Catherine Earnshaw Linton and Catherine Linton Earnshaw, in different wigs.

Oh God, it’s going to make me murderous if I ever see this film, I better get a restraining order put out against myself.

Yes, of the versions I've seen so far this is probably the most faithful to the novel. It's not perfect by any means, but it does at least attempt to create the right atmosphere.

I rewatched the Tom Hardy version last week, don't really like that one. I don't mind Charlotte Riley as Cathy but Tom Hardy didn't work as Heathcliff for me.

I didn't like the 2011 version when it came out but a few people have recommended it so I might give it another go.

Thanks for the reply. That’s helped make my mind up - I’m not going to bother watching it! I think it will ruin Wuthering Heights forever for me. Will read the book again instead!

Yes, it just kind of faded out after a while. They're both such good actors.
And yes, they told the entire story. Binoche also played Catherine.

PUPPYMONKEY me too! It sounds vile

I loved it. I’ve only recently read the book and have to say I didn’t overly enjoy it, after the second half especially, but I appreciate its importance and what Brontë achieved at the time.

I love Emerald Fennel, it feels like a modern and playful interpretation, it’s not trying to replace the original or be a literal adaptation. I thought she really cleverly managed to portray the essence of the characters, the themes are different, this one obviously isn’t delving into the inheritance of trauma given the focus on one generation, but it felt like an artist wanting to explore what Heathcliff and Cathy‘s relationship could have been in the interim with the outcome ultimately, potentially, being the same, almost like fan fiction. I love that the characters got to discover and resolve the conversation Heathcliff overheard.

I thought it was harmless fun that complements the impact and world of WH rather than trying to be it. It was also beautiful with a wonderful soundtrack.

I saw it this afternoon, having reread the book last month.

I 'enjoyed' it (I mean the storyline isn't really enjoyable as such is it?), I thought the acting was surprisingly good - both Elordi and Robbie did a good job of showing the dichotomy of both their characters.

Fennell has basically focused on the first half of the mid section of the book, but in order to do that she's changed and merged some of the characters and their storylines. If you know the book it's a bit of a head fuck but works well for the limited time of a film format.

Probably not one for hardcore Brontë aficionados. The people who hadn't read the book were coming out of the cinema in tears, those of us that had were, I suspect, a little perplexed.

almost like fan fiction

I thought it had fan fic vibes too, which I'm not about to judge as I write the stuff as a hobby and my first ever one was based on 'Sparkhouse' (which a loose modern interpretation of WH by Sally Wainwright)!

I love the book and have never watched an adaptation as a result. Until now.

Saw it today and loved it. Totally OTT and all that but it was wildly entertaining. Reminded me of the first Twilight film in some ways which means other will hate it.

I just think it’s a completely different version to anything that’s been done before. I’d like to see it but worry it will be so bad. Will always love the book though.

@Paperwhite209 Sparkhouse was excellent! Glad to see someone else remember it!