Originally written by English novelist and poet Emily Brontë, “Wuthering Heights” took its newest form in the eyes of Emerald Fennell. Premiering on Feb. 14, “Wuthering Heights” has kept a tight grasp on viewers worldwide. The film stars Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Margot Robbie as Cathy Earnshaw.
Brontë’s novel is a tragic yet passionate love story between Heathcliff and Cathy, taking place in the Yorkshire Moors in Northern England, during the late 18th century. Heathcliff, who is an orphan, is taken in by the somewhat broken Earnshaw family in their desolate estate in the Moors, called “Wuthering Heights.” Throughout their childhood, Cathy and Heathcliff seem to fall in love, but can’t express it towards each other, eventually breaking off their childhood love when Cathy marries the wealthy Edgar Linton to increase her social status. Years later, Heathcliff returns, having made himself into an established man with wealth, and is bitter towards Cathy, who left their true romance for status. Their love turns into a tragic and manipulative feud, dragging Linton and his sister, Isabella, in.
With original music by Charli XCX, Fennell’s adaptation of the famous novel has been critically acclaimed for its creative and stylistic feeling. Charli XCX’s album, titled “Wuthering Heights,” was released on the same day as the film, with songs such as House featuring John Cale of The Velvet Underground, Wall of Sound, and Chains of Love, becoming vastly popular over platforms such as TikTok. Charli XCX’s distinct sound adds to the film’s dark, somewhat uncomfortable, and up-close feeling, making the film even more enticing and unique.
Variety film critic Peter Debruge described the film as, “something passionate in the material that was always there but never made explicit, amplifying what has gone largely unrequited all these years: the physical desire, of course, but also the mind games by which power shifts between Catherine Earnshaw … and Heathcliff.”
While Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” is an R-rated film, there have been numerous other adaptations of Brontë’s novel, including the 1939 version by William Wyler, which is widely considered a “classic” in cinema. Fennel’s film is showing at Santa Barbara’s Paseo Nuevo Theater downtown, along with the Hitchcock Cinema.
