Wuthering Heights on screen

-

Wuthering Heights has been adapted for the screen many times, not even counting spin-offs like Sparkhouse or parody clips and such. Here is a chronological list according to IMDb:

  1. Wuthering Heights (1920)
  2. Wuthering Heights (1939)
  3. Wuthering Heights (1948)
  4. Wuthering Heights (1954)
  5. Wuthering Heights (1962)
  6. Wuthering Heights (1967)
  7. Wuthering Heights (1978)
  8. Wuthering Heights (1970)
  9. Hurlevent (1985) - French
  10. Arashi ga oka (1988) - Japanese
  11. Wuthering Heights (1992)
  12. Wuthering Heights (1998)
  13. Wuthering Heights (2003)
  14. Cime tempestose (2004) - Italian
  15. Wuthering Heights (2009)
  16. Wuthering Heights (2011)

The last one says 2011, gasp! So ... what do we know about the latest version, number 16?

Well, it's ...

  • yet another adaptation, hot on the heels of a TV adaptation so Brontëites will wonder why on earth they had to make another one so soon (I know I do)
  • changed cast frequently (last I heard, Gemma Arterton was set to play Cathy - apparently she isn't)
  • directed by Andrea Arnold
  • will premiere at the Venice Film Festival
  • set to be released 30 September 2011 here in the UK, which is a bit puzzling, considering the new Jane Eyre comes out only three weeks earlier! (WTF kind of timing is that?!)
  • got the first black actor playing Heathcliff (ooh, that's actually quite interesting)
  • made by Ecosse Films 
  • going to be made to suit the Twilight crowd (...oh FFS)
  • screenplay was written by Olivia Hetreed (previous works include Girl with a Pearl Earring, which I've yet to see)
  • filmed in North Yorkshire (Cotescue Park in Coverham; Moor Close Farm in Muker, Swaledale; and Thwaite)
  • surprisingly un-talked about, as in, there seems to be very little information about it, even though it's only 2,5 months left before it opens now

As to the actual casting ... that deserves a post all on its own, I reckon. :)

Are you excited to see a new adaptation of Wuthering Heights or do you wish just for once they'd pay attention to the other Brontë novels other than Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre?

Comments

  1. LitLover14 July 2011 at 18:24

    The casting really was juggled. Michael Fassbender who played Rochester for the newest film adaption of "Jane Eyre" was actually cast as Heathcliff alongside Abbie Cornish until the project was dropped again.

    "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" was a GREAT movie that emphasized chemistry through subtle gazes and passionate undercurrents. I would love to see that same quality come through in this film. As for the "Twilight" thing, I think I'm a little scared. I hope they don't try to modernize too much just to usher to a new crowd. We'll see how it goes I guess.

    Why IS it not being talked about? Is that a good or bad sign? All this is making me anxious! :P

    ReplyDelete
  2. Traxy17 July 2011 at 00:22

    Was he? Well, there you go! Think I prefer the idea of Fassbender as Rochester rather than Heathcliff, but ... I'm sure he would've been a great Heathcliff too.

    I do and I don't agree with trying to cozy up to the Twilight crowd. I don't, because WH is incredibly well-written and a literary classic, and Twilight ... well, isn't. Wouldn't want to see any dumbing down of a great novel just for the sake of appealing to people who think vampires sparkle in the sun. On the OTHER hand, if those people could be shown what GOOD literature is and use it as a stepping stone to get to novels with HEALTHY relationships (i.e. NOT WH but other classics where the relationship isn't dysfunctional), then maybe that's okay.

    Have no idea why it's so quiet about WH. Jane Eyre is more of a smallish, artsy film, but news spilled out every now and then - and pictures ... trailers, and so on. This is just complete silence. Wonder why. :/ Maybe closer to the time?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by! All comments are read (usually within 24 hours) and responded to whenever I can, but not necessarily straight away. Spam comments stop in the moderation queue. Be as snarky as you like, but I give as good as I get, and you probably need a hug. Cheerio! :)

Popular posts from this blog

You know you're a Richard Armitage fan when ...

-
I thought there should be a list like this. Maybe there already is, I've just not seen it yet. It's not a massive list by the time of posting this (25 points), but I'm hoping you'll help me come up with more so that one day it will be. :) Last updated: 14 June 2012, the list so far: You know you're a Richard Armitage fan when ...
READ MORE »

Richard Armitage will never be himself on TV

-
Image
One of the interesting comments Richard Armitage was when an interviewer asked him, because he's a great dancer, is if we'd ever see him on something like Strictly Come Dancing . His response was that we'd never get to see Richard Armitage as Richard Armitage on TV. Basically, he's not the kind of celebrity to show up as soon as someone waves an invite to a reality TV show. Richard Armitage as himself. On telly. But not in a reality show. Things that make me love and respect the man: +1! Before I read that interview, I was thinking about him on Strictly , and then started to think of a host of other reality TV shows and whether or not he would be a suitable candidate. This is what I came up with ... Top Gear What it is: This is a car show, or ... a comedy show with cars in, depending on how you look at it. Rupert Penry-Jones and Peter Firth came on it to promote series 7 (?) of Spooks , so why not Richard Armitage? He does drive a car, after all ... Why ...
READ MORE »

And you call yourself a Richard Armitage fan?

-
It's been just about a year since I wrote that post about IF Richard Armitage was gay, what's it got to do with us ? This has since become the most read and the most commented post on this blog, for better or for worse. Hotly debated issue, apparently. The thing that strikes me is how people look upon the subject. A lot of comments were very supportive, saying if he was gay, it might spoil the illusion somewhat, but all in all, if that's who he is, then that's who he is. Others claimed to have evidence of him being a homosexual, but from what I gather, it's really only based on hearsay, rumourmongering and/or "gut feelings". Personally, I'd be interested to hear a gay man's views on this. Why? Because everyone in the debate is female, and the vast majority, if not all, are straight. Ever heard the term "gaydar"? Whose gaydar is more likely to be accurate - a straight female's or a homosexual male's? I know who I'd vote for...
READ MORE »