Review: Wuthering Heights (2009)

Wuthering Heights (2009)

Buy It Now: Amazon.com

Watch It Streaming: Netflix.com

Synopsis (borrowed from IMDB): Braving her father Edgar Linton’s warning not to cross the estate border, young Catherine discovers her charming, but sickly cousin, and the manly Hareton are the heartlessly scorned and abused sons of wealthy Heatcliff on the Earnshaw estate. This launches a flashback how Heathcliff was raised as Cathy’s best friend by her kind father, Mr. Earnshaw. After his death, the son and heir returns from boarding school, married, and reduces Heathcliff to the rank of stable boy, enduring constant abuse in order to remain with Cathy. After an accidental meeting with elegant gentleman Edgar Linton, she falls in love. To Hindley’s delight, this drives Heathcliffe away. Three years later, he returns wealthy enough to buy the estate, a day after Kathy married Edgar. He takes revenge, which instead of satisfaction brings misery to all. After Kathy and later Edgar’s death, his scorn includes the next generation, which nevertheless finds each other striving for nobler values.

Wenchie’s Review:

Okay, first and foremost, I should probably tell you all that I have never read the book Wuthering Heights. I tried when I was in high school and just couldn’t get into it, so I read the Cliff’s Notes instead. I’ve also seen a lot of movie versions of this story, so I think by now I have a pretty good understanding of the story in general. That being said, I have never liked this story. The characters, Cathy and Heathcliff, were just so frustrating and unlikable that I could never see this as the love story it’s always played up to be. These two characters destroy one another’s lives and that just never appealed to me, to be completely honest. I usually like stories with happy endings, or if a happy ending isn’t going to happen, at least an unrequited love story where everyone generally turns out all right.

Now, with all that out of the way, I loved this version of Wuthering Heights. It’s a two-part miniseries made for the Masterpiece Classic collection and I think they did a wonderful job retelling this story. This version is the only one I have ever seen where I felt sympathetic and slightly heartbroken for Cathy and Heathcliff. Any other version (the 1992 Juliet Binoche/Ralph Fiennes version, for instance) always made me want to smack every single character right in the face. Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley brought a realism to the characters that I, personally, have never seen before. Tom Hardy especially.

I have to admit the only reason I found out about this version is because I’d looked up Tom Hardy on IMDB after I saw that he’d played Shinzon in Star Trek: Nemesis. And I have to say, he looks so much better with long hair. Since then I’ve seen a few other movies he’s been in and I am just blown away by his talent as an actor. He brought life to the character of Heathcliff and I could actually see that this is a love story. A very twisted, vengeful love story, but a love story nonetheless. The depth of emotion that was brought to the screen, by both actors/characters….I can’t even really describe it. I just empathized so much with both Cathy and Heathcliff. And even though I still wanted to smack them for being idiots and causing each other so much pain when they could’ve just been together, I enjoyed it for the tragedy it is. I think the writers may have intentionally focused on the relationship between Cathy and Heathcliff, which is probably why it seems so different that other versions.

Whatever they did, I loved it. I don’t think I’ve re-watched a movie in the last few months as much as I have this one. The acting is great, the story is way better than I remember, and I actually cared about the characters for once. Bravo, PBS. You did well with this one.

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