When a movie calls itself an adaptation of a beloved novel like “Wuthering Heights,” it can be hard to meet every reader’s expectations.
Emerald Fennell’s new movie “‘Wuthering Heights,’” based on Emily Brontë’s novel, tells the story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, played by Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, respectively.
In the story, Heathcliff is adopted by Catherine’s father, and they grow up together and fall in love and lust. However, Catherine’s decision to marry their rich neighbor to avoid poverty causes Heathcliff to run away, returning years later to either steal her back or exact revenge.
As a piece of art, the movie sparkles with dark appeal. There are an infinite number of design choices to dissect, from the architecture to the fashion to specific shots that feel more like metaphors than reality.
The film stuns with scenes like Isabella Linton’s hand entering the real dining room to adjust the dolls in her dollhouse’s replica dining room. Choices like these remind the viewer how isolated the story is, with a small central cast.
Yet while audiences “ooh” and “aah” at these choices, the movie lacks the best parts of the real “Wuthering Heights” – pure evil and madness.
Fennell has cherry-picked which characters, moments and dialogues appear in her retelling, cutting out half of the original book.
One critique of Fennell’s adaptation is her decision to cast a white actor as Heathcliff, instead of the ambiguously ethnic book version.
This small change forces the story to undergo roundabout ways of forcing Catherine into Linton, making him the rich hero that she chooses to avoid poverty. In the book, Catherine sees marriage to Heathcliff as “degrading” because of his skin color.
Catherine’s choice to marry Linton becomes practical rather than cruel. So when she acts cruelly later in the movie, it comes across as throwaway rather than showing her as Heathcliff’s perfect match as an equally evil woman.
There’s a reason why these moments from the central characters feel manufactured. In the novel, Catherine is no older than 18, but Robbie is 35-years-old. Having actors play characters half their age makes them seem immature rather than gothic, like the scene where Catherine flounces around hoping that the Lintons will think she’s pretty.
Another change from the original text is its sexual content, with scenes placed for shock value or to continue the plot, where the movie can no longer use the far tamer source material. Heathcliff appears dominating rather than revenge-obsessed, with changes like his abusive relationship with Isabella becoming a consensual BDSM relationship.
“‘Wuthering Heights’” promises the greatest love story of all time. By the end of the movie, it is undeniable that a love story has been told. Whether the story it tells is great, however, is entirely up to the viewer.
Simmons students interested in seeing the movie may purchase discounted AMC tickets in-person at the Jennifer Eckert Center for Leadership and Engagement.
