By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4.5 cats
Director: Andrea Arnold
Starring: Amy Wren | James Howson | Kaya Scodelario | Nicola Burley | Oliver Milburn | Paul Hilton | Steve Evets
Country: united_kingdom
Year: 2011
Running time: 129
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1181614/
Thom says: “Here’s a wild & woolly, down & dirty reading of the classic Emily Bronte novel. www.us.imdb.com lists some 16 versions of the tragic romance so there was no real compelling reason for this new adaptation; nonetheless Arnold has done a refreshing take on this Gothic charmer. Everyone knows the love story between Catherine Earnshaw & Heathcliff. That this is so grubby it somehow ups the emotions because they seem more universal. But Arnold has done two modifications from the usual film attempts. First, she has two actors play both Cathy & Heathcliff, from before Heathcliff’s departure and then his reappearance some years later. This really works here because it further enhances the resolution. But the second difference is something I couldn’t quite overcome. Arnold has made Heathcliffe Black and while the irrefutable truth is that he’s of a dark nature, maybe even of Gypsy heritage it’s finally too much of a burden for him to overcome. None of the male characters in the story ever like Heathcliffe but now with the further ability to damn him with racial epitaphs paints an even darker picture than need exist. It makes the other roles even more hateful than necessary. Still, a stunning production. 4.5 cats”
Chris says: “I never expected Andrea Arnold, the director of RED ROAD and FISH TANK to take on Charlotte Bronte’s oft-adapted novel. Fortunately, it’s not at all an odd fit, provided you’re not expecting anything like a lavish Masterpiece Theatre costume epic. Offering a contemporary feminine take on UK domestic dramas (think Mike Leigh or Ken Loach), Arnold’s previous films centered on what felt like restrictive environments, examining both the comfort and confinement within. Although WUTHERING’S Yorkshire Dales setting is by design expansive (full of rolling, endless hills), it also feels perilously isolated. Using the 1:33 aspect ratio she also employed in FISH TANK, Arnold captures the scenic, fog-drenched beauty most people think of when they hear the novel’s title, but dramatically downsizes the presentation to its barest essentials, making even the recent, Mia Wasikowska-starring JANE EYRE look like Merchant-Ivory in comparison.
“Arnold’s WUTHERING is undoubtedly idiosyncratic. Bronte’s dialogue mostly takes a backseat to intuitive, almost poetic (but rarely romantic) imagery, especially as a few images gain meaning via repetition such as names rudely scrawled onto a bedroom wall or a rocky hilltop perch. At one point, the film abruptly jumps ahead five years and the two formerly teenaged leads, Catherine and Heathcliff reappear as different actors. For the first time in any filmed version, black actors portray Heathcliff (keeping in tone of Bronte’s description of the character as a ‘dark-skinned gypsy in aspect’). There’s no musical score apart from a few traditional folk songs sung by cast members and a ringer from Mumford and Sons at the end. The ambient sound seems amplified to a degree that’s noticeably textural: when the two leads roughhouse in a muddy field and stumble upon their lust for each other, it’s so immediate and upfront that you almost feel you’re right in the mud with them.
“Some Bronte purists will hate such a unconventional version (spoiler alert: not once do Cathy and Heathcliff call for each other across the moors!) Arnold’s unsentimental, at times harsh rendering of Victorian-era countryside also makes for a challenging watch, as does some choppy character development (particularly concerning the supporting cast). Still, unlike so many historical dramas, absolutely no boundaries seem to exist between us and what’s on screen—this is not really a revisionist WUTHERING but rather a daringly realistic one, no matter how gorgeous it renders something as utterly ordinary as dust gently falling through air.” 4.5 cats”