Andrea Arnold's new adaption of Wuthering Heights is running swiftly around the corner, turning heads at the Venice Film Festival and getting a few reviews here and there on the Bronteblog. And yes, the clips are finally here and (as usual) ready to be reviewed by a faithful lit lover. If you haven't seen them, here they are below.
My thoughts:
Like the poster, reviews, and screen caps before it, these clips are so vague! I see what the movie makers are trying to do. They're luring us into the movie; coaxing us with the the poison of generality with the hopes that it will kill us to the point of making us dig in our pockets and buy a ticket. Well it's working on me! I'm tortured by the mystery surrounding this film, and as soon as it hits theaters in America (if it hits theaters in America), I will be one of the first to scrape together ten dollars and present it to the box office clerk.
From what I gather from the clips, the film should be much like other Wuthering Heights adaptions (which have all been good for the most part), but from the reviews leaked from the film festival, everyone refutes that idea right off the bat. Every review has a steady comment on something about this version that is different from all the others, and yet (of course) they never tell us exactly what that something is.
The first clip was fine. And too short. The second clip was great, and also too short. The third clip was pretty raw, and also much too short. The fourth clip was by far the shortest and the one I enjoyed most, even though there was no dialogue of any kind and the atmosphere was rather weird. I'm going to venture to conjecture that this Wuthering Heights adaption will be slightly akin to Cary Fukunaga's Jane Eyre in a certain aspect. If you noticed anything from the clips, it should be the obvious lack of TALKING. Therefore, one would probably guess that this film is going to focus more on the subtly unsaid thoughts and atmospheres. Instead of just spitting the book out onto the screen, Andrea Arnold is going to milk our five senses; the same way she did in Fish Tank. She's going to make us feel what Heathcliff is feeling through the way he exercises his foot in his riding boots and lays in the midst of fog, clutching at rough patches of heather. Mark my words, this film is going to go for the sensual, and if my instincts are as acute as I think they are then we'll be pulled into a world of Wuthering Heights that stirs us from the inside.
P.S: I love the rawness and reality of the accents. Andrea Arnold always pays attention to authenticity.
The relationships in this book were so complicated, evil in a sense- as far as Heathcliff and Cathrine. It was a bit diffcult for me to read, but i enjoyed it nontheless.
ReplyDeleteHi there :) Welcome to Lit Lovers & Corset Laces! The novel is very bittersweet, very cruel. It can be hard to swallow, but in the end it is worth it.
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