Wuthering Heights (2009) [DVD]

If you are like me and you like to own several 'takes' on your favourite literature, I guarantee that you will be intrigued by this DVD.

This take on the Bronte classic is enough to set your DVD on fire. The chemistry between Cathy (Charlotte Riley) and Heathcliffe (Tom Hardy) is 'bang on' - as they say in common parlance! It's no suprise that the two young actors are about to walk up the aisle in real life.

Interestingly, Linton is played by the very handsome Andrew Lincoln. This seems to add veracity to Cathy's temporary switch of affections. Sadly, Cathy realises far to late that the 'elagancies' and 'distractions' that the Lintons' enjoy are alien to her fiery spirit and true wild nature. I've never seen Cathy so well portrayed as by this amazing actress - usually she seems to come over as being pettish and annoying. I absolutely defy any male viewers not to fall in love with her and her vulnerabilties.

Yes, there are some alterations to the plot. I was left wondering for the first time - whether Heathcliffe and Cathy are actually half siblings - all rather D H Lawrence. I'd call this the Martina Cole version really. Heathcliffe in this interpretation definately comes across as something of a gangland bad boy. However, for me this just make the take seem crackling and fresh. And on a superfluous note - both leading men are utterly gorgeous.

By the way I was suprised by the reviewer who claims that you are supposed to hate Cathy and Heathcliffe and gave this DVD a miserly 1 star. Really? And should great literature be a plodding report of the original text? This 21st century interpretation alludes to damage sustained by Cathy (brought up by Bilble thumping servants in a one parent family) and Heathcliffe (whose travails need no introducion).

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did if you decide to buy!

I bought this DVD as I was studying the novel for English, and thought it would be useful to just get the plot in my head. But, after reading the novel and then watching this I realised this adaptation does more than get the plot right. The emotional depth is there, the bleak atmosphere which is an inextricable part of the story. And the character portrayals are spot on.
I've seen a few adaptations now, and this is by far the best. Most of the others fall flat when trying to get Heathcliff's raw emotion and pain, but Tom Hardy is SUPERB. I've cried everytime I've watched this, and that's saying something.
If you haven't read the book I'd recommend this to you anyway. The story pulls you staright in and makes you want to smack the characters and tell them what they're doing wrong, especially Heathcliff and Cathy. A must-have DVD, definitely.

Tom Hardy as Heathcliff is a wonder - his portrayal of obsession, possession and gradual descension into abject madness is one of the finest pieces of acting I've ever seen; his visceral, guttural wail of grief three quarters of the way through the film is a sound that will honestly haunt me for a long while. However, much of the rest of the production is a disaster. The main issue being the arrogance of ITV (and screen writer Peter Bowker) presuming to rewrite so much of this bonafide classic.

For a while, they essentially keep to the book. Things are moved around, and they (predictably enough) add a handful of fairly graphic sex scenes (it's ITV, after all... keep to the original? Pah. Who's gonna watch that?!) but it pays Bronte's book a good deal of respect... if not the audience. However, three quarters of the way through, they decide to chuck the book away and make it up as they go along, even altering how major characters die. I don't want to seem like a stuffy, fustymusty old snob, but hacking this book to pieces in such a way is a literary crime, and the punishment ought to be tv death.

The last half an hour or so makes no sense; you aren't told who anyone is; none of the new people or relationships are given any flesh or dimension... it's just dreadful. If you haven't read the book, you won't have a clue who is who, who does what, and who does what to who. If you have read the book, you'll simply mourn.

The cast is fairly hit and miss... the always wonderful Andrew Lincoln and Sarah Lancashire are both excellent as Edgar Linton and Nelly Dean respectively. They bring gravitas and authenticity to their roles, and their scenes are a bit of a relief after those with Cathy, played by Charlotte Riley. She's a beautiful girl with the best-shaped eyebrows in television. In other words, she was utterly mis-cast: she has a modern face, modern mannerisms and she wasn't believable as Cathy. She wasn't wild so much as self-involved, and the idea that men would break themselves open over her simply doesn't ring true.

There seemed to be little chemistry between her and Hardy, nor between she and Lincoln, much less a love that would destroy the lives of everyone involved.

The final major aspect of the film was the moors: bleak Yorkshire moors, washed out and wild. It was filmed to perfection. If you've seen Gladiator, you'll know the iconic scene of hand drifting over and through the tops of golden corn. Wuthering Heights uses a similar effect, except it glides through heathers and mosses and along muddy paths. Really quite barren and beautiful.

3 stars can often sound like a damning indictment. In this case, though, I really want to reiterate that some parts of the film are 5-stars. However, some of it is eye-wateringly bad, and their wilfully changing so much of it means it can only get 3. If you want to get to know Cathy and Heathcliff (or if you'll be studying them for school or uni) I should give this the very widest of berths, and read the book which is still the benchmark for obsessional, dysfunctional, two-become-one love.