Wuthering Heights [DVD]

Keeping my review vague to avoid spoilers, this version of Wuthering Heights is one of the few that closely follows the book by showing both generations of the story and keeping many key elements in. The characters are well acted and written although some elements that I feel helped the book are missing in this film such as the dogs at the beginning or the added lines when the man is first started by the ghost. Picture and video quality are really good for being a 90s film but would greatly benefit from a blu ray release if ever there was one. Overall this adaptation of Wuthering Heights has haunted me in a good way ever since I watched it in the way that its very well written with a story that truly impacts you with a phenomenal music score. I highly recommend this version as it so far is both the most enjoyable and most accurate. I find myself thinking about it even months after watching it...

The performance of Binoche and Finness in Wuthering Heights was amazingly powerful. People often criticize the movie, but, I believe, the director was extraordinarily faithful to the original story. All criticism was directed at how sadistic Heathcliff(Ralph Fiennes) was towards everybody. It is the director's right to add or omit whatever he finds necessary to make a movie version of the book. In this case, the director's choice was to have the characters semi identical to the book's original ones.It's very simple, if you loved the novel, you would love the movie and forgive the portions that were omitted, and admire the total focus on Heathcliff's anger, and evil side. It's not the movie/director/actors' fault that the novel original characters are actually defected, imperfect human beings.Even though Wuthering Heights is a great piece of literature, a wild emotional story that is written in a fascinating way, the characters always puzzled me. If everybody is calling Heathcliff a sadistic crazy man, what then is Catherine? I believe that Catherine is even more sadistic and cruel than any other character in the novel.Catharine was completely engaged in self worship and didn't care about any other human being. The only thing she loved about Heathcliff was his love and devotion to her. She enjoyed breaking his heart, breaking her husband's heart, and enjoyed torturing Edgar's sister with her sense of entitlement to Heathcliff and his love."..Why did you betray your heart Catherine?....I forgive my murderer, but yours, I will never forgive..." yeah, Fiennes got to me saying these words, but for the love of God, how delusional can people be? Nobody broke Heathcliff's heart but his Catherine, and no one killed Catherine.Five stars, to Wuthering Heights for its timeless depiction of human dark side, and when I say dark side, I mean every character in the movie except Catharine the daughter. To me, Catharine the daughter is the only character with some common sense and virtue. I would give more than five stars to the movie if possible, simply because Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche captured so well, the darkest side of love and selfishness as the stars of a great novel.

Good

This is one of my most favorite movies!! I've watched it so many times!!!

I am a "Wuthering Heights" nut and have seen most of the film adaptations, some several times. For me, this is one of the best. At first, I thought Ralph Feinnes was far too pretty to play Heathcliff, but he is an extraordinary actor and quickly slouched into Heathcliff's angry animalism. Binoche is capable and lovely, but she (and I) struggled with her French accent. The screenplay was a faithful adaptation which included both generations, something that I think is vitally important. I loved the locale, the rough and windy Yorkshire moors. My only complaint is that, for some reason, the creators decided to have Emily Bronte, played by Sinead O'Conner, wander through the empty, abandoned shell of Wuthering Heights a couple of times, offering her insights - totally unnecessary, and rather odd.

It's been awhile since I've seen a film version of Wuthering Heights. There are so many out there----earlier 1930s versions and more recent films. This one really captured the essence of life on the moors as most British productions do as well as life in the day of Emily Bronte. Even the wealthy in this part of Britain were far from any sort of civilization. Just the local village folk, very isolated and a non forgiving place of bad weather, lots of storms, and the windswept drama that really makes these stories come to life.Everyone who's read the Bronte novels is familiar with the very romantic stories of forbidden love, lost love, along with rogue type men and vulnerable women. This story is no different with a brooding, angry Heathcliff who carries a lifelong passion for Cathy, his stepsister. There's also the same share of drunk despondent relatives, like Cathy's brother who just can't seem to get it all together and even shuns his newborn son blaming him for the death of his wife in childbirth. So that part comes up again as in a lot of these Gothic romances. Women die in childbirth or are left scarred forever because of it.As to the character roles. Ralph Fiennes is a very talented actor and has been in a variety of roles---like the English Patient, and the one about a guy on a quiz show. He really can throw himself into parts and he doesn't disappoint in his role of Heathcliff. Or should I say, Heathcliff on steroids----the guy sometimes is over the top angry, cruel, and abusive to the women in his life no less! His passion for Cathy is one that if I were in her place, I would probably run far away from that man---he's scary!Juliet Binoche is another talent who also played in the English Patient as a young nurse. My favorite was her role as Vianne in Chocolat----the free spirited woman who runs a chocolate shop. In this part of Cathy as well as the young offspring Catherine, I was not as impressed. I found her to be almost too flippant, giggly, and without any substance. But I may be wrong---maybe that's as she's supposed to be and I confess it's been many years since I read Wuthering Heights. I don't think I've ever seen a version of Wuthering Heights where one actress played both parts.I also enjoyed watching the supporting cast. They all played the parts well. I especially liked the nanny character who played a very diplomatic role in her dealings with both Heathcliff and Cathy. And the rest who portrayed servants and staff at both houses were realistically cast. Again the harsh environment and the details pertaining to that. The scene where the milk is frozen in the pail, the branches breaking through the window in the storm, and the whole other aspect of making a ghost story within a story.