Wuthering Heights
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Movie Reviews of Wuthering Heights
Movie Review: Faithfully Hateful
Summary: 4 Stars
When I saw this film in the theatrical release I thought it was beautifully done, but I was not happy with it. I had been raised on the Merle Oberon/Lawrence Olivier version that is softer and more romantic. So I finally read the book. This version is publicized as "a faithful adaptation" of the book, and it is. WUTHERING HEIGHTS is a venomous tale of two selfish, spiteful people obsessed with each other. It shines a smokey lantern glare on how people do horrible things in the name of love.
Ralph Fiennes strides away with this film in a rip-roaring, seething gothic performance as love's prison keeper, Heathcliff. Juliette Binoche gives a lovely performance, but is miscast in a number of ways that hold her back. Her accent is noticeable, and takes us away from her - really wonderful - performance. Playing a dual role, she is later saddled with blonde hair and blue contacts which are unconvincing and really distracting. This is just a bad match of actress and role.
This simply makes the performance of Janet McTeer shine all the more. Always a striking presence, her role as omnipresent viewer (the narrator of the book), and Cathy's confidante brings her to the center of our vision time and again, and she is always startlingly perfect. McTeer is like the landscape used for much of the outdoor scenes. Full, wild, solid, earthy and vast.
The Lynton siblings are both surprisingly good. Pretty, wan, and slightly pasty pawns of the demonic lovers. The score lifts all this, the fine performances, the grand story, and sets it firmly into a place of haunting melancholy.
But it is the landscapes that will be remembered long after any other portion of this film. The locations are unique and interesting, and give the romantic scenes the visual austerity and dis-ease of an Edgar Allen Poe poem. The beautiful filming of these vistas say as much as the story itself. Romance on the rocks with an eternal twist.
Movie Review: Very good but not great
Summary: 4 Stars
I enjoyed this film from beginning to end and recommend it. I'm not sure exactly why I didn't give it five stars. Perhaps because it failed to live up to my memory of the book, which I read many, many years ago and my memory of the Lawrence Olivier screen version. Both of those probably formed "my" Heathcliff, which was different from Ralph Fiennes'. "My Heathcliff" was stockier, more physical, craggier, (looking more like Beethovan!) Fiennes' is more mental and serpentine.
However all of that is personal and Fiennes' performance is certainly powerful and convincing. I felt a sympathy for him, too, even in his last, most monstrous days. The scene in which he grabs Cathy from the coffin is memorable.
I was a little disappointed in the performance of Juliette Binoche. There was something unconvincing in her Cathy. Another reviewer suggested that she lacked the necessary qualities to play an English country girl. I'm not sure exactly how to define those qualities but I tend to agree with that comment. Perhaps she was less firey than the original.
I agree with others, too, that the sequences were choppy and somewhat rushed, especially in the second half. But it's hard to fit all of the novel into two hours. I did like the ending a lot.
In sum, it's a great story, very well done and certainly worth watching.
Movie Review: Ambitious adaptation - Fiennes' smoulders as Heathcliff
Summary: 4 Stars
This 1992 adaptation of Bronte's classic novel is directed by Peter Kominsky and is most notable for his attempts to interpret the entire novel on-screen. Here, both the second generation of Earnshaws and Lintons are portrayed, and it is also interesting that the director chose to cast Juliette Binoche in a dual role, as Heathcliff's tortured love, and also her own daughter. Though this version has suffered at the hands of critics and purists alike, I consider this one of my favorite adaptations of "Wuthering Heights", mainly because of Ralph Fiennes' credible characterization of the tortured anti-hero. Heathcliff is such a complex character and one not easy to like, considering the cruel and callous way he treats those around him, even manipulating his own son for his twisted notions of revenge. But, despite all this, Fiennes' portrayal invites our sympathy - his deeply rooted love for Cathy and his insurmountable grief at losing her is so credibly conveyed that one can't help but sympathize with him and understand his motivations, however misguided they may be. The movie is beautifully filmed with stunning cinematography, and the score suits the somber storyline. This may not be considered a classic adaptation of Bronte's masterpiece, but it certainly was compelling for me.Movie Review: The best adaptation of Wuthering Heights on film
Summary: 4 Stars
This film is excellent, not too long and not too short, with the light and mood that would make Emily Bronte proud. Love the casting of Sinead O'Connor as EB herself at the beginning and end! The soundtrack is about the only element that gets to be a bit much - that same series of notes over and over doesn't really do justice to the visuals. Even though Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche are visibly considerably older than the teenaged- to early-twenties Heathcliffe and Catherine of the story, they are very believable. Other presentations of Wuthering Heights have a polished, "sexy" Heathcliffe who just isn't right since Heathcliffe is a monster through and through. Fiennes carries it off beautifully with a barely sublimated savagery showing through every scene, yet remains sympathetic somehow. Binoche's mischievous smirk is perfect for the Cathy who is more succubus than, for instance, Merle Oberon's glamorous princess in the 1939 version. I don't often buy movies to own and repeatedly view, so my shelf of favorites is not large, but this movie is prominent among them.Movie Review: Wonderful adaptation of great book.
Summary: 4 Stars
The English Patient costars Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche star in this brilliant adaptation of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. Having just recently read and enjoyed the book, I had a look at this on the weekend. It's very well done. Wonderful cinematography, great acting by Fienne's as Heathcliff has a haunting music score and moves along very nicely. Unfortunately the copy I got was only pan and scan but this one is in widescreen which would look really good.
I'd recommend reading the book first so you have something to compare it to. Considering all the rubbish coming out these days, I'd rather watch Wuthering Heights anytime.
Thanks for reading.