Does a classic text need a historical setting?

An article from the Guardian featuring Bernard Rose poses an interesting question:

There's a fundamental film-making point here: if a classic text is still relevant, surely it doesn't need a historical setting? It's a question worth asking when literary period movies are being churned out: we've recently been inundated with Dickens, Austen and Brontë, not to mention another Anna Karenina. Rose hasn't seen Joe Wright's recent version. "But if I was going to do Anna Karenina now, I would make her a Beverly Hills housewife, and have her throw herself under an SUV in the valet parking lot." (Steve Rose)

At any rate Shockya picks the latest screen adaptation of Wuthering Heights as one of the 25 best films of 2012.

Now what I love about Andrea Arnold’s “Wuthering Heights” is not just its subject matter but also its presentation. We have certain ideas of what a literary costume drama should be but what Arnold does is strips those elements away to show it at its bare bones. There is no artifice with “Wuthering Heights,” there’s brutal honesty in devotion and passion. A passion so deep that it’s never talked about or acted upon. The idea of the two would-be lovers – Heathcliff and Cathy – never giving in to their love and desire for one another is so heartbreaking and painful that it’s almost palpable as it translates to the audience watching the film. This film is so raw, gritty, and crude, but, somehow, also well mannered and deliberate. It’s almost incomprehensible how these two ideas come together so well but I guess that’s just the lyrical beauty of Andrea Arnold’s “Wuthering Heights.” (Rudie Obias)

The Daily Mail reviews the WW2 diary of May Smith, published by Virago as These Wonderful Rumours!, and mentions the classic adaptation of the same novel.

May’s own outlook on life is, for the most part, irrepressibly upbeat. Keep Calm And Carry On might almost have been coined with her in mind.
She is a regular cinema-goer, and lists every film she sees: Goodbye  Mr Chips, Fantasia, Pride And Prejudice and Wuthering Heights with  Laurence Olivier, which ‘made me feel all romantic’. (Craig Brown)

Oh, what a surprise: according to HitFix's The Fien Print Gossip Girl is no Wuthering Heights:

[Earlier in the episode, Blair got uppity with Serena about all of the bad things Dan had done to her and Serena responded that Chuck had done worse to her. Blair responded, "He's one of us," perhaps the most disgusting allowance for deviant criminal behavior that the show has ever attempted. Because Chuck was from the same social circle, we excuse violence, attempted rape and that thing where he sold Blair? Well... OK! If this were a 1800s Gothic romance, that might fly, but Chuck Bass is no Heathcliff, whether we're talking about the brooding anti-hero or the chunky cat who just won't be undone.] (Daniel Fienberg)

And here's another true statement made by Michael Schaub on NPR:

Novelists can create unique and unforgettable characters — there's never been anyone quite like Jane Eyre or Ignatius J. Reilly — [...]

The Telegraph reviews The Beautiful Child by Emma Tennant, who can't quite leave the Brontës out of her novels.

A guest at the Media Mansion has written a paper on Charlotte Brontë and spiritualism entitled “Jane! Jane! Jane!”  (Frances Wilson)

The Keighley News features Ann Sumner, who will take up her post as director of the Brontë Parsonage in February.

“As a lifelong Brontë enthusiast, I could not be starting at a better time, with refurbishment of the Parsonage Museum coming up in early 2013 and planning for the bicentenary celebrations of Charlotte Bronte’s birth in 2016,” she said.
“I feel honoured and excited to be taking up my new role and returning to work in the beautiful county of West Yorkshire. I’m hugely looking forward to the challenges ahead.”
Brontë Society president, Bonnie Greer, said the appointment would be a huge boost.
She added: “The wealth of Ann’s curatorial experience is a great resource for us to draw upon, and her national high standing as an art historian and museums director will certainly boost our profile, both within the UK and internationally.”

Hopefully Ann Sumner will see the return of Charlotte Brontë's parasol to the Parsonage as well, a story told by Susan Calder. See ongi elu (in Estonian) posts about the Estonian stage musical adaptation of Jane Eyre. Book Blogging Bliss and Terribly Sorry write about Wuthering Heights while Catellina posts in Romanian about the 2009 adaptation. Raphaeloo has visited Haworth and shares some lovely pictures of Haworth in Christmas time.