Buried Alive in Flashbacks

More British media are publishing news items related to the upcoming airing of Wuthering Heights 2009 (reliable sources have told BrontëBlog that ITV will finally air this production next September). The Daily Express tries hard to open the this-is-a-controversial-adaptation front - which is always a good way to promote a series - and announces an airing for next month (but it also says that the series aired in the US in June, when it was actually broadcast in January):

The adaptation, due to air on British screens next month, looks set to enrage literary purists with its “modern” raunchy interpretation.
CONTROVERSY is gathering apace around a new “sexed up” ITV1 version of Emily Bronte classic Wuthering Heights.
In scenes not featured in the original novel, Charlotte Riley, who plays heroine Cathy, is shown romping passionately with lover Heathcliff, played by Tom Hardy. In another, Heathcliff is seen digging up Cathy’s grave and climbing in her coffin beside her skeleton.
The racy two-parter, which premiered in the US last month, prompted viewers across the pond to demand “less sex, more story” and suggest it should have been described not as “from the novel” but as being “based on the characters of Wuthering Heights”.
Defending the dramatic reworking, screenwriter Peter Bowker said: “Because of the Andrew Davies tradition of sexing things up I think people are thinking I’ve sexed it up for a modern audience but that wasn’t in my mind. It was what happened to them and what they might have had.”

Both The Sun and The Daily Mail are fascinated by the Charlotte Riley's character being buried alive:

PRETTY Charlotte Riley had to face her fears when she was buried alive for a scene in a new version of Wuthering Heights.
Charlotte, 27, who plays Cathy in the ITV1 drama, said she was underground for five minutes before actor Tom Hardy (Heathcliff) dug her out.
She said: "It got darker and darker. I suffer from claustrophobia - so it wasn't enjoyable."
Rising star Charlotte Riley has revealed how she took suffering for her art to extreme levels in her role as Cathy in ITV's new version of Wuthering Heights.
For the 27-year-old actress agreed to be buried alive - despite being claustrophobic. Charlotte appeared in a coffin for a scene in which her dead character is dug up by lover Heathcliff, played by Tom Hardy.
'I had to lie in the coffin while planks of wood were laid on top of me and then soil was added,' says Charlotte. 'It got darker and darker. I had to close my eyes to avoid getting dirt in them. I suffer from claustrophobia, so it wasn't enjoyable.'
Still, she thinks there could be an upside, adding: 'I could be good on I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! in the future.'

The Advocate (Louisiana) has an alert for tomorrow, July 14 in Zachary LA,

TEEN BOOK CLUB: 3 p.m. Tuesday, Zachary Branch Library, 1900 Church St. Join the Teen Book Club at the Zachary Branch. July’s selection is “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte. Registration is required. (225) 658-1870.

411Mania illustrates the problems of using the Wikipedia as the only source of information. Talking about the history of flashbacks in cinema, it says:

Who came up with the flashback sequence? You know, the wavy lines, happier music, etc? Any idea where that originated? (Jake G)
A: A flashback is a narrative device that interrupts the present flow of a story by showing a previous incident usually for the purpose of fleshing out a character back story or the events of the present.
Flashbacks are an ages old literary device and probably one of the early uses of it in films is the adaptation of the book Wuthering Heights in 1939. As in the book, housekeeper Ellen narrates the main story to guest Mr. Lockwood to explain why Heathcliff is in such a frantic state. (Leonard Hayhurst)

The flashbacks have been used since the days of Ferdinand Zecca (Histoire d'un crime, 1901). Notably, Josef von Sternberg used this technique brilliantly in The Devil is a Woman (1935). Four years before Wuthering Heights 1939.

The Great Unmade Robert Aldrich Romantic Comedy briefly reviews the Lux Radio Theatre broadcast of Jane Eyre in June 5, 1944 (with Orson Welles and Loretta Young) and Mulheres que Pecam devotes a post to Catherine Earnshaw (in Portuguese).

Categories: Alert, Audio-Radio, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Wuthering Heights