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Product Description
BBC drama updating the story of 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte. On isolated Sparkhouse farm, feisty Carol Bolton (Sarah Smart) lives with her drunken father and shares a destructively intense passion with her childhood love Andrew Lawton (Joseph McFadden). But in the surroundings of the bleak, expansive moors, the dark secrets and jealousies at the heart of their relationship threatens to destroy everything they hold dear.
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2.4 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, SYNOPSIS: A three-part drama series inspired by Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. Carol and Andrew have been in love since junior school but Andrew's parents ruin their chances of a consummate relationship. ...Sparkhouse
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
194 of 195 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:DVD
This modern re-working of Wuthering Heights was first broadcast by the BBC in 2002 and was one of the most popular and well-regarded dramas of the year. In this version, Cathy and Heathcliff are Andrew (Joe McFadden)and Carol (Sarah Smart) respectively. Inseparable as children, they are now, at 18, passionately in love. The drama follows their story over the next few years. Andrew is the son of middle-class parents, whereas Carol, who lives across the valley at Sparkhouse Farm, is the daughter of a violent father and heavy-drinking mother. Andrew's parents disapprove of Carol, and try to prevent their son from seeing her. Like their counterparts in the novel, Andrew and Carol have an almost unearthly connection to each other, but events conspire against them.
There are intriguing echoes of Wuthering Heights, both major and minor, but the drama is not a retelling of the novel in a modern setting - it stands on its own, compelling and ultimately haunting. It's set and filmed in and around Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire, and seems very much rooted in the area. The heart of the drama is Sarah Smart's superbly-played Carol, a flawed but feisty young woman fighting against the disadvantages of her background.
The impetus for releasing this drama on DVD now is mostly the presence in the cast of Richard Armitage, who so memorably played John Thornton in the BBC's North and South in 2004. Here he plays John Standring, a cripplingly shy farm-worker at Sparkhouse, who, in his own hesitant way, is in love with Carol. It's a very different character from Thornton, but is played just as effectively.
Also in a strong cast are Alun Armstrong, Nicholas Farrell and Celia Imrie. This is much more than just a drama inspired by Wuthering Heights, and I'd thoroughly recommend it whether you know the novel or not.
36 of 36 people found the following review helpful
By JAKJ
Format:DVD
This film has a lot to commend it - most obviously the strong performances and compelling story line. Although not a direct adaptation of Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, the film is highly successful in preserving the sense of place (the Yorkshire Moors as metaphor) integral to the original story as well as the intricate, and at times claustrophobic, social relationships between two families that provides the vehicle for Bronte's plot line. The gritty realism of the film (including domestic abuse) reflects the fragile class relationships in modern England no less than Bronte's original did those of early Victorian England. Indeed, the almost inviolable divide between classes (which, transgressed, invites destruction) captured in Sparkhouse is biting social commentary at its best. The film is excellent. That said, it is not for the faint hearted. Dark, twisted, haunting, and tragic, this tale of obsessive love is disturbing and, at times, chilling. It is for this reason that my wife might give this film 3 Stars as opposed to my 5 Stars.
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
By Miss Jane
Format:DVD
I bought "Sparkhouse" on the basis of reviews only, as I had never seen it here in Australia. This is completely worth its 5 star rating - it was not entirely what I expected, but I was riveted to this dark and violent tale of love and obsession. The parallels to "Wuthering heights" are obvious but not overplayed, and the entire cast is incredibly good. Brilliant!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
I just love the music from Enya as wellas Riverdance
I just love the Music from Enya I listen tu it every day since 1991 as well as i am so facinated from Riverdance
The film Sparkhouse touch my Soul very much
The film Sparkhouse touch my Soul very much
Published 9 days ago by Nils-torbjørn
3.0 out of 5 stars
hmm...
sorry about my english.
Well I hoped more about the story. And definitv more R. Armitage.
My tip - don't buy it - rent it.
Watching once is enough.
Sorry :-/
Well I hoped more about the story. And definitv more R. Armitage.
My tip - don't buy it - rent it.
Watching once is enough.
Sorry :-/
Published 1 month ago by JP
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent acting all round
Have had this ages but only now writing a review. Watched this many times as love Richard Armitage, but the overall acting is great, really believable. Read more
Published 4 months ago by sharkey
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very entertaining version of Wuthering Heights
I love Wuthering Heights as a novel and own copies of almost all the filmed versions of the story. This one is intriguing because of the twist to it but is just as entertaining... Read more
Published 4 months ago by gimmielinda
3.0 out of 5 stars
DOOM AND GLOOM (Brit style)
Watched it because I've read others' ravishing reviews, & also because the original Bronte's book (as basic inspiration) it's 1 of my all time favs, plus I'm a Richard Armitage's... Read more
Published 4 months ago by *Fridi*
5.0 out of 5 stars
sparkhouse
it was a 3 part series on bbc1 9yr ago, it is absolutly brilliant if you like, love,betrail and intregue!
Published 17 months ago by sparky13
5.0 out of 5 stars
love it!!!!
I remember watching this series when it was first on television. I loved it then, and i still love it now! Read more
Published 20 months ago by birthsqueeze
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heartbreaking
I first watched Sparkhouse when it was screened on the BBC here in the UK back in 2002 and it left a powerful impression on me then, aged 15 and having recently read Wuthering... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Magic Jem
5.0 out of 5 stars
Breathtaking
This is one of my most favourite dramas ever. Based on Wuthering Heights (but not tied to it, and not in a traditional way), it tells the story of two lovers and their journey from... Read more
Published on 16 April 2011 by S. Maguire
4.0 out of 5 stars
:)
I wasnt sure what to expect when i bought this item, as id never heard of it or seen it before.. but i think apart from the music its a really good watch. Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2011 by Emily Williams
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