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Wuthering Heights (2011)

Director: Andrea Arnold

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35 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

You call tell immediately that this ‘Wuthering Heights’ is a film by Andrea Arnold, the writer-director of ‘Red Road’ and ‘Fish Tank’. This might be the British filmmaker’s first period adaptation, but her trademarks are all there, from the woozy, handheld camerawork capturing dust in the sunshine and almost-square screen ratio to the use of natural light and the up-close-and-then-some relationship with a single character.

In this austere, elemental version of Emily Brontë’s novel, that character is Heathcliff, played first by Solomon Glave and later by James Howson. Arnold’s Heathcliff is not the gypsy of the novel. Here, he’s portrayed as black, and the reluctant members of his new family in a farmhouse on a wind-battered Yorkshire moor react as you might expect to their father’s act of charity in adopting him, considering the time and place.

Like most screen versions, Arnold’s film drops its curtain when Heathcliff’s almost-lover Cathy (Shannon Beer and then Kaya Scodelario), also his adopted sister, leaves the story, and so ignores the second half. But this spin on the book pays as much attention to weather and animals, plants and insects as it does to the tragedy of unfulfilled love as its core. Nature offers cameos from hawks, dogs, rabbits, sheep and beetles. For Arnold, landscape and wildlife are substitutes for needless dialogue and exposition.

The film’s interest in dirt and dust, blood and bogs, brings to mind the earthiness of Andrew Kötting’s Émile Zola adaptation, ‘This Filthy Earth’, although the intimate shots of nature recall Terrence Malick. There’s a touch of the Ken Loach of ‘Days of Hope’ or Bill Douglas of ‘Comrades’ in its unfussy, non-decorous approach to period – although, unlike them, Arnold prefers little talk.

This silence and the intimate cosying-up to Heathcliff becomes a slight problem in the film’s later stages. Here, older Heathcliff and Cathy are not as interesting as their younger selves – and nor are the actors playing them. Howson looks lost and Scodelario is a thin presence. The film’s later chapters feel too much like standard melodrama with the sound off – and by this stage, cinematographer Robbie Ryan’s exquisite imagery becomes a touch repetitive too.

But the best of the film – the first hour – is excellent. Arnold’s strongest work goes into exploring Heathcliff and Cathy’s tentative romance with tenderness and a visceral sense of where pain meets pleasure. Glave and Beer work well together. A scene of them fighting in the mud contains all the longing necessary to explain the distress of their later parting. Arnold is great at exploring Heathcliff’s isolation, showing us only what he sees as he lurks round corners or peers through doors.

The film’s lack of final tragedy is a difficulty. By the end, you feel as shut off from this world as Heathcliff, a stranger in his own story. It’s a smart approach – but not fully satisfying to share. Still, Arnold’s film looks astounding and there are clever choices in every scene.

Author: Dave Calhoun

Time Out London Issue 2151: 10 – 16 November, 2011

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User reviews of this film

Amydot said...

Posted on Apr 26 2012 18:54 What part of the story the film covered wasn't bad (though the older Cathy and Heathcliffe didn't look much like the young ones had), but I was hugely disappointed by the film deciding to cut off when it did: Missing out some of the most interesting psychological elements of the story. Almost like a simplified, Disney version, but with very strong language and animal cruelty.

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john said...

Posted on Apr 12 2012 16:06 My feelings were changing as I watched it and reflrected the pros and cons above. Interesting to learn that much of it was filmed up North near Thwaite, in Swaledale: a well chosen location, to any one who also knows the Haworth Moors. And the two young actors did well in challenging roles, Their beauty, at times, left one longing for more! The lack of resemblance between the younger and older Heathcliff & Cathy was disappointing

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Tj said...

Posted on Mar 06 2012 21:21 Tacting reminiscent of a very serious and worthy sixth form play, direction at a level of desperation to be different (in which case why base it on somebody else's work?) and the net result is unadulterated tedium. All the tricks become very quickly boring - shaky hand held camera shots, murky lighting, lack of dialogue, close ups of beetles. Just awful.

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Dr Richard Palmer said...

Posted on Jan 25 2012 13:11 I was in Thwaite when the film was being made.The actors had to endure days and days of rain and wind and all the scenes are authentic.It was truly all done on location with no studio shots.The farmhouse used was also mainly left as it had been except for repairs to the roof and chimneies.I have been there since and it really is a hovel and all the scenes were taken in situ--the candles,the fires.the dirty walls and passageways and the broken walls and rough cobbles. Strangely perhaps anyone being lucky enough as I was to be "on location" may have reviewed the film differently,I was impressed with the outcome and imagine life being as raw as the film depicted in the bleakness of the moors in the early 19 century.It made one think because there was no "tarting up" or romanticising the life that the tortured Heathcliff was forced to lead.I've even ordered the DVD!!

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You've really hleped me u said...

Posted on Jan 21 2012 13:55 You've really hleped me understand the issues. Thanks.

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Linda Ellis said...

Posted on Jan 08 2012 17:14 I can't remember being tempted to walk out on a film but I got close whilst watching this most appalling version of Wuthering Heights. What would Emily Bronte have thought. A complete travesty.e comment you type in this box will appear on the site

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Dumdumboy said...

Posted on Dec 09 2011 00:24 Oh Dave. Your review is close to the biggest embarrassment I've experienced in a long time of cinema reviews (only Jason Solomon has made me feel this aggrieved, although to be fair to you, Jason creates a level of despair in me on a much more regular basis) - did it coincide with an Andrea interview perhaps? Saw Wu(i)thering Heights this evening and it is an utterly painful experience. What you seem to conveniently gloss over is the appalling acting by the whole cast! Yes there are some nice 'nature' shots but jeez there is SO little heart that the films ends up coming across like some amateur dramatic society production. Yes, the horse-riding scene hs a certain erotic charge - but even then Andrea feels the need to have Heathcliffe caress the horse...we GOT IT Andrea, relax, less-is-more. By the time we reach the 2nd half of this totally pointless mess not only do the repeated scenes of trees simply raise the: how-much-longer question but simply seem lazy. FISHTANK was a gem of a film. Do yourself a favour everybody: rent that AVOID THIS. fancy an evening in the cinema? Go see DRIVE or WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN and experience TRUE celluloid artistry.

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. said...

Posted on Dec 07 2011 20:32 what a terrible film, so out of context with the book. ive never seen anything worse.

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Ailsa said...

Posted on Dec 06 2011 18:01 I have never felt strongly enough about a film to submit a review, but I simply have to air my views about this adaptation of Emily Bronte"s classic. I was so disappointed, I don't think I have ever disliked a film so much. I studied this for my A level text 17 years ago, have read the book several times and seen other films and television dramas of the classic. It was so slow and took so long to get going, the lack of dialogue was very annoying, particularly when they cut the classic pieces down "Nelly, I AM Heathcliff......" These are such fundamental elements of the starry that they have to feature in full. The camera work was also very irritating after a while and I was getting fed up of the endless shaking camera scenes and that of the wildlife and insects. The casting of Cathy and Heathcliff was also poor, the older characters playing no resemblance to the younger. I felt the raw passion between cathy and Heathcliff wasn't portrayed either, probably due to the small amount of dialogue. The fact that almost the entire second half of the story was cut out - no scenes of young Cathy (another fundamental part) was a major blow. Please don't go and see this movie if you don't have a good understanding of Bronte's text - you will be very put off and extremely disappointed.

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Jill Pye said...

Posted on Nov 30 2011 09:31 I want to respond to sal as I totally agree wiyh her. ( see my earlier review) I welcomed the different ,less conventional filming of a classic , but it failed overall . Fish Tank was more successful a film for me . commenyou type in this box will appear on the site

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Sal said...

Posted on Nov 30 2011 09:02 Very disappointing. The first part was good and original, but then the film just got really really tedious. I liked the fact the Heatchliffe was black, I thought it gave an interesting twist, and I liked the young Cathy. Some of the photography was OK too - but hardly as startlingly original as the film critics make out. The last hour was completely unconvincing. The older Cathy bore no resemblance to the younger one, The acting became very wooden and the endless flashbacks mind-numbingly borring, For a film that is supposed to have some emotional pull, it left me feeling completely unmoved. Seriously heavy editing would help. I would be inclined to cut at least 60 minutes off it.

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Cat Millar said...

Posted on Nov 28 2011 22:38 Surely I can't be the only person who thinks that this film is incredible? It's about time someone summed up the true spirit of Wuthering Heights. After years of watching adaptations that apologise for if not ignore the and unrelenting darkness, violence and downright weirdness of the book this adaptation was a breath of fresh air in its honesty and authenticity. Just like the book It's baffling and ambiguous, and asks more questions than it answers, but is nonetheless absolutely compelling. The book isn't an easy one to read for anyone, and nor should the film be an easy one to watch. Some of the acting is occasionally a little wooden, and yes, grown-up Cathy was treated almost unrealistically well by puberty, and fair enough - anyone expecting a Victorionaphillc tragic yet bittersweet romance will be sorely disappointed. Specks in the ocean of a what is overall a hugely successful adaptation.

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Phil Ince said...

Posted on Nov 25 2011 22:01 Hard to tell which was worse, the performances or the script. Both were almost unremittingly awful. The lack of any resemblance between the younger and older Cathy and Heathcliff meant that Kaya Scodelario's first appearance made me laugh out loud. In the shot, Cathy's a foot taller, a foot narrower and seems to have gone blonde. There is some passion in the film but it almost misses telling any story at all. Looks good when the actors leave the screen.

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Anthony English said...

Posted on Nov 24 2011 19:29 Dreadful, worst film I've seen in ages, never seen so many people walk out of a cinema. This is just overly artistic indulgence by a talentless director, horrid to watch and painfully slow, what a sheer disappointment!

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Jill Pye said...

Posted on Nov 23 2011 00:38 I have just returned after watching this film with three friends . We were all so so disappointed . For me, I felt excited for about half an hour since the film is so stripped of all the usual period drama stuff and is raw , punishingly cold and desolate with the characters so clearly the product of a cruel, harsh , uncompromising environment . BUT then the imagery became repetetive ( oh , another moth trapped on glass, a bird trapped behind bars etc The hand held camera made the film seem intimate and pulled you into the bleakness of the landscape and Heathcliffe's sitution ... But Again, the shots that were out of focus, in near darkness with almost inaudible diction became irritating . What seemed fresh at first became a parody of itself within a single film !! Yes, the characters would not waste words but they would deliver with some passion those they did deliver . The taciturn character of Hindley that still sat in period did not sit comfortably with the language used eg 'Fuck off you cunt' etc.
The film moved forward in a repetative . self -indulgent, laboured way and I ( and friends) could not wait for it to end. I did not empathise with or emotionally engage with any characters ,despite the novel delivering passion . So . ok strip away the hackneyed , the obvioue , but replace this with something ...SOMETHING !!! Worst film of my year...best Kevin and A Separation .

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