Les Hauts de Hurlevent

I find that this 1998 Masterpiece theater TV version follows the novel of the same name pretty faithfully. One who has never read the novel may find the action moving too quickly, so that the flow of the movie may seem slightly abrupt or choppy. However, the movie is only 2 hours long, which is probably why they had to cut out parts of the book and take some liberties with ages and certain details. That does not detract too much from the enjoyment of this movie, which despite its choppiness, has excellent acting, beautiful cinematography (the landscapes are breathtaking), and a wonderfully wrought out, bitter plot which focuses on three generations of two families who are intimately interlocked with each other. Heathcliff definitely comes off as the cruel, embittered man he is in the book, and it's great to see a TV movie capture the personalities of all the characters so well. Highly recommended movie.

Wuthering Heights is one of the literary masterpieces with complex characters(especially Heathcliff, a character that makes Mr Rochester, another tormented character, seem tame in comparison) and a truly dark, moving story that is full to the brim with atmosphere. Like the work of Charles Dickens and George Eliot as examples Wuthering Heights is one of the most difficult books to adapt and is almost unfilmable as well. Every adaptation of Wuthering Heights is worth the look though some work better than others. This was a fine version of Wuthering Heights, along with the Laurence Olivier film it is the best adaptation. True it could have done with a longer length especially for a book as lengthy and complex as Wuthering Heights, and the sections with the youngsters seemed on the rushed side(they also age a bit too quickly). It is however one of- perhaps THE- most faithful adaptation, there are omissions of course as you'd expect from a film compressed into a shorter running time but in detail and spirit with all the major details and characters intact it is to the extent that if she were alive Emily Bronte herself would recognise it. The adaptation is even better on its own, the locations are breath-taking and remarkably vivid in a way where you can literally smell and feel the atmosphere being conveyed.

The photography is not too flashy or studio-bound, it has a sense of freedom but allows the story to resonate. While the costumes are richly evocative, if you had a time machine and had travelled to this period it is very likely to be as rendered here. The music score is hauntingly beautiful and melancholic, particularly at the end and the ending here is poignant beyond words (none of the other adaptations of the book have done it as emotionally as here). The writing is very thoughtfully adapted with a great deal of intimacy and very true to Bronte's prose, and the story is still the dark, brooding and passionate tale of the book with as said already the major scenes all here and with the impact they should. The direction is strong throughout as is the acting. Not all the actors are age-appropriate but for me the performances themselves are what matter more and the adaptation delivers on that front. Robert Cavannah is a Heathcliff that is brutish and brooding yet tormented and pained, rightfully allowing us to be terrified of Heathcliff and later go on to pity him too. Orla Brady is a spirited and feisty Cathy, also very affecting, her delirium scene is beautifully played and genuinely disturbing. Matthew McFadyen's Hareton is very charming, while Crispin Bonham-Carter's Edgar is very well-read and humane in a role that can easily be weak and the Hindley of Ian Shaw is appropriately tragic, a tormenter at first but later he is almost(if not quite to that extent) as pained as Heathcliff. Polly Hemmingway and Tom Georgeson are equally engaging. Overall, one of the better Wuthering Heights adaptations and recommended. 9/10 Bethany Cox

This is the most accurate version of "Wuthering Heights" I have ever seen. More people have seen the 1939 version with Laurence Olivier, but this one has its own appeal: it sticks to the story. The movie itself was sometimes painful to watch, but it's a painful story, and I still couldn't turn away. Robert Cavanaugh made a perfect Heathcliff; he was loathsome, but you also took pity on him. Orla Brady was lovely as the torn heroine (if you can call her a heroine). As a side note, the music was beautiful! It made me want to cry. I would definitely recommend seeing this film, especially if you are a Brontë fan. You won't be disappointed!

As someone who has created a website on Wuthering Heights so had to read and re-read it many times, paragraph by paragraph, I was very impressed by this version (ITV has not a great reputation for historical drama in the UK).

The house itself looked like a farmhouse rather than a mansion, the minor details such as hair colour were generally accurate, the acting was excellent. Somehow Orla Brady didn't feel right to me as Catherine (although she's a fine actress) but Sarah Smart was perfect as the younger Cathy.

Being two hours rather than a movie's 90 minutes allowed more of the novel to be used and I was constantly thinking "Yes, I remember that from the book". Until Andrew Davies produces the definitive 'Wuthering Heights' as he did for 'Pride and Prejudice', this is probably the best around.

Out of the four versions of Wuthering Heights available on DVD {1939, 1971 and 1992 being the others}, this is the closest to the book. It's far from being a perfect adaptation, the definitive version is still to come. Of course the 1939 version is artistically far superior to any of the others, but it's the least faithful adaptation. Both this version and the 1971 version stopped virtually half way through the story. The 1993 one did attempt to tell the whole story, but was somewhat stuffy and lacking in the intense emotion required. This TV movie, shown in two parts, is far more successful in telling the whole story, and certainly does not lack for emotion.

There are a few changes {maybe one day we will be able to see Heathcliff and Cathy first meet the Lintons as children rather than adults} and the first part of the story is rushed. There is the odd unnecessary touch, such as seeing Heathcliff semi-rape his wife. Generally,though,it's pretty faithful, does most of the great scenes in the book well and even adds a few details from the book that were not in the other mentioned versions at at all, such as Heathcliff tying up Isabelle's dog, or Heathcliff throwing a knife at her. Orla Brady is as close to the Cathy from the book as one can get, and while Robert Cavanagh is visually not an ideal Heathcliff, he really shows the evil of the character like few others.

Despite all this, this modestly produced version still manages to have a great deal of the required emotion, and despite Heathcliff's nastiness the filmmakers still manage to make one almost feel his pain and torment. The ending is beautifully done, aided by some very John Barry-like music.

It's not the perfect adaptation, but it will certainly do. However, a message for the next person to film Wuthering Heights- make it a lot LONGER!