Book Review
- Buddy read with Nico.
- Read date: Feb. 7-June 28, 2026
- My rating: 5 of 5 Stars ⭐
- View all of my book reviews
- Favorite chapter (audio from LibriVox):
Review:
I take back everything bad I said about film adaptations refusing to touch the second half of this book, because wow. I don't want to watch that on film, either, let alone film it myself.
However I do not take back a single thing I said about adaptations making Heathcliff white. Specifically Emerald Fennel's "Wuthering Heights". Really, Fennel, what were you thinking? The sexual aspects aren't even in the right place there!
Films
Emerald Fennel's "Wuthering Heights" (2026)
- Watched with Sky and Nico
- Watch date: June 29, 2026
- My rating: ½ of 5 Stars ⭐
- Other Letterboxd Reviews
The racial politics of this are ass from jump, the costuming and set decor are jarringly separate from the rest of the movie and its time period, it’s totally chicken shit on the freaky sex stuff and so unearned in its melodrama that it loops around to being hilarious. [...] I also wanna know why Cathy’s room is Glinda The Goodwitch Pink and why her husband’s room is Wizard of Fraud Emerald City Green. Why do they even have separate rooms. And why did she never have even a HINT of a baby bump. And why was there so much blood pouring out of her corpse if she died of sepsis?
“I’ll kill him, I’ll drink his blood” Yeah right, you cracker chip, fuck off.
Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1992)
Dir. Peter Kosminsky
- Watched with Sky, Nico. Simon and Caleb
- Watch date: August 31, 2026
- My rating: 4 of 5 Stars ⭐
Watched on Kanopy.
Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (2011)
Dir. Andrea Arnold
- Watched... All by myself!
- Watch date: Sep. 27, 2026
- My rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars ⭐ + 🧡
Review:
GNAWING ON THE WALLS OF MY ENCLOSURE. HOLY SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT
Which is to say, I really liked it. The only thing holding the book back from a perfect 5 stars is the fact it's one of the films that only covers the first half of the book, though it does have the scene with Cathy's grave. A lot of the points in this film's favor comes from it being the only adaption (so far!) to actually adapt the racial tensions of the book, and the rest of the points come from the sense of earthy disgust reaching through the DVD. If it had a sequel concluding the plot of the book, it would be utterly perfect in my eyes.
Unfortunately, this came out well over a decade ago, so there's little hope in that regard. Not to mention the fact that, according to IMDB and Letterboxd, neither of the brilliant actors who played Heathcliff (both as a child and as a man) have had credited parts in any other projects since! How that's possible when they were carrying the movie is beyond me, and it's an utter shame. I don't know if there's anything else quite like this awaiting me in my further endeavors.
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