Wuthering Heights Movie Review
Book to Movie Comparison or something
The Female Filmmakers Collection are a series of essays written at the beginning of classic novels. The first in the series is Wuthering Heights. Emerald Fennell wrote a short essay before the book where she speaks of how Wuthering Heights is one of her all time favorite stories. This version of the film is her interpretation of it and the representation isn’t always completely accurate. It begs the question. Do filmmakers have to make an exact replica of the authors work? A lot of people online will argue that they “must” be exact with how the book is represented. As a filmmaker myself, I would fall into the camp of Emerald Fennell where the director is allowed to make allowances that serve their artistic vision.
Stylistically this film is beautiful with sweeping landscapes and creative costume design. Did I notice if characters were missing? No, but there were a few key supporting characters that were eliminated. I’ve seen quite a few versions of Wuthering Heights and as an audience viewer I prefer this one. It’s sensual, pacing is great and doesn’t drag, but the biggest thing for me was the main characters. Cathy and Heathcliff were the main characters in a big way. This version of the film showed their passion and their heartbreak in an exaggerated way and I loved it. Not sure about you but I slogged through this book as a senior in high school and at the end still was confused why there was a ghost. The brutality that is shown in the book compared to this movie almost offers a subtler version. It’s less harsh and shows the despair that Heathcliff (played by Jacob Elordi) has when he’s separated by Cathy (played by Margot Robbie).
If you want this version of Wuthering Heights with Fennell’s essay in it you can get it here. The next one in the series is Sense and Sensability with an essay by director Georgia Oakley.
