"EMILY BRONTE'S WUTHERING HEIGHTS" (1992) Review

"EMILY BRONTE'S WUTHERING HEIGHTS" (1992) Review

I honestly do not know what to say about "EMILY BRONTE'S WUTHERING HEIGHTS". I had heard so much about this adaptation of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel. Yet, I have never seen it in the movie theaters. In fact, it took me a long time to finally come around viewing it. When I finally saw it, the movie produced a reaction I did not expect to experience. 

Unlike the more famous 1939 William Wyler film, "EMILY BRONTE'S WUTHERING HEIGHTS" proved to be an adaptation of Brontë's entire novel. Unlike the famous Wyler film or the 1847 novel, this movie was set during the second half of the eighteenth century. Directed by Peter Kosminsky, the movie began with the arrival of a gentleman named Lockwood, who seeks to rent a Yorkshire estate called Thrushcross Grange from its owner - a middle-aged man named Heathcliff. The latter lives at another local estate called Wuthering Heights. While visiting Wuthering Heights, Lockwood has an encounter with what he believes is a ghost . . . the ghost of a woman named Cathy. This drives Heathcliff racing out of the manor house and housekeeper Nelly Dean to recount to Lockwood on what drove Heathcliff to behave in that manner.

The story jumps back to some twenty to thirty years later in which an earlier owner of Wuthering Heights, Thomas Earnshaw, returns from a trip to Liverpool with a young boy who or who might not be a gypsy in tow named Heathcliff. The latter manages to befriend Earnshaw's daughter Catherine "Cathy". However, Earnshaw's son Hindley develops a deep dislike of the newcomer. He fears that Heathcliff has replaced him in his father's affections. Several years later, Earnshaw dies. Hindley marries a woman named Frances and becomes the new owner of Wuthering Heights. He allows Heathcliff to remain at Wuthering Heights . . . but only as a servant. The one bright spot in Heathcliff's life is his friendship with Cathy, which has developed into a romance between the pair. When Cathy and Heathcliff discover the Earnshaws' neighbors, the Lintons, giving a party at Thrushcross Grange, Cathy is attacked by a dog when she and Heathcliff climb the garden wall. The Lintons take Cathy in to care for her and order Heathcliff to leave the Grange. Cathy becomes entranced by Edgar Linton, along his wealth and glamour; while Edgar falls in love with her. Edgar's marriage proposal to Cathy and her acceptance leads to a major fallout between her and Heathcliff. The latter disappears without a trace for several years. And his return leads to jealousy, obsession and in the end, tragedy for him, the Earnshaws and the Lintons.

"EMILY BRONTE'S WUTHERING HEIGHTS" proved to be rather popular with moviegoers. Ralph Fiennes' portrayal of the brooding Heathcliff and the film's adaptation of the entire novel left this film highly regarded by fans of period dramas. On the other hand, the majority of films critics were not impressed with this movie. Why they felt this way about the movie? I have no idea. I have yet to read a single review written by a professional film critics. I am simply aware that "EMILY BRONTE'S WUTHERING HEIGHTS" was not that popular with them. While many movie fans are inclined to quickly accept the views of film critics, I decided to see the movie for myself and form my own judgement.

When I first saw this film, I was surprised that it was set during the late 1700s and around the beginning of the 1800s. James Acheson, who had designed the Oscar winning costume designs for 1988's "DANGEROUS LIAISONS", created the costumes for "WUTHERING HEIGHTS". And frankly, I believe he did a marvelous job in re-creating the fashions for the movie's setting as shown in the images below:

  

Another aspect of "WUTHERING HEIGHTS" that impressed me proved to be the performances. I do not know what led Peter Kominsky and the Casting Department to choose Ralph Fiennes for the role of Heathcliff, but I believe that fate or something divine led them to select the right actor for this role. Honestly, he did a fantastic job in portraying such an emotionally and morally chaotic character like Heathcliff. Some people were a bit put off by Juliette Binoche as both Cathy Henshaw and Catherine Linton. They had a trouble with her slight French accent. I have to be honest . . . I could barely notice her accent. But I thought she did an excellent job in portraying Cathy's vain and capricious personality, along with daughter Catherine's no-nonsense, yet compassionate nature. The movie also featured some excellent performances from Sophie Ward as Isabella Linton, Simon Shepherd as Edgar Linton, Janet McTeer as Nelly Dean, Jeremy Northam as Hindley Earnshaw, Jason Riddington as Hareton Earnshaw, and Jonathan Firth as Linton Heathcliff. Overall, I thought the cast was pretty solid.

And yet . . . I must confess that I am not a fan of this adaptation of Brontë's 1847 novel. I honestly do not care that the movie was a faithful adaptation that covered not only Heathcliff and Cathy's generation, but that of the younger generation. I am not a fan. One of my problems with this film was Kominsky's direction. He did a fine job in directing the actors. But I found his overall direction of the film rather problematic. Quite frankly, I thought the entire movie seemed like a rush job. Perhaps he was hampered by Anne Devlin's screenplay. The latter tried to shove Brontë's entire narrative into a movie with a running time of one hour and forty-five minutes. I am sorry, but that did not work. Watching this film, I finally understood why William Wyler only shot the novel's first half back in 1939.

Another major problem I had with the film is Brontë's novel . . . or the second half. I am not a major fan of the 1847 novel. But if it had ended liked Wyler's movie, I would have been satisfied. Personally, I have always found the second half of the novel rather boring; especially with Heathcliff running around like some damn mustache-twirling villain. And the taint of borderline incest certainly did not help, considering that Catherine Linton spent most of her screen time being torn between two men that happened to be her first cousins.

My final problems with "EMILY BRONTE'S WUTHERING HEIGHTS" are rather aesthetic. As much as I enjoyed James Acheson's costumes, I cannot say the same about the hairstyles worn by the cast. Exactly who was in charge of the film's hairstyles? Because that person seemed unable to surmise that the film was set in the late 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century. Some of the cast had modern hairstyles. And a good deal of the women cast members looked as if they were wearing rather bouffant wigs. One last problem I had with "WUTHERING HEIGHTS" was Mike Southon's cinematography. I suppose the 1990s ushered in the age of naturalistic lighting for period dramas. The problem is that I could barely see a damn thing! Especially in the movie's interior shots. I find it rather difficult to enjoy a movie or television production in which the lighting is so dark that I found myself depending more on the dialogue than the images on the screen. Worse, even some of the exterior shots seemed a little darker than usual. Was this a case of Southon adding to the film's Gothic setting? I have no idea. And honestly, I do not care, considering that . . . again, I could barely see a damn thing. 

I wish I could say that I enjoyed "EMILY BRONTE'S WUTHERING HEIGHTS". I really do. There were some aspects of the film that I liked - namely James Acheson's costumes and some first-rate performances from a cast led by Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes. But I found the movie's running time too short for an effective adaptation of Emily Brontë's novel. Either the film should have been longer . . . or it should have followed the example of the 1939 film and only adapt the novel's first half. Overall, I found this movie rather disappointing.