Set against the stark beauty of the English moor, the mysterious gypsy boy Heathcliff, adopted by the Earnshaw family, discovers his soul mate in his stepsister Cathy.Also,he is a wanderer.He is looked down upon by his stepbrothers and becomes a servant. Peter Kosminksy directed this faithful adaptation of the Emily Bronte classic entitled,Wuthering Heights.It features Juliette Binoche,Ralph Fiennes and Janet McTeer. Reviewed by sunwarrior13 8 / 10 Ralph Fiennes Excels In Wuthering Heights In conclusion, far from perfect but like the Timothy Dalton version when it's good it is great. Heathcliff could have been more of a tortured soul here but Fiennes give a truly powerful and often scary- you wouldn't want to mess with or be in the same room as him- performance, but he does bring a humane side too. The music is hauntingly beautiful with the brooding moments having a shade of melancholy, of all the Wuthering Heights adaptations only the Timothy Dalton version has a better music score. The two best assets are the music score and Ralph Fiennes' Heathcliff. Sinead O'Connor does a lovely job as Bronte herself. Janet McTeer stands out in support, Jeremy Northam doesn't have enough screen-time but he plays the tormentor-to-tormented character of Hindley to a tee and Jason Riddington is a charming Hareton. Her chemistry with Fiennes is intense and moving, the scenes on the moors are beautifully done. Binoche's acting is much improved and she is every bit the self-centred and spiteful Cathy, even without make-up too she is astonishingly pretty. That it included the events after Cathy's death is most laudable. With it too there is a real sense of broodiness and tragedy. The script is literate and emotional, the famous lines that are included are very well delivered and the story for the first half at least is coherent and respective of Emily Bronte's writing. The film is a stunner visually though, the photography is very fluid, the costumes are true to period, most of the make-up and hair is fine though Heathcliff's hair is far too straight and greasy and with the locations you can really feel and smell the atmosphere of the Yorkshire moors. The ending is also far too abrupt and bittersweet and Juliette Binoche did seem too shallow and classy to start with, the giggling was indeed too much. If the film was longer than it was it would have helped.
The main problem with the film is that it's very rushed which is why the supporting characters(the Lintons in particular, it did affect Simon Shepherd as Edgar too as there is very little sense of meekness which is a huge part of the character) don't get enough time to shine properly with a come and go vibe and why some of the second half felt jumpy narratively.
None of the adaptations are bad, even my least favourite the 2011 film and while there is a lot wrong this film adaptation isn't a bad one either. Not the best version of Emily Bronte's masterpiece, on their own terms of the ones personally seen so far the Laurence Olivier and Robert Cavannagh get that honour. Reviewed by TheLittleSongbird 7 / 10 Rather rushed but often beautiful
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