When evaluating a film adapted from a famous book, the degree of compliance with the original is often a critical point. In fact, this is what Arnold, the director of the film, said that each director chooses different points from the book, which coincides with each other. Because the spirit of the original work felt by everyone watching the movie is different. A loyal fan of novels may not be able to accept a film version that has been modified too much. This is not a criterion for judging the quality of a film. In the same way, an adaptation that closely follows the original work may be seen by some film fans as dull and uninteresting, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the film.
Secondly, "following the original" and "independent innovation" are two completely non-contradictory points. Following the emphasis of the original work should not be the external setting and the consistency of the objects; instead, it should follow the inner spirit of the work, such as the character, destiny, plot and emotion of the characters. From this point of view, Arnold is not only not bad, but on the contrary is very good. In the eyes of some audiences, the "unrecognizable", such as setting the background of the villa on the farm and changing the Gypsies to blacks, does not affect the setting of the plot and the shaping of the characters at all. In the film, whether it is the rudeness of the young Heathcliff, the wildness of the young Casey, the entanglement between the adult Heathcliff and Casey, and the fate of the love tragedy, they all penetrate from the original and are very personal in Arnold. In the video, she demonstrates her unique understanding of the work. Arnold said that when she read the original for the first time, she just understood and felt the author's thoughts, but she didn't think about it. When she read it the second time, she began to have insights independent of the novel, and finally put the points that moved her into her own understanding and put it on the screen.
Arnold, an actor, has a very emotional understanding and grasp of images. In her version of "Wuthering Heights", the plot only progressed to two-thirds of the original, staying in the generation of Heathcliff and Casey. However, the length of the film is not short, 129 minutes long. Compared to the previous adaptations that tell the story intact, Arnold obviously pays more attention to expressing emotions intact. She gave up a lot of dialogue and instead used straightforward and vivid images to portray characters and present relationships. The use of a large number of close-ups of animals and plants, panoramic views of the environment, various relationships and scheduling between nature and people, reflects a very strong personal consciousness and style of the director. Arnold said that he relied on intuition when he made the film. It is not difficult to see this from the gloomy mud, heavy rain, and heavy dust in the sun. And these elements have never been separated from the main body of the narrative, and the enhancement of feeling has no chaotic constitution, which is really commendable in the works of female directors.
Although almost all the best movies in the world are made by men, male directors can never make the neurotic, mysterious and sensitive things made by female directors. Just comparing the works of the three major film festivals this year, we can clearly distinguish the plots of male and female directors. From the Berlin Film Festival to Cannes and then to Venice, the works of male directors are all logically rigorous and clear in rhythm. The works of female directors have strong styles and rich emotions. The overall quality of the works of female directors is not high, but without exception, they have very emotional and poetic pictures and expressions. This time, Arnold's version seems to be closer to the perspective of women than most of the previous versions shot by male directors. The images of her atmosphere are far more narrative, which can be regarded as the director's independent creation of the novel author, but also the director's speculation on the author's mood. You can almost have both.
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