This is probably the best film adaptation of Wuthering Heights to date (22 years later). Great photography, not too many words, and tons of emotion. Reviewing a subsequent production, Roger Ebert said something like "Wuthering Heights is every woman's favorite." In this version you don't necessarily see Catherie and Heathcliffe's relationship as a healthy one - at least I didn't. I didn't yearn to see them together. Maybe that's a failure on the part of casting, but although the acting was fine, I did not find their chemistry to be romantic. In this version, the sad failing of each character is at the fore and Heathcliffe's revenge feels eternal. Sure he was abused, but he has not turned out to be a good guy, to the point where someone should make a film describing how Heathcliffe came into his fortune while offscreen.
So why is this the best version? It has the right balance of grit, weather, nature, passion, and human pain. The photography is great and the production values make it on a level with the best current Masterpiece Theatre stuff, even 20 years later. Granted it's painful to watch, and I can't call it completely entertaining. The nurse, Nelly, becomes a kind of touchstone character - the only one anybody is ever glad to see for most of the film, including Heathcliffe. They had to keep him offscreen and just show her face when he approaches her after returning to visit Thrushcross Grange a rich man. You only hear his voice which harbors a touch of delighted love say, "Nelly!" as her face changes from recognition to a kind of dismay.
So why is this the best version? It has the right balance of grit, weather, nature, passion, and human pain. The photography is great and the production values make it on a level with the best current Masterpiece Theatre stuff, even 20 years later. Granted it's painful to watch, and I can't call it completely entertaining. The nurse, Nelly, becomes a kind of touchstone character - the only one anybody is ever glad to see for most of the film, including Heathcliffe. They had to keep him offscreen and just show her face when he approaches her after returning to visit Thrushcross Grange a rich man. You only hear his voice which harbors a touch of delighted love say, "Nelly!" as her face changes from recognition to a kind of dismay.