Wuthering Heights

Rating:
Summary: "It's a rough journey, and a sad heart to travel it-"
Review: Emily Bronte's poetically bleak novel WUTHERING HEIGHTS is intensely involved, encompassing a span of almost thirty-five years, and taking in the likes of three generations. Certainly it must take at least a good five hours to do this story notable justice on the screen. I therefore kept any anticipation of a truly cohesive telling of this tale well in check as I approached it; most assuredly expecting shortcomings and, if I must say so myself, quite successfully sought and found whatever might be the finer qualities of such a story portrayed on film. For though a number of movie adaptations had previously been made, it was not until this divine 1992 film that the whole poignant tale got told from the very beginning to the very end.

Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes are the ill-starred couple Cathy and Heathcliff. Heathcliff is an orphan found in Liverpool and brought home as a young child by Cathy's father, Mr. Earnshaw, a Yorkshire farmer, to be raised within the family. Cathy and Heathcliff develop a strong bond between them as they grow up. After Mr. Earnshaw dies, and his estate is left in the hands of his heir, Cathy's older brother Hindley, Heathcliff is cast down from the place of a beloved adopted son to that of a servant and farmhand. Then the ideal friendship that Cathy and Heathcliff had shared as children becomes further corrupted when Edgar Linton and his sister Isabella, son and daughter of a magistrate residing in a neighboring estate, enter the picture. What follows is a battle of wills, marked by moments of feverish passion, jealousy, a marriage proposal, a disappearance, and a quest for revenge. Fiennes and Binoche have their moments, and they lead a fairly well known cast - Janet McTeer as the maid Nelly, Simon Shepard as Edgar, Sophie Ward as Isabella, and Jeremy Northam as Hindley.

Originally, in the novel, it is the Earnshaw's servant girl, Nelly, who narrates this story. This movie, however, takes on a somewhat venturous liberty by casting Sinead O'Connor to tell the tale, in the personage of author Emily Bronte. Wuthering Heights is a castle of sorts, a bit more grand than imagined in the novel. Notwithstanding though, the artistic landscape imagery in this movie is exquisite.

The role of Cathy is a difficult one, to be sure - and I've yet to see an actress wholly capture her tempestuous nature. Truly Binoche is a very fine actress, as well as a rare beauty. Her looks and mannerisms, however, are somewhat too exotically European - and her accent is markedly French. She presents a rather mature, less impulsive Cathy, which does not at all strike one as a wild Yorkshire farm girl. In the whole of this film, there were only two scenes in which the intensity of her performance even came close to the power of the novel - that when she's telling Nelly about Edgar Linton's marriage proposal, and the scene where, in a fever after Heathcliff has run off with Isabella, she sends her soliloquy through an open window into the blustering night air. Both these scenes take from the book some of Bronte's most beautiful language.

Ralph Fiennes is also a very fine actor - and he's especially adept at playing brooding characters with a lot of pent up passion brewing under the surface. He approaches Heathcliff in this same manner. But Heathcliff in his younger years is something of a raging wild animal, too emotionally immature to keep his fury under wraps. Indeed, I must say Fiennes' Heathcliff misses the mark by no small distance, especially in those scenes which take place before Cathy's death. Like Binoche, he is simply too mature - his Heathcliff is just not believable as a farm hand who's only around the age of 20. It is actually in the scenes that take place after Cathy's death that Fiennes' performance really kicks in: despairing madman, obsessive necromancer - he plays it up to the fullest extreme of ruthless wickedness. In administering revenge upon those he hates he's downright scary.

I was rather disappointed that two major characters from the novel, Nelly and Hindley, were herein given so little attention. A key scene from the book - in which Hindley, recruiting a rifle and some assistance from Isabella, tries to eliminate Heathcliff - was completely omitted in this movie. Both Northam and McTeer put forth flawless performances for what little screen time they're given - but I believe that certain plot holes and transitional errors occurred due to the fact that these two were not fully drawn out. The third generation - Hindley's son Hareton (Jason Riddington) is ruggedly good looking; Jonathan Firth (brother of Colin Firth) plays Heathcliff's decrepit son Linton with relish; however, the fact that Binoche took on dual roles - as both Cathy and, with a blond wig, her daughter Catherine Linton - rather made me cringe. The scene in which Heathcliff exacts his revenge upon Catherine, who looks essentially the same as the supposed great love of his life, just didn't sit well with me at all.

For a more accurate portrayal of Cathy and Heathcliff in the early years before their children are born, look to a 1971 version of WUTHERING HEIGHTS starring Timothy Dalton and Anna Calder-Marshall. As for this version, I really must say that even with its various shortcomings, it's overall a very lovely, entertaining movie.

Rating:
Summary: A Twisted Tale, A Film Worth Owning
Review: Anyone who loves a twisted tale of romance and revenge will find this video to be an excellent example of just that. It boasts a wonderfully brooding soundtrack that moves the soul and a cast of actors highlited by Ralph Finnes and Juliet Binoche who give excellent portrayals of the Heathcliff and Cathy Ernshaw.
Juliette Binoche captures the viewers heart as both Cathy Earnshaw and her daughter Catherine Linton. Ralph Finnes gives a convincing portrayl of Heathcliff. His portrayal is enough to excite the viewer into goosebumps as he appears absolutely malevolent. In this film Ralph Finnes is a true Heathcliff.
Although the story is dark, the ending was done in such a way that the viewer feels at ease with the rollercoaster of love and revenge that swarm throughout the film. It is altogether an excellent video that is truely worth owning.

Rating:
Summary: UK BIASED?
Review: I found it very interesting that all of the reviews from the UK were SO long winded and negative. Yet the 1998 version of the film with virtual unknowns are praised by these same UK reviewers--could this be the UK remake?! I loved this movie! I shared it with my then 14 year old daughter. I think she could connect with always beautiful Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes. She had been reading Jane Eyre in her English class and immediately picked up Wuthering Heights. Who says TV can't lead to book reading?!

Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing
Review: I admire the actors in this film so much that I would like really to be able to say that this is a very good film. Unhappily, it is not. I admit that I have not read the book, but I want to. I hope that it is better than this film. Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche are very good actors and they were very young when they made this - but they are both not very good. They are "trying too hard", I think. Others actors in the film are better, but it is in the whole not a good film. The countryside is beautiful and filmed in Yorkshire, I think, and the nusic is lovely - but I think this is not a film to buy.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting performance
Review: I first saw this on cable one night when I couldn't sleep. I was immeadiatly drawn in by the character of Heathcliff played by Fiennes. He was haunting with his dark, dramatic performance. I had remembered watching the old black and white with I think a yong Orson Wells, and frankly I never really understood his character until brought to life by Fiennes. This movie is powerful and mesmerizing a must see for all you time period movie fans.

Rating:
Summary: An interesting film - but NOT Wuthering Heights
Review: It's hard to put a finger on this film. ... but the fact remains that Emily Bronte would NOT have recognized this as her novel.

It's interesting that many of the recent "anti" opinions have come from UK users - many of them from the North of England. There is probably a reason for that: as natives of the North they may well recognize a lack of authenticity - a certain "plasticity" in the sets, costumes and emotions.

Certainly "Wuthering Heights" - the novel - doesn't pretend to be a slice of reality, but nevertheless, its author (for all her famous reclusiveness) knew her local history and inhabitants. Her descriptions of people and places ring true - even in the early years of the 21st Century.

Where, then, does this version go wrong?

Firstly, I have to question seriously how carefully Peter Kosminsky read his source material. "Wuthering Heights" is a cussed book that doesn't fit comfortably into any film mogul's neat pigeon holes. Previous film versions have tried to turn it into a classic "romance" and have, in the process, fatally diminished the power of the writing. It isn't a "romantic" story at all, but this version - in spite of early and promising signs to the contrary - eventually treads the same, familiar route.

Ralph Fiennes was an interesting, if misjudged, choice for Heathcliff. There are indications that - if given the opportunity - he could have produced a fascinating performance. Occasionally and (very) briefly he provides flashes of brilliance which make you wish he could have followed his own instincts. All too plainly, however, he was being constrained by his paymasters.

Juliette Binoche stood no chance as either of the Catherines. She was young, French and at sea. Asking ANY young actress to get her brain "around" Catherine the Elder AND Catherine the Younger would have been inconceivable: asking a young FRENCH actress to do so was total insanity. To her eternal credit, Ms Binoche comes out the chaos with her dignity intact - but I somehow doubt she includes this film on her CV too often.

... Mr Fiennes does a stalwart job with an impossible man but - possibly due to post-production cuts - the end result is "just" grubby and ill-tempered. There WAS a superb performance in here somewhere - and at another time, with another Director, it might have been a different story.

Is it worth watching? Well - perhaps - on a wet day when you have nothing else better to do. Janet McTeer is - as always - superb as Nelly Dean and Jeremy Northam stakes his claim as the tormentor-turned-tormented Hindley (and I think I agree that there was a Heathcliff in there somewhere ...).

The music by Ryuichi Sakamoto is memorable - and has subsequently rightly become a collector's classic. The choices of location are interesting and beautiful, but a little dubious as far as Emily Bronte's original "vision" is concerned. She had in mind an amalgam of the landscape outside Halifax and her own local moors - NOT the clint fields of Wharfedale. Cinematically, they're stunning - but pragmatically, they're distracting.

This is an interesting film, but it's NOT "Wuthering Heights" - and towards the end I actually began to find it a bit boring - not to mention unintentionally hilarious.

For an afternoon's undemanding entertainment, this is fine. ...

Rating:
Summary: A sad waste of a talented cast
Review: With a cast including Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Jeremy Northam and Janet McTeer this SHOULD have been the definitive version of Emily Bronte's classic novel. Unfortunately, it just isn't. Although its individual components are, in places, excellent - Sakamoto's exquisite score, the locations, one or two of the performances - the whole film fails to gel.

Partly, it is because the usually excellent Ralph Fiennes shouldn't have been cast as Heathcliff. He has virtually admitted as much himself - and is on record as saying that the film didn't work and was a miserable experience that very nearly put him off films completely.

Juliette Binoche doesn't fare any better. She was, at the time, simply unequal to the dual roles of both Catherines.

That both actors subsequently went on to prove their cinematic worth only makes the waste of their talents here all the worse.

Janet McTeer and Jeremy Northam turn in excellent performances as Nelly Dean and Hindley - indeed watching Jeremy Northam, I found myself wishing that HE had been cast as Heathcliff - but they alone cannot rescue this film from itself. In fact, at times, they seem to be in an entirely different film.

Perhaps it is a little too much to expect total authenticity in a film, but the "Yorkshire" recreated by Peter Kosminsky and his set designers looks totally unreal and bears no relation at all to the world Emily Bronte knew and wove her story around. They would have been well-advised to do a little more research into conditions in the north Pennines around the turn of the 19th Century (the book opens in 1801). In fact, they might have been well-advised simply to read the book more closely.

And what on EARTH possessed them to have Emily Bronte herself plodding cross the tops to open and close the film? What was the point? It comes across as nothing more than a silly conceit - rather like the whole film.

A wasted opportunity - and a terrible misuse of a talented cast. We can only be grateful that it didn't take its lead players down with it.

Rating:
Summary: A Simple Study In Great Performances
Review: Someone from Yorkshire, England wrote: "[Fiennes] never really gets to grips with Heathcliff's complexities, and ends up looking just bad-tempered and greasy."

RUBBISH. Most people living during that time were bad-tempered and greasy. If you don't want to see some unrealistic, 1930's Hollywood melodrama of Bronte's novel, or some 70's or 80's film version that plays like a bad American soap opera or made for TV movie, then this version is worth viewing.

Although short cited in some details, this is a well-cast, well-acted film. Fiennes is haunted and realistic as Heathcliff, complex in his obsessions and oppressions. Binoche is also good, although her minor role as Catherine is more touching and believable than that of Cathy. Supporting roles by McTeer, Northam, and others are also praiseworthy. My only regret is that the Catherine / Hereton / Linton Heathcliff storyline is not given more treatment (but at least a majority of it made it into this adaptation).

As previously noted, Ryuichi Sakamoto's score is brilliant and haunting. The score often elevates the film beyond the director's lack of style.

Overall, a sometimes lackluster film elevated by great performances.

Rating:
Summary: Truly awful ...
Review: I'm sorry to go against the flow on this one, but I have to say that this is probably one of the worst films I've ever had the misfortune of sitting through.

To say that Ralph Fiennes was monumentally miscast is understating the case. To be fair, he does his best, but never stands a chance. Physically, emotionally and technically he's out of his league. He's a very fine actor in the right role, but this isn't it. He never really gets to grips with Heathcliff's complexities, and ends up looking just bad-tempered and greasy.

Juliette Binoche fares little better, hampered by a French accent and an imperfect grasp of English, she's totally at sea.

Filming the whole book was laudable, but it just doesn't work. Peter Kosminsky seemed to have little grasp of his source material and no feel at all for the atmosphere of the novel.

Using Wharfedale as a location might have seemed like a good idea - and it IS spectacular scenery, but it's all wrong for the subject. Those aren't moors. Emily Bronte didn't set Wuthering Heights in North Yorkshire's limestone pavement country. Likewise, Ryuichi Sakamoto's music is beautiful - but equally wrong.

Don't waste your money on this. If you want a faithful and attention-holding version - seek out the 1998 Robert Cavanah/Orla Brady one. It's in a different class entirely.

Rating:
Summary: Doesn't come close to an accurate portrayal of the novel...
Review: but at least it restores E. Bronte's hopeful ending. Read the book instead.