Los Angeles Times reports that the Wise Children production of Wuthering Heights in Los Angeles has been cancelled due to the extreme weather conditions in L.A.:
The entrance to the Goldsmith Theater at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is typically filled with patrons grabbing show programs on their way to their seats. But on Tuesday, following almost a week of torrential rain in Southern California, the front lobby was drenched and filled with restoration crew members. The orchestra section was soaked and towels were tucked under door frames as staff navigated the venue with caution to avoid a slip and fall. Meanwhile, the production of “Wuthering Heights” persisted with a tech rehearsal on stage.Two days later, the Wallis announced that Emma Rice’s adaptation of the Emily Brontë classic was canceled. The show was initially scheduled to open Wednesday and run until Jan. 22. It was first postponed by a day then halted altogether. (Steven Vargas)
ABC News (Australia) reviews Emily:
If Emily's coupling with the young curate is not entirely convincing as star-crossed, that is — I think — by design: Weightman, himself a figure drawn from real life, though his affections are thought to have been for Anne, here becomes a model for Wuthering Heights' Edgar Linton, the genteel, temperate man Cathy chooses to marry, much to Heathcliff's horror.Brother Branwell in turn provides a partial template for the wild and incurably wilful Heathcliff. It is with Branwell that Emily roves the moors and dares, on occasion, to experiment with intoxicants; it is he who enjoins her to ignore convention in favour of pursuing her heart's desires. "Freedom in thought!" the siblings bellow together into the wind, blissfully unaware of the concept of cringe.Freedom in thought was something that the Brontë siblings always had a great deal of. As children, they invented epic narratives set in fictional kingdoms, acting them out with the assistance of toy soldiers and composing them in miniature books. Emily in particular would continue to nourish fantasies of Gondal, the island she created with Anne, throughout her life. (Keva York)
The AU Review interviews the cast and director of the film:
Peter Gray: Were you familiar with the works of the Brontë sisters? Was it literature you grew up with?Alexandra Dowling: Yeah, I actually did “Jane Eyre” as a school play, when I was about 14 or 15. I played Jane, and that was one of Charlotte Brontë’s novels (who I play), so when I got the script knowing I could read for Charlotte Brontë…it was a huge deal for me. I already felt very connected to her through the character of Jane, even though it was from when I was a teenager, but that stuff does impact you. It’s kind of full circle. I think this speaks to a lot of young girls (too). (...)P.G.: You wrote and directed this film. What was it about not just Emily, but the Brontë sisters that made you want to tell this story?Frances O’Connor: Out of the Brontë sisters, Emily has always been the one that’s been the most hidden. I think she was quite a private person, and yet her book has gotten so much creative energy and passion in it. I think the juxtaposition of those two things is really interesting. That was my starting point, and I was doing all the research I started to think about this woman who was kind of struggling to accept who she was, and then she comes into her own sense of authenticity and power. I thought that would be a great story for the women of now. (...)P.G.: Was Emily Brontë someone you read growing up? We all that one book we had to read at school, right?Emma Mackey: Oh, it was “Wuthering Heights”, absolutely. This book means so much to people, and it’s something that so many people have questions about and are still trying to figure out. It’s a slap in the face of a book, and I read it when I was much too young. It felt easier then than it does now though. I feel like I read it in a much more analytical way later in life, which isn’t the best way to read it. You just need to let it happen to you. Very much like this film. You can’t really put a pin (on the film). Is it a biopic? Is it historically accurate? It doesn’t matter. There are no rules. People keep trying to make you think there are rules in cinema. It’s not true. And I’m realising that more and more, and it’s really great to feel that. You’re allowed to be more open and run wild with your imagination.
Some Spanish reviews (not all of them positive) and mentions of the Frances O'Connor film:
Emily es una historia emocionante y conmovedora sobre la vida de la famosa escritora británica Emily Brontë. Comienza cuando la autora, al borde de la muerte, le cuenta a su hermana mayor Charlotte lo que la inspiró para crear Cumbres borrascosas. Esto da lugar a un repaso de su vida en el que la cineasta deja volar la imaginación para hacer un homenaje a la novelista. (Noticiero Madrid) (Translation)
De hecho su ritmo impreciso, a veces aletargado, invita al aburrimiento, a pesar de conseguir secuencias estéticamente muy hermosas, especialmente las que se desarrollan bajo la lluvia, redentora y condenatoria a la vez, a la que la protagonista parece encadenada desde las primeras palabras pronunciadas por su amante, del que se revela tan dependiente y sumisa como lo era cualquier mujer de la época. Intento fallido por lo tanto de plasmar el espíritu y el talento de una escritora excepcional, autora solo de un libro inmortal, que por cierto firmó con seudónimo masculino para potenciar su éxito, un detalle que esta cinta pasa por alto. Sus hermanas fueron más prolíficas, pero cuanto más escribieron menos éxito obtuvieron (Charlotte creó Jane Eyre, por si quedaba alguien sin saberlo). Como en Predilección [aka Devotion], es la música lo que más destaca en última instancia en la película, en esta ocasión obra de Abel Korzeniowski (Un hombre soltero), que se implica también en la empresa como uno de sus productores. (Utrera Digital) (Translation)
Also in MadridPress, El Correo Gallego, Eroica Fenice (Italy), Sinembargo (México)...
Wycoller in Lancashire Live:
The stately home was the inspiration for for Ferndean Manor in Charlotte Brontë’s novel, Jane Eyre. Incidentally, the ruins are also rumoured to be haunted by a horseman and former squire of the hall, Simon Cunliffe. (Denise Evans)
YourTango lists the best music videos of all time:
31. “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush (1978)Kate Bush made two music videos for her famous track, but it’s the UK version that we have to top our hats off to. Considering MTV hadn’t yet been invented, official music videos were a relatively new concept and Bush was quick to get on board.She choreographed this video herself and filmed it in a dark room filled with a white mist to pay homage to the ghost of Cathy from the Emily Brontë novel "Wuthering Heights." (Alice Kelly)
The Cinemaholic talks about the filming locations of the series The Way Home:
Other filming location includes Scarborough, which is a district in the east of the city known for being Anne Brontë’s resting abode and the home to The Grand Hotel, an opulent place with stunning Victorian architecture. (Sonika Kamble)
SensaCine (Spain) recommends Wuthering Heights 1939:
Y se nota en el resultado final, con ambos actores haciendo un trabajo asombroso para dar toda la vida y los matices necesarios a Heathcliff y Cathy. Wyler crea también una ambientación perfecta para hacer una película de épica clásica y de romance dramático cautivador. Incluso aunque su final cambiado choca con el espíritu buscado en la novela, sigue siendo una película fabulosa muchas décadas después. (Pedro Gallego) (Translation)
El Correo Gallego (Spain) and literary places like Lisbon (and others):
Pero no es necesario que se trate de una gran ciudad: aquí en Galicia tenemos lugares literarios más íntimos como Rianxo o Mondoñedo y pensemos en los viajeros de todo el mundo que se sumergen en los páramos de Yorkshire en busca de la casa y los paisajes de las hermanas Brontë. (Alberto Berriochoa) (Translation)
Vijesti (Montenegro) interviews the author Svetlana Slapšak:
Vujica Ognjenović: Vaš prvi roman “Ravnozteža”, regionalni bestseler ovjenčan Vitalovom nagradom za 2016. godinu, govori o ženama u Beogradu tokom rata u bivšoj Jugoslaviji. O toj knjizi Dragan Velikić je rekao: “Tri romana u jednoj knjizi, to je Ravnozteža Svetlane Slapšak”. Kako to komentarišete?S.S.: (...) Dva druga “romana” prate tu radnju - parodija djela Dobrice Ćosića i roman u stilu sve tri sestre Brontë, kao terapijski imaginarij glavne junakinje. Prirodno, roman nije mogao biti objavljen cijelih dvadeset godina... Između pisanja dva moja romana zapravo je samo deset godina, kasno objavljivanje drugog označio je nacionalizam - tačnije kukavičluk kulturne sredine! (Translation)
HRT (Croatia) recommends Jane Eyre 2011 to be broadcast on HTV1 tonight. Music Musings and So celebrates the 45th anniversary of Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights. Maple Brown Sugar reviews The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins.
