15 years or over

There are few sure things in this world, but John Mullan's weekly reference to the Brontës is one you can count on. The writer reviews Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier in The Guardian:

But Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is probably the most vividly hungry novel of the century. This is not just because the heroine is half-starved at ghastly Lowood School, but because the narrator's desire for nourishment goes into her heart. When she receives that unforgettably fragrant tea and toast from Miss Temple, the progressive teacher, it is as if her very spirit is being restored.

Financial Times reviews the latest book by Harold Bloom, The Shadow of a Great Rock: A Literary Appreciation of the King James Bible:

Modern languages are vanishing, Latin is off the map, but the single most lamentable difference I notice between my education in the 1970s and my children’s today is the disappearance from the classroom of the King James Bible, replaced by recent translations. I grew up in an atheist immigrant household, cultured but lacking familiarity with the English classics. At school, the first great literature I heard – crucially, it was read aloud, for all to know – was the KJB. It not only opened a door to the workings of language at its richest, most mysterious and eloquent; it echoed with and later made understandable four centuries of literary creation, from Milton to Charlotte Brontë to Ruskin to Jeanette Winterson. (Jackie Wullschlager)

Some Jane Eyre 2011 reviews:
The Swinging Bride:

Of the Gothic persuasion, this romance appeals to both the lovesick and those fond of a good mystery. For the best appraisal of any movie of this kind, look to those who have read the book for their take on the movie's events. How much was the plot changed? Were the characters kept in character? Did the places and events, perhaps out of order, occur as portrayed?
And for those who haven't read the book, perhaps this screening will encourage you to pick it up and take a look, comparing print to visual. (Nikki Rita)

Alexa Basing in Associated Content:

What makes this film the best so far is not just the stellar performances from the two leads but how faithfully it adheres to the author's telling. The imagery and haunting music merge well to give a really authentic feel of Victorian times. The chemistry between the two leads is also very satisfying.

Cinema Blend thinks that the film and Mia Wasikowska have some chances (but not many) of being nominated for the Oscars. L'Express (France) traces a profile of the actress and mentions her role as Jane Eyre. Nöje (Sweden), Doppio Schermo (Italy), Ведомости (Russia) and Izvestia (Russia) review the film. Svenska Dagbladet (Sweden) defends the feminism in Jane Eyre. Paperblog (Italy) has a giveway with copies of the novel and special screenings (another post with a list of previous adaptations here). Several Italian websites talk about the movie (which will be premiered in Italy in the coming weeks): Corriere Informazione, Il Tempo, ANSA, Nuova Societa', Best Movie.

And Wuthering Heights 2011:
Grantland:

Andrea Arnold’s cinematic interpretation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel seems pretty Malick-y, with shots of stoic faces, intruding sound effects, and whispering voiceover. Seems like perfect art-house fodder. (Daniel Silver)

Otros Cines (Argentina):

Sin ninguna pompa y al margen del cine de qualité, Arnold aborda las tensiones sentimentales y de clase de la obra de Brönte (sic) con una voluntad claramente naturalista, renegando del trípode y la música para centrarse en la dimensión física del relato, autentificada por la magnífica labor de un plantel de actores no profesionales (una constante del cine de Arnold). Las miradas fulgurantes, las caricias furtivas y los imponentes paisajes naturales forman el núcleo de un film que reduce los diálogos a la mínima expresión. De hecho, estoy convencido de que Wuthering Heights fascinaría tanto a la francesa Claire Denis como al norteamericano Terrence Malick —aquí vale la pena aludir al eficaz uso que hace Arnold de la vegetación y la fauna, que como en Días de gloria ayudan a hilvanar la odisea sentimental de los protagonistas—. (Manuel Yáñez Murillo) (Translation)

Svoboda News (Russia):

Андрей Плахов: Мне очень понравился  ''Грозовой перевал''  –   экранизация романа Эмилии  Бронте, но очень нетрадиционная, и  много интересного в этом фильме с режиссерской и кинематографической  точки зрения.  (Translation)

The British Board of Film Classification gives a Suitable only for 15 years or over classification for the film:

Release date: 11/11/2011
Running time: 128m 46s
Consumer Advice: Contains strong language, once very strong, racist terms & animal killing.

Is Wuthering Heights 2011 a film about immigrants? Mymovies.it thinks it is:

Gli aspetti narrativi, l'esempio, naturalmente sono complessi e offrono uno spettro molto largo e delle prospettive altrettanto larghe. Cito un altro  titolo "veneziano" che vale in queste chiavi: Wuthering Heights (Cime tempestose), dal romanzo della Brontë. Il protagonista è Heathcliff, un trovatello, un estraneo, quasi un selvaggio, non è capito ed è emarginato da quella comunità inglese. A dare corpo e volto a quel personaggio era stato nientemeno che Laurence Olivier e poi Timothy Dalton. Nel film presentato a Venezia, diretto da Andrea Arnold è un nero. Se vogliamo è un migrante, seppure con le virgolette. La differenza, il salto in avanti, offrono la possibilità di una maggiore intensità nel contrasto fra i rapporti. È un artificio che il cinema mette in campo e che può starci, anche perché il cinema non va tanto per il sottile nelle metafore. Può certo permetterselo. L'unica ostruzione da affrontare sarebbe la reazione dei puristi, ai quali non devi toccare la maestà del testo letterario, che diventa sacralità se si tratta di un titolo mitologico come "Wuthering Heights". (Pino Farinotti) (Translation)

The New York Times reports that some of the co-ops at the Villa Charlotte Brontë  in New York are still under the Irene evacuation order:

It is like something out of one of its namesake’s novels. The classic dark and stormy night. A cliffside collapse leading to a dramatic post-midnight evacuation and now, almost a month later, poetic types wandering homeless. And the setting is appropriately literary: The Villa Charlotte Bronte, an elaborate, eccentric sand castle of co-op apartments perched majestically on a cliff 150 feet above the Hudson and Harlem Rivers in historic Spuyten Duyvil, in the extreme southwestern corner of the Bronx. (Robin Finn)

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel presents American Boy by Larry Watson:

Matt Garth, the 17-year-old narrator of "American Boy," has attached himself to his friend Johnny Dunbar's family, including Dr. Dunbar, the most powerful man in town. Matt's more than willing to face the world with his fists up, but he's insightful and literate, too, comparing himself to the wild man of "Wuthering Heights":
"I identified with Heathcliff, not only because his brooding, headstrong character reminded me of my own, but also because I, too, had been welcomed into a prosperous, loving family." (Jim Higgins)

Sarah Vine reviews the most awaited The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides in The Times:

The starting point of Eugenides’ book, alluded to by the title (a reference to the central themes of Austen, Eliot, Brontë), is the novel. In particular, the way in which literature teaches you both everything, and nothing, about life.

The writer Liu Hong says to Marlborough People:

She started learning English when her "classmates missed school". A "friend of her Dad's", a distinguished Auto Engineer who was punished for being an intellectual by being required to sweep a factory floor, taught her English. They had a "fun time" together learning stories and songs. Earlier in his life he had travelled to America and brought back a Snow White picture book which he gave to Liu Hong. She said, "I loved it" because at the time "Chinese books were made of thin brown paper...ugly". These English books had proper colour, "the red was really red" and English was sensual, luxurious. Her teacher was obviously well educated and intelligent as well. "Why did I write in English? I majored in English in University, I read Wuthering Heights and the Bronte Sisters."  (kaylacey)

Ideal (Spain) compares the public health cuts with the nineteenth century novels:

Es habitual en los folletines que algún personaje padezca una enfermedad incurable. Incluso en los melodramas escritos por grandes autores, como Charlotte Brontë o Galdós, suele haber un ciego o un sordo. (Pablo De la Cruz) (Translation)

La Voz del Interior (Argentina) has another interview with Minae Mizumura, author of Honkaku shosetsu (A Real Novel):

Una novela real es una versión de Cumbres borrascosas, el clásico de Emily Brönte (sic), en el Japón de la posguerra: la historia de un amor prohibido y la historia de Japón en los últimos 50 años intercambian sus funciones de marco y asunto en una serie de operaciones textuales a un mismo tiempo sentimentales e intelectuales. (...)
"Esta novela nació cuando esa historia se cruzó con mi lectura en inglés de Cumbres Borrascosas. Quedé impactada por la genialidad de Emily Brontë​. Y me dije a mí misma: esto nunca podría haber sido escrito en japonés, porque es tan... Nosotros nunca tuvimos eso, esa clase de muy profunda de compromiso emocional..." (Emanuel Rodríguez) (Translation)

NRC (Netherlands) and Knack (Belgium) announce the Dutch release of Jane Eyre and about the upcoming Jolien Janzing's novel about the Brontës in Brussels:

Over de zusjes Brontë zelf is er eigenlijk weinig verschenen. ‘Hun eigen leven is eigenlijk het mooiste verhaal’, vertelt Vlaams-Nederlandse journaliste Jolien Janzing. Zij is bezig aan een roman over het leven van Charlotte en Emily. Zo bezocht zij Haworth, het handelsstadje waar de zussen opgroeiden. Haar boek zal zich focussen op de periode waarin de zusjes in Brussel studeerden. Daar werd Charlotte hopeloos verliefd op de befaamde Monsieur Heger. (Esmeralda Van Den Bosch) (Translation)

Once again the names of Laura Marling and the Brontës are mentioned together. In Die Welt (Germany):

Die Schriften der Brontë-Schwestern und von Jane Austen, und die Platten aus den späten Sechzigern, als sich die Briten ihrer Volkslieder entsannen und sie in die Popmusik einspeisten. (Michael Pilz) (Translation)

Taz (Germany) talks about the band Crazy Bitch in a Cave. The origin of the name seems to be Gilbert and Grubar's Madowman in the Attic:

Die Drastik des Künstlernamens lässt an einen Klassiker der feministischen Literaturtheorie denken: In ihrem einflussreichen Werk "The Madwoman in the Attic" aus dem Jahr 1979 lasen Sandra Gilbert und Susan Gubar, die aufgrund ihrer vermeintlichen Verrücktheit auf dem Dachboden weggesperrte karibische Ehefrau des späteren Ehemanns der Romanfigur Jane Eyre als Symbol für das "monströse" Weibliche, das in einer patriarchalen Gesellschaft als bedrohliche Kehrseite des sanften Engels konstruiert worden sei. (Sonja Eismann) (Translation)

The Irish Times reports the death of Ireland’s oldest citizen who was also a Brontëite; another Brontëite, a sophomore in Viewmont (The Danegeld); Filmplicity and Boolean Flix review Jane Eyre 2011; Now Now... I'm Reading posts about Wuthering Heights 2009; Paperblog (Italy) has a post about Catherine Earnshaw and... white; Black Swan's Pond posts a nice series of pictures of Haworth's graveyard.

Finally 360Cities has updated the interactive panoramic photo of Anne Brontë's grave in Scarborough, now featuring the informative slate plaque commissioned by the Brontë Society.

Categories: Anne Brontë, Brontëites, Jane Eyre, Movies-DVD-TV, Wuthering Heights