Saturday 22 October 2011

WUTHERING HEIGHTS DIRECTED BY ANDREA ARNOLD

Maya Fiennes the Yoga teacher is in town from Los Angeles.  In the past we have had lots of holidays together, her husband Magnus made films of the time we had together, that we will always treasure. Beautiful small amusing adventures into childish dreams.

Earthy, slushy and the hanging of lurchers  will stay in my memory of what I had always considered to be a romantic story. Having been influenced by Kate Bush's version of Wuthering Heights in 1978, I always felt it would be difficult to tackle the  language of the Emily Bronte story. I was proved wrong the soundscape was extraordinary and if you were blind you could still see it. Soloman Glove, the black boy who played Heathcliff when he was young,  became a frightened animal,brutal breathing like a wild horse, always alive and ready to run.  I liked this film but not as Wuthering Heights, the earthiness and the realistic dirt shown by the director Andrea Arnold felt wonderful but something else altogether. Whatever it is, she challenged  herself with one of the most tricky pieces of English literature in a very Sylvia Plath way.

I was lucky I arrived home to find a cheerful Maya, who took the last few images away of dogs swinging in the wind.

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