The novel "Wuthering Heights" was written by the nineteenth-century English writer Emily Bronte. She was born into a priest's family and spent most of her life in the wilderness with her family. She was unmarried and died of illness at the age of thirty. Her older sister Charlotte Bronte and younger sister Anne Bronte are the authors of the novels "Jane Eyre" and "Agnes Grey" respectively.
The film "Wuthering Heights" was adapted from the original book and was produced by the United Kingdom in 1992. Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche play Heathcliff and Katherine, respectively. Movies concretize the words in novels and bring us a more vivid image. The whole film is presented in a somewhat gloomy tone, which seems to imply the deep and unblessed love between the male and female protagonists. Catherine was a very lovely girl as a child, lively, playful, liked to play with Heathcliff, always sympathetic and caring for him. Heathcliff was an orphan who was adopted by old Earnshaw. Although Mr Earnshaw was very fond of him, after Earnshaw's death Heathcliff was bullied by his son Hindley, the new owner of the house, and made him a servant. Catherine never treated Heathcliff as a servant and loved him equally. This is how Heathcliff and Catherine's relationship developed from childhood childhood sweethearts, sincere, deep and unbreakable. It is a pity that Heathcliff has a low social status, does not know who his parents are, has no property, and is not worthy of the beautiful, lively and relatively high social status Catherine in the eyes of others. The noble Linton sincerely loves and pursues Catherine, which makes Heathcliff feel threatened and ashamed. In the end, due to a misunderstanding, although Catherine realized Heathcliff's irreplaceable place in her heart, she still married Linton. Linton truly loved Catherine, and their married life was peaceful and leisurely, and if it continued like this, it would be a blessing. But a few years later, Heathcliff suddenly returned to the moor and came to Thrushcross House where the Lintons lived, rekindling Catherine's fiery love for him. Catherine was married and pregnant at this time. She couldn't go against social norms to be with Heathcliff again, and felt guilty for her husband who loved her dearly. She was in pain, and tortured herself every day, wanting to see Heathcliff, but every time she met, it was like drinking poison to quench her thirst. Heathcliff hated Catherine for going against his heart and marrying Linton, who was not his love. Out of revenge, Heathcliff married Isabella, Linton's sister, who was infatuated with him, but tortured her all day after the marriage. Catherine couldn't bear the pain of intense longing and Heathcliff's revenge. She called Heathcliff's name day and night, and became weaker and weaker, and finally died in his arms, and was forgiven before her death. Heathcliff was devastated by Catherine's death, and took out his pain and hatred on Linton, Linton and Catherine's daughter Catherine Jr., himself and Isabella's son Heathcliff Jr., and Hindley's son Hareton. (Hindley had died by this time). On the surface, Heathcliff was powerful and Violent, but in fact, year after year, he was immersed in extreme longing for Catherine, extreme pain. Catherine was his life, the only family member he had in this world, the only one who loved him, cared about him, and treated him equally except old Mr Earnshaw. With Catherine dead, Heathcliff becomes the walking dead, a vehicle for revenge. Little Catherine and Hareton developed a pure love in their relationship, which reminded Heathcliff of his feelings with Catherine in those days. He felt sympathy in his heart, finally let go of his hatred, and finally, with his infinite longing for Catherine, calling out her name, he died on the wasteland where the two of them once walked together.
The film, like the novel, is a bit depressing. At the same time, the relationship between Heathcliff and Catherine expressed in it is so deep and strong, so touching. Heathcliff's life experience is worthy of sympathy. In that low-status society of orphans, although he and Catherine had a sincere relationship to death, they could not be united by marriage. The last one died of depression and the other died of love. Thinking of this, I have to feel the happiness of freedom of love and freedom of marriage in today's society. However, some people still get married for reasons other than love. Although everyone has the right to choose their own way of life, they seem to be inferior to the fictional Heathcliff and Catherine in the novels of two hundred years ago. This couple obeys their inner feelings and would rather die with their loved ones - even though I wish they could live happily and cuddle each other happily.
When Heathcliff mournfully held Catherine on her deathbed, when he was devastated by her death, when he froze to death in the moor, calling her name and accompany her forever, I believe he was true Love Catherine. Two people who were so unswerving and loved each other across life and death were never really together, which made me see the huge gap between the British social classes at that time. The author of the novel cannot solve this social problem, and can only use the extreme description of the life and death of the two to arouse the readers' sympathy and thinking. Heathcliff loves so deeply and intensely that I hate his once dehumanizing act of revenge. Everyone in the novel is infatuated, including Heathcliff's abusive Hindley, who is also excellent to his wife. Perhaps in Emily Bronte's view, love should be strong and faithful.
The strength of the novel lies in the detailed psychological description, which can deeply portray the characters, while the film is better than the visual expression. For classic literary works such as "Wuthering Heights", the interpretation of the film is largely influenced by the level of screenwriters, directors and actors, and even the level of photographers, lighting engineers, and editors. If you want to appreciate the delicate feelings of the characters and the social background at that time, you still need to read the original work. "Wuthering Heights" has been adapted into a film and television drama many times. Various versions of film and television dramas, including this version in 1992, will be limited by the understanding of the creators in showing the original appearance of the novel. However, the 92 version of the movie still provides a good interpretation and is worth watching.
View more about Wuthering Heights reviews
