Stürmische Leidenschaft

Although I would not suggest this film to anyone who has not read the book first (you would be thoroughly confused and missing out on major details of the plot!) I found Wuthering Heights (1992) to be the ideal visual aid to compliment the tragedy and passion of Heathcliff and Catherine's story. If Emily Bronte were alive, she herself would have cast Ralph Fiennes as Heathcliff (he was born for the role!) and Juliette Binoche was perfect particularly when she showed the more playful and childish sides of Catherine (her laughter was exactly as I had imagined - bright and bold...and just irritating enough that it really would drive Heathcliff - and later, Hareton - to suffer from wounded pride when it was directed at their egos). The beauty of this story is that you never really can decide who is the villain and who is the victim....

Having been fascinated by the Brontes for several years and growing up in Yorkshire, I've longed to see a faithful adaptation of Wuthering Heights for a long time. Why it's taken me so long to see this version I don't know!

I just watched this film tonight and I'm left shattered by it. It is stunning. It's probably a sacrilege to some to say that I thought the 1939 version with Laurence Olivier was awful, but there it is. That was saccharine and gave no hint as to the darkness of the original novel. This version, however, recaptures all that darkness and torment and shatters your soul with it.

Ralph Fiennes is an astonishing Heathcliff. Capable of tenderness but torn apart by what he can't have all for himself. The chemistry between him and Juliette Binoche is electrifying - Heathcliff and Cathy were born to be together and to see them almost forced apart by each of them failing to be true to their heart well.. it breaks YOUR heart. The poetic dialogue with Heathcliff and Cathy on the moors and the movie score complements this perfectly.

Supporting roles are also solid especially the actress who played Ellen Dean and an interesting cameo by Sinead O Connor as Emily Bronte! The only complaint I could make about this film is that it's not long enough! Years seem to fly by far too quickly and we barely get an insight into why Cathy and Heathcliff's souls are intertwined. However, what we DO see is stunning.

For me - 10/10.

Wuthering Heights (1992) was directed Peter Kosminsky. It is an excellent film adaptation of the novel by Emily Brontë. Two things make this movie memorable. One is that director Kosminsky chose to give us the full novel, carrying it into the second generation. (Most movies end with Heathcliff and Kathy, but this version continue with the interaction of their children.)

The second memorable aspect of the movie is the wonderful acting of the two leads. Juliette Binoche plays Cathy Earnshaw and Ralph Fiennes portrays Heathcliff. (Binoche also portrays her daughter Catherine Linton.) Fiennes is a brilliant actor, and La Binoche is incomparable. There's an extraordinary onscreen chemistry between them.

I'll make special mention of Janet McTeer, who portrays Ellen Dean, the housemaid who knows everyone's secrets. She does everything a supporting actor should do to enhance the power of the movie.

Wuthering Heights would work better on the large screen, but we saw it on DVD, and it worked well enough. The film has an anemic IMDb rating of 6.9. I think that's because the novel is so dark and grim. The movie itself is much better than the rating would suggest. My recommendation is to see it and decide for yourself.

As I am a writer, very seldom am I at a loss for words. Yet now, I can find none suitable. I have written many reviews, in many places, for quite a long time. Yet, never, in all of that time have I sat down to write my thoughts immediately after watching a film. Still, I sit here now, trying vainly to describe what I am feeling. What this movie has MADE me feel.

The story of Heathcliff and Cathy is not about love as most know it. It is MORE than love. It is a fusion, a union of two souls separated by society and circumstance, yet bonded so completely that even death could not sever them. Love beyond pain, beyond place, beyond reason.

Never has an adaptation brought this classic Victorian novel so completely to the screen. That, in itself, is high praise. Wuthering Heights had been made 14 times before this, the 1992 incarnation. It is the only version to tell the complete story in all of its dark detail. It is also the LAST time, to date, it has been made. And that should be the highest praise of all.

Why? Because there is no need to do it again. It cannot be improved upon beyond this. Yes, the movie can be a bit confusing, even abrupt in the plot shifts for those who have never read the book. But for those who have: Anne Devlin treats her screenplay with reverence for Emily Bronte's novel. Many whole scenes are intact, the dialog exactly as written originally. The scenery was breathtaking. And the house, the Heights itself, was perfect. Still standing there, after centuries, keeping its own secrets in the silence of its stones.

The cast of actors includes not one single Hollywood darling. Thank God. They would have ruined it. But, because the cast is not overly well known in the US, you concentrate on the PERFORMANCES rather than the performers.

And, it is in these performances this film rises above its predecessors. The actors all turn in solid efforts. Each is true to character, from selfish Cathy (Juliette Binoche) to vapid Isabella (Sophie Ward). Simon Shepherd's Edgar Linton is far more likable than the novel. His portrayal is an improvement on the original, and you actually pity him for being caught between Cathy and Heathcliff.

Heathcliff. An immortal character, like Sherlock Holmes, or Hamlet. Sir Laurence Olivier, arguably the best Hamlet, played Heathcliff in the 1939 version opposite Merle Oberon as Cathy. Until tonight, I thought his was the best Heathcliff, as well. Until tonight.

Tonight I watched Ralph Fiennes play Heathcliff. No, not play. He BECAME Heathcliff. Bronte's Heathcliff. A Heathcliff I had always pictured clearly in my mind, but had NEVER seen before my eyes. Before tonight. This man is RIVETING. He commands the story, seizing it, wrenching it to his will as Heathcliff does the lives of those around him.

Yet, you do not hate him for it. Rather, you ache for him. You look into his eyes and feel every rip in his soul, the agony of every jagged edge in his shattered heart. You watch him wear his cruelty like a mantle, lashing out at a world which denies him the only thing he has ever wanted, the only thing which will make him whole. I cry at movies all the time. Seldom, though, am I torn in a grief so absolute I am left at the end empty, and spent.

I don't know much about Ralph Fiennes work. I tend to like films that deal in anything BUT reality, so have not seen much of him. I loved Red Dragon, but until I read his filmography, I never connected Francis Dolarhyde to Heathcliff, which is perhaps the greatest compliment one can give an actor. Fiennes alone is the reason you cannot improve on this film. No one could ever bring Heathcliff to life like this. The role belongs to him.

I have loved Emily Bronte's novel since childhood. I have read it often. But now, something has changed it for me, forever. No matter how many times I may read Wuthering Heights in future, after tonight, I know I shall never again read it without seeing the face, or hearing the voice, of Ralph Fiennes.

Only recently have I got round to reading the Emily Bronte classic of 1847 and, having finished it, I immediately wanted to view this 1992 British film version. It is a faithful adaptation in terms of both narrative and language but, although it is filmed in North Yorkshire, both Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange are represented as much larger and grander than I had imagined them. One other criticism: the dance scene is not in the novel and is incongruous because the Grange does not do entertaining.

A notable strength of director Peter Kosminsky's work is its casting. The bewitchingly beautiful Juliette Binoche plays both Catherine Earnshaw and her daughter Cathy Linton and one can imagine why a man would go mad for love of such a woman. As the tormented and cruel Heathcliff, Ralph Fiennes is credibly dark.

Another great virtue of this film version is that, unlike many other movie adaptations of this enigmatic novel, it covers the whole story, rather than stopping at the death of Catherine. The novel is a long one covering three decades, so no film can depict all the incidents, but arguably the most pivotal scene is when Catherine declares her intention to marry Edgar Linton while confessing her love for Heathcliff and this scene is there in this movie.