"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.

"EMILY BRONTE'S WUTHERING HEIGHTS" (1992) Photo Gallery

Below are images from "EMILY BRONTE'S WUTHERING HEIGHTS", the 1992 adaptation of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel. Directed by Peter Kosminsky, the movie starred Juliette Binoche and Ralph Fiennes: 



"EMILY BRONTE'S WUTHERING HEIGHTS" (1992) Photo Gallery

"THE FOUR FEATHERS" (1977) Review

"THE FOUR FEATHERS" (1977) Review

I have heard of the 1977 adaptation of A.E.W. Mason' 1902 adventure film. But I never thought I would see it. Recently, it occurred to me to rent the movie from Netflix, because I have yet to run across it at any store that sells DVDs. I did rent "THE FOUR FEATHERS". Needless to say, it produced some rather interesting feelings within me. 

Anyone familiar with Mason's tale knows that "THE FOUR FEATHERS" is the story about a 19th century British Army officer named Harry Faversham, who harbor plans to resign from his commission in the Royal North Surrey Regiment and live out the rest of his days with future wife Ethne Eustace. During a ball held at his family estate, telegrams for Harry and three of his friends - Jack Durrance, William Trench and Thomas Willoughby - ordering them to report for duty, due to their regiment being shipped out to the Sudan to participate in the Mahdist War. Being the first to receive the telegrams, Harry had them destroyed so that he would not have to report for duty a day before his resignation from the Army was due to be official. Realizing what Harry had done, his father ostracized him, his three friends gave him white feathers that labeled him as a coward, and Ethne breaks off their engagement and also hands him a white feather. Also, Harry's best friend, Captain Durrance, becomes a rival for Ethne. Haunted by his efforts to avoid combat, Harry travels to the Sudan to help his friends any way possible and return their feathers.

"THE FOUR FEATHERS" attracted a good deal of critical acclaim, after it aired on British and American television. The movie also earned a Primetime Emmy nomination. And if I must be honest, I find that particularly surprising. I have seen this movie twice. Granted, it seemed pretty decent as far as television movies go. But . . . an Emmy nomination?"THE FOUR FEATHERS"? It just did not strike me as being that memorable. The Wikipedia site claimed that it was a very faithful to Mason's 1902 novel. Actually, it was no more faithful than any other adaptation I have seen. But I do feel that the movie's critical acclaim might be overrated.

The movie can boast its virtues. "THE FOUR FEATHERS" provided a small, but detailed peek into Harry Faversham's childhood that gave audiences a good idea behind his aversion to continuing his military career. It also featured at least two excellent action sequences - the skirmish that led to the destruction of Durrance's company and his blindness, and Harry and Trench's escape from the prison-of-war camp at Omdurman. Dramatic scenes abound in the film, especially one that featured the breakup of Harry and Ethne's engagement and the former's final confrontation with his militant father, retired General Faversham. 

And I cannot deny that some very good performances were also featured in "THE FOUR FEATHERS". David Robb, Harry Andrews and Robin Bailey all gave solid performances. I found Simon Ward's portrayal of William Trench rather intense, but believable. Both Robert Powell and Jane Seymour were excellent as Jack Durrance and Ethne Eustace. Beau Bridges proved to be an enjoyable surprise in his portrayal of the lead character, Harry Faversham. I recall reading one review of this movie, in which the critic praised the rest of the cast, but put down Bridges' performance. Apparently, he found the idea of an American portraying a Victorian British military officer unbelievable. I have seen Americans portray British characters before. And quite honestly, I thought Bridges did an excellent job by giving a subtle performance and avoiding histronics . . . unlike his performance in the 1976 film, "SWASHBUCKLER".

And while I found the production's quality solid, I did not find it particularly dazzling. I can only assume that as a television production, it would not be on the same quality as a theatrical release. The movie's costume designs by Olga Lehmann seemed a little more impressive. I especially enjoyed her costumes for Jane Seymour, despite my confusion over whether the costumes reflected the 1870s or the 1880s. But if I must be honest, I have seen other television productions a lot more impressive. I was also disappointed to find that the story's jingoistic portrayal of the British Empire somewhat off-putting, especially for a television movie that had aired in the 1970s. I would even add that the sympathetic portrayal of Harry's anti-military attitude struck me as a bit hypocritical, considering that the movie's conservative view of British imperialism. I must also admit that I found myself slightly repelled at the sight of white English actors portraying Sudanese soldiers. Did the producers really find it that difficult to find non-white actors to portray the Sudanese? Speaking of white actors portraying African ones:



Yes, ladies and gentlemen. The above photo is an image of British actor Richard Johnson portraying a Sudanese Arab named Abou Fatma, who assists Harry in his efforts to save his friends. Johnson gave a nice, solid performance as Fatma, but . . . why? Why??? Why on earth did the producers cast Johnson in this role? He looked like a performer in a 19th century minstrel show . . . or a cast member from "THE BIRTH OF A NATION". This kind of wince-inducing casting may have been common in the film industry during the first half of the 20th century. But "THE FOUR FEATHERS" aired on television around 1977/78. Nearly a year after the ABC miniseries, "ROOTS". What in the hell were the producers and casting director Paul Lee Lander thinking?

Do not get me wrong. "THE FOUR FEATHERS" is a pretty solid adventure movie that can boast a first-rate cast led by Beau Bridges. But I do feel that the movie is critically overrated. I did not find it that impressive, dramatically or production wise. I found the casting of white actors portraying non-white characters rather repulsive. And the movie's sympathetic portrayal of the character's anti-military stance in comparison to its pro-conservative portrayal of British imperialism struck me as hypocritical. Still . . . it was not a bad movie.

"THE FOUR FEATHERS" (1977) Image Gallery

Below are images from "THE FOUR FEATHERS", the 1977 television adaptation of A.E.W. Mason's 1902 novel. Directed by Don Sharp, the movie starred Beau Bridges, Jane Seymour and Robert Powell: 


"THE FOUR FEATHERS" (1977) Image Gallery