Everyman Harrogate Film Review monthly column - Wuthering Heights
I understand with adaptations the goal isn’t to recreate the source material verbatim but if you’re going to borrow a title you ought to service at least the main themes accurately.
We lose the type of love that drives the original and, while some class explorations are seen, the film’s inability to give itself a ferocious jumping off point by staying true to Heathcliff’s race weakens it greatly.
The same went for Catherine I found.
Here she’s only a bit petty and Robbie does great, but in the book she’s painfully destructive and has no real reason to be so - and that’s what I wanted.
An early-anticipated strength of mine to find in this adaptation was the production quality; everything was flamboyant and grand, locking our characters inside a vast fairytale that Emerald Fennel gleefully dotted her dolls around in.
Some of the rooms were breathtaking and had such immense saturation in their colours, reflecting not only the Lintons and Earnshaws in these mirrored floors but the intensity of the romance and passion felt all around.
The star-crossed lovers dynamic in the film is charged by the untamed sexual tension that engulfs our characters.
This direction is not one I minded and I think it’s an interesting take on the story.
However, I honestly don’t think it went all that far and was built up to be something far more erotic and risqué than it actually was.
And on a count of almost everyone having these sexual derangements, the field is forcefully evened, and it was this absence of weight throughout that had me struggling to really feel the emotions required to connect with it.
If I was to describe Wuthering Heights in a succinct way I’d say two dimensional.
The world was bright and sprawling, and used its budget to the fullest.
But did the film truly make me feel anything? Not really.
It was a story that I could fortunately look at, but sadly couldn’t touch.
It was fine overall and completely beautiful, but I daren’t say I’d ever think of these characters over their counterparts from 1847.
Visit https://www.everymancinema.com/film-listing/1000007235-wuthering-heights/ to see when the film is showing.
Rating: 5/10