Filming the Brontës and Adapting Wuthering Heights

An alert from the Brontë Parsonage Museum that nicely connects with another one in New York:

Parsonage Unwrapped: Filming the BrontësBrontë Parsonage Museum
Friday, February 24, 2017 7:30 PM

Delve into our drama archives with Principal Curator Ann Dinsdale for a fascinating insight into the varied adaptations of the Brontë novels and the siblings' unique story. Ann worked closely with the production team of the latest adaptation of the Brontë story, Sally Wainwright's To Walk Invisible, and will share some 'behind-the-scenes' secrets.

And at the Lincoln Center in New York, a series of screenings of adaptations of Wuthering Heights:

Film Society Lincoln Center
Series - February 24-27, 2017
Heathcliff, It’s Me: Adapting Wuthering Heights

In the 170 years since its publication, Emily Brontë’s only novel, Wuthering Heights, has been one of the most frequently adapted works of literature, fascinating, inspiring, and provoking some of cinema’s greatest directors to try to render its dark, romantic, politically charged majesty. Its timeless story—the impossible love of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, and the far-reaching scars it leaves on their families—has been transposed to various historical periods and countries, has had the races and genders of its characters changed to striking effect, and has been incarnated through a diverse assortment of visual aesthetics and performance styles. Which is the definitive adaptation? Wyler’s classical Hollywood rendition? Buñuel’s surrealist reimagining? Rivette’s materialist ghost story? Yoshida’s stark expressionist take? Arnold’s kitchen-sink realist interpretation? Decide for yourself by joining the Film Society in revisiting five of the greatest attempts to put Wuthering Heights on the screen.
Organized by Dan Sullivan.
Special thanks to Institut Français and Cultural Services of the French Embassy, NY.
Schedule
Wuthering Heights (1939)
William Wyler  1939 USA 35mm 103 minutes
Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon are ideally cast as the immortal lovers in William Wyler’s prestige production, considered by many the definitive screen version of Emily Brontë’s novel.
Showtimes
February 26, 6:00 PM ; February 27, 6:30 PM

Wuthering Heights (1953)
Luis Buñuel  1953 Mexico 35mm 91 minutes

Luis Buñuel’s typically gonzo take on Wuthering Heights relocates the story to 19th-century Mexico, where inflamed passions, psychosexual sadism, and necrophilia run wild to a throbbing Wagner score.
Showtimes
February 24, 9:30 PM ; February 26, 8:15 PM

Wuthering Heights (1985)
Jacques Rivette  1985 France 35mm 130 minutes

Jacques Rivette’s radical reinterpretation transforms this tale of white-hot love and fury into a coolly stylized, almost ritualistic chamber drama, foregoing blazing passion in favor of a mannered, Gallic moodiness.
Showtimes
February 24 7:00 PM

Wuthering Heights (1988)
Yoshishige Yoshida  1988 Japan 35mm 144 minutes

Expressionistic landscapes, spurting blood, and demonic spirits: Brontë’s Gothic romance is transposed to feudal Japan for a powerfully stark, elemental take on the story.
Showtimes
February 25 6:00 PM

Wuthering Heights (2011)
Andrea Arnold  2011 UK 129 minutes

The classic novel gets a strong shot of kitchen sink–style realism in Andrea Arnold’s refreshingly gritty, richly sensorial adaptation, which strips away all sentimentality to reveal the story’s wild, almost pagan heart.
Showtimes
February 25, 9:00 PM ; February 27, 8:45 PM