September 26, 2012

Wuthering Heights

As with "Downton Abbey," we Yanks have had to wait patiently for the U.S. release of Wuthering Heights, the latest film adaptation of Emily Bronte's achingly romantic masterpiece, directed by Andrea Arnold.

I first borrowed the novel from my classroom library in eighth grade, and because the copy was battered, and the cover was torn, my teacher let me keep the book after I'd read it. It was then and has remained one of my favorite novels of all time, despite the fact that Cathy and Heathcliff's love story is, well, certainly no fairy tale.

Adapting the book for film has proved a tough nut to crack, for a variety of reasons. Fans of the novel generally get a little aggro when it comes to depicting Heathcliff properly, and many film versions fail to get it right.

The last film version I watched was courtesy of Masterpiece Theater in 2009. Tom Hardy (whom I adore, but not necessarily for this role) played Heathcliff. Frankly, I'm not sure any actor can ever live up to my imagination, though Ralph Fiennes, Timothy Dalton and Laurence Olivier have all given it a shot. Still, I'm more-than-thrilled to keep watching new versions in the hopes that one might finally get it right. Could this one succeed? If you've already seen it, let us know!

1 comment:

  1. I added Wuthering Heights, starring Tom Hardy, to my Blockbuster @Home queue since one of the girls I work with at DISH recommended it as a good and tragically romantic story. I didn’t know it was a book, and since books are usually better than their video counterparts are, I’ll have to stop by the library tomorrow. Although the DVD will be in my mailbox by tomorrow, I’m going to put off watching it since I don’t have to worry about late fees, and I want to finish the book first. Thanks for sharing!

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