Adaptation, inspiration, recommendation

The Philadelphia City Paper gives a C+ to Wuthering Heights 2011:

Director Andrea Arnold’s take on the sole novel published by Emily Brontë relies so much on style that it fails to do justice to the story's tragic love affair. This is most noticeable during the closing scenes, where the stunted and sloppy acting detracts from the cinematography — the one aspect of the film that actually manages to hit all the right marks.
Arnold is able to create an inspired, palpable atmosphere, thanks in part to her decision to forego the use of music throughout. Instead of drowning out her gorgeous handheld shots of the foggy moors with melody, you hear wind whipping through a horse’s mane, dogs barking and insects crawling through mud puddles. The raw and dreamlike quality created through this cacophony of ambient sound is quelled, however, by “The Enemy,” an original (and all-too-modern) tune by Mumford & Sons that works fine on its own but comes as an unwelcome surprise here. This is only one of the many small mistakes that contribute to Arnold’s unsuccessful attempt to lend this story fresh perspective. (Catherine Haas)

While the Philadelphia Weekly didn't like the film at all:

The turn-of-the-19th-century Yorkshire moors were not the ardent glens of most Wuthering Heights adaptations. A more accurate depiction—say, the one in Andrea Arnold’s self-consciously miserablist take—would turn the stomachs of Masterpiece Theatre partisans, with its gloomy greens, persistent rainfall, relentless wind, indecipherable working class accents and passion that never segues into the swoonily romantic. Although at one point to star Michael Fassbender and Natalie Portman, the casting of nobodies—namely James Dowson and Kaya Scodelario as Heathcliff and Catherine—is in keeping with Arnold’s realistic bent, which is to recreate the classic lit costume drama as it (allegedly) really would have been had it really happened.
And she almost gets away with it, too. There is much to admire in Arnold’s genre twist; I’ve neglected to mention the smudgy cinematography and the recasting of Heathcliff as a black immigrant, which is a maybe. (Brontë imagined him as a gypsy. Both would have faced persecution.) The story is still there, but there are few show-offy, tony set pieces: just a collection of brief scenes, with Arnold reimagining the novel as though she was rewriting it with her camera. [...]
Brontë’s prose filled in the gaps littered about Arnold’s Wuthering Heights like landmines. Soon a film that for a while seemed a refreshing rejoinder to generations of glazed-over adaptations becomes a different kind of problem. (Matt Prigge)

The Tucson Weekly announces that Wuthering Heights 2011 will be screened as part of the Loft Film Fest (on November 11 at 12 pm, according to the festival's website).

In total, the festival will feature more than 40 films, including award-winning foreign films, dramas such as the new adaption of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, comedies, horror, sci-fi, shorts from UA filmmakers, a wide range of documentaries and more. (Jim Nintzel)

While the Derry Journal reports that Andrea Arnold will attend the Foyle Film Festival (21-25 November  in Derry~Londonderry):

Renowned writer / director Andrea Arnold (Red Road, Fish Tank) will also be attending the festival to introduce her recent adaptation of the classic gothic tale Wuthering Heights.

LiterNet (Romania) comments on this latest adaptation in passing while Knack Focus (Belgium) comments on how in the UK hardly a year goes by without a new adaptation of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë or Charles Dickens. The Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger (Germany) reveals that Walter Matheisen, director of the Public Library in Rösrath, enjoyed Cary Fukunaga's take on Jane Eyre. Télérama (France) interviews film director Alice Winocour, who admits again to some Brontë inspiration behind her film Augustine.

Ce premier film est-il celui dont vous rêviez ?Il y avait quelque chose d’un peu inconscient à vouloir faire un film d’époque pour un premier film. Je ne voulais pas faire un film de reconstitution historique « poussiéreux » en costumes, mais plutôt créer un monde imaginaire, clos et mystérieux. Pour cela je me suis inspirée du romantisme noir de la littérature gothique fantastique de la fin du XIXe siècle, comme les sœurs Brontë. Ces livres étaient écrits par des jeunes filles qui fantasmaient des univers troubles qu’elles n’avaient pas forcément connus et je me reconnaissais dans cette démarche. (Laurent Rigoulet) (Translation)

The Australian discusses the cost and convenience of research grants reporting that,

A study of Charlotte Brontë and the Romantic imagination cost $70,000 and one on the early history of the moon cost $210,000. (Patricia Karvelas and Nicolas Perpitch)

The Yorker reports a cultural exchange:

This year, I’ve found myself constantly having arguments with housemates over the reasons they like certain aspects of ‘culture.’ ‘Oh, you must read Jane Eyre, it’s just fantastic,’ they say. ‘Oh, the Pompidou Centre is the most wonderful place on earth, it fills my heart with sunshine and rainbows,’ (I might have exaggerated their exact quote).
To give them credit, these are great things, however, as soon as I suggest they come to my room and listen to the latest Taylor track, I just get eye rolling and disapproving moans. (Alex Watkins)

The Brontë Weather Project is coming to an end. Orlee's and BookinetteGirl (in French) both post about Jane Eyre. Heather's Book Chatter reviews Tina Connolly's Ironskin.