Last Friday, amidst much controversy, Warner Bros. released Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights,” starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.
Most of the controversy came from the film’s marketing strategy and its casting. The film was marketed as a great love story full of steamy moments between characters Catherine (Robbie) and Heathcliff (Elordi). Robbie’s casting seemed mostly satisfactory for fans of the book, despite her being older than the character. Elordi’s casting, on the other hand, threw people off because he is white and Heathcliff is described as a racially ambiguous person of color.
With all of this in mind, and having read the book in preparation for the big event, I saw the film in theaters on Valentine’s Day – and I have some thoughts.
Let’s start with the pros.
The film is technically beautiful. The cinematography and settings are amazing. The costumes, though not always adhering to the story’s time period, are stunning. The music, featuring original songs by Charli XCX, is moving and piles emotion onto the scenes. The acting by Robbie, Elordi and the rest of the cast is near-flawless, inviting viewers into the moment alongside them. The story the film chose to tell is engaging and interesting, making for an enjoyable watch.
However, that leads me to the main con: it is not at all a faithful adaptation of the well-known and well-loved novel by Emily Brontë.
Fennell tried to address this in interviews leading up to the release by calling it more of an “interpretation” and putting quotation marks around the film’s title. Personally, I don’t think that’s enough to excuse using the novel’s fame to promote a fantasy story extremely loosely based on the original events.
The framing of the novel, a story-within-a-story told by housekeeper Nelly about the lore of the Wuthering Heights house, is nonexistent. This was probably decided to allow scenes that Nelly isn’t present for to be shown, but it takes away a lot of the mystery that the opening of the novel provokes.
The film gives its characters the same names as the novel, but that’s about as far as their similarities go. Catherine’s brother in the book (Hindley) is entirely erased. If you’ve read the book and are wondering how that affects the story as a whole, I’ll get to that later.
Still on the topic of characters, the film completely changes their ages. While this could’ve been done to be more easily digestible for modern readers, as marriage occurred at a much earlier age at the time of the novel than it does now, it was likely also done so the starpower of Robbie and Elordi could take over the narrative and so their ages could be more believable. Characters such as Joseph, Mr. Earnshaw and Isabella are also significantly altered to fit into this new narrative, and Catherine herself makes choices that do not align with the novel.
Now to get into the plot itself (without major spoilers, of course). The biggest change that was made known from the marketing alone was the addition of sex. Specifically, very kinky sex. This occurred between the main characters, Catherine and Heathcliff, who don’t even kiss in the book, as well as multiple other characters. Also, relationships between certain characters, like Heathcliff and Isabella, are much different.
And for the kicker: the film only covers the first HALF of the novel. And no, the film is not marketed as a “Part One” in any way, nor does it open itself up for that possibility at all.
Readers of the book know that the very major theme of generational patterns and how past trauma can manifest itself in one’s offspring is essential to the story. However, with how the writers chose to handle character changes, and the choice to end halfway through the story, this theme is nonexistent. Instead, the film chooses to portray a star-crossed-lovers narrative that, while still tragic, is not what the novel is about.
So, if you’re looking for a visual and aural masterpiece with a solid story and brilliant acting, head out to see the film! However, if you’ve read the book and are looking for at least a minimally accurate adaptation of the novel’s plot and major themes, you won’t find it in this film.
Junior Emily Myers is a Copy Editor. Her email is emyers3@fandm.edu.