#jameshowson

[thedeadandthecure]

Don't leave me here where I can't find you. #wutheringheights #omorrodosventosuivantes #andreaarnold #kayascodelario #jameshowson #solomonglave #cinema #cinefilos #moviesquotes #moviestill #netflix #cultmovie

[theenthusiasticcinephile]

Wuthering Heights

2 hours 9 minutes

Not Rated (but would get an R for language, violent content, an aberrant sex scene and some graphic nudity)

Directed by Andrea Arnold

Starring Kaya Scodelario, James Howson, Solomon Glave, Shannon Beer, Steve Evets, Oliver Milburn, Paul Hilton, Simone Jackson, Lee Shaw, James Northcote, Amy Wren, and Nichola Burley

4 out of 4 stars

IN THEATERS NOW.

Love is pain. Be forewarned: Wuthering Heights is no Pride and Prejudice. Andrea Arnold has taken the famed book by Emily Bronte and transformed it into a harsh but utterly powerful drama about two people who are meant to be together but can't. You have to know what you're getting yourself into when you enter a theater that's going to show a movie by Arnold. She won an Oscar for a short movie she did called Wasp about a single mother of four who brings them to a bar so she can meet up with a guy. What's the most disturbing scene? Probably the one where a wasp crawls inside a sleeping toddler's mouth. She also made Fish Tank, an equally intense drama with Katie Jarvis and Michael Fassbender. Most disturbing scene? The one where a little girl is thrown into a freezing cold river. Nothing, however, compares to a scene in Wuthering Heights where a dog is picked up and hung by its neck on a fence. The camera doesn't cut from the dog's panicking face. We see it all. We see the pain he's feeling. Arnold is challenging us for a reason. I haven't seen her first feature, Red Road, and I'm too afraid to do so.

There have been many adaptations of the book, the most famous one being the 1939 tearjerker with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon. This isn't an ordinary adaptation. Arnold has kept the story and setting but made it more realistic, darker, and philosophical. She cares less about trying to make a tearjerking romance and more about visualizing the darkness of the human condition. I loved every minute of it. In fact this might be my favorite movie of the year. Arnold is like a female Terrence Malick, using little dialogue in exchange for more of an emphasis on nature. It's up to the viewer to interpret what he's seeing. The romance of Heathcliff and Cathy is, above all, as tempestuous as nature can get. I haven't read the book, but according to some reviews I've read the director has tweaked quite a bit of the story. Set in the vastness of the Yorkshire Moors, the movie begins with Mr. Earnshaw (Paul Hilton), a strict Christian father and husband, bringing in a homeless black boy, Heathcliff (Solomon Glave), he found wandering around Liverpool.

Mr. Earnshaw has two kids, Hindley (Lee Shaw) and his younger sister Cathy (Shannon Beer). Hindley dislikes Heathcliff out of jealousy and racism. Cathy, on the other hand, is curious about the boy. She peeks from a doorway and watches him change out of his wet clothes in one scene. Heathcliff is also interested in Cathy. Take for instance the scene where the two go riding off into the Moors. He subtly sniffs the back of her hair, the way an animal does when it's curious about something. This isn't a happy/sappy romance. This is in some ways a sadomasochistic one. Heathcliff is animalistic and doesn't just love Cathy but WANTS her. In one scene they throw mud at one another and then he pushes her to the ground and sits on her arms so she can't move. Yet Cathy isn't afraid. She stares into his eyes and shows him that she's attracted to his dominant control. Don't interpret this as child porn. This is a relationship characterized by pure lust.

Heathcliff's rage increases when the Earnshaw family is introduced to their new neighbors, the rich Linton family. Cathy and Edgar (Jonny Powell), the son of the family, grow closer. It's obvious that Cathy deep down loves Heathcliff but she believes she can't be with him because of his poor status. Edgar proposes to her and she accepts. A heartbroken Heathcliff leaves the property and returns a few years later (now played by James Howson) to take Cathy (now played by Kaya Scodelario) away from her husband. This isn't just a painful story because these two people can't end up together. What's agonizing is the pain they inflict on one another. Heathcliff overhears Cathy explaining to someone that she doesn't love him and only wants Edgar in her life. When they're older, Heathcliff starts to become infatuated with Isabella (Nichola Burley), Edgar's sister, to make Cathy jealous. Hasn't Cathy been through enough? Hasn't she had to deal with the heartbreak of Heathcliff running away when they were kids? This is a story about the pessimistic reality of love. Heathcliff and Cathy can't have it so they become cruel to one another.

This says a lot about the dark side of human nature. Love isn't always beautiful. It can be a curse! When this happens, when the love we can't have takes hold of our lives, we become vicious creatures of the world. Howson doesn't portray Heathcliff as the conventional brooding character. He's angry here, a man who's had enough of this torturous life. Arnold is brutally honest in showing this. In one scene Heathcliff is told by Hindley that he doesn't want him near Cathy. So what does Heathcliff do? He gets his frustration out by slicing open a sheep's neck. Nature plays an important role here in that it reflects him and Cathy's relationship. There's never a sunny, calm day in the Moors. The clouds are dark and menacing and the wind is loud and the complete opposite of serene. Yet nature can't compete with Heathcliff and Cathy's love, the stormiest force of all. All of this is captured beautifully by cinematographer Robbie Ryan. Arnold is an extraordinary visual poet and captures the language from the book through the camera. Every part of nature serves a purpose. The birds, for example, represent the life the lovers want. If only they could just fly away and escape this hell.

Perhaps the biggest change in this adaptation is the race of Heathcliff. There's no political statement here about how black people should be portrayed in classic works of literature more. Arnold is simply shifting the love story to a more modern standard. Heathcliff can't be with Cathy because he's poor, but NOW in this adaptation he also can't be with her because he's black. I love this not just because I love interracial couples but because it's different! This whole adaptation is different! It's certainly a hit or miss movie for fans of the book and has already divided critics. I think it's a monumental achievement. Depressing and disturbing as hell, yes, but monumental. Arnold has dived into the psychology of the love of Heathcliff and Cathy and exposed its dark, tragic side.