France O'Connor's Emily trailer

First of all, we now have a trailer of Frances O'Connor's forthcoming film Emily and apart from sharing it Yahoo! Movies also shares '5 things we learned from Brontë biopic director Frances O'Connor'.

It's born of a lifelong love for Emily Brontë

O'Connor had been pondering the move to directing for many years, but a busy slate of acting jobs had always kept her away from delving into a potential script. She first conceived the idea for Emily a decade ago and thought the material was a "very natural fit" for her, given she had fallen in love with Wuthering Heights as a teenager.

"I really felt that when you read the book, you could also sense who she was behind the novel," said the filmmaker, adding that Brontë's introverted personality and social anxiety were things people knew little about. "I started reading a lot of different books about who she was and this narrative formed in my mind about a young woman trying to find out who she is, trying to find her place in the world and find her voice while being somebody who was an artist in the making."

Brontë stories have been fertile ground for adaptation over the years — Andrea Arnold took on Wuthering Heights as recently as 2011 — but the story of the writers themselves has not been told nearly as often. O'Connor believes that may be because people think they need to tell the story of all three sisters, rather than focusing on one.

She added: "I think it's interesting to just have a very sharp lens on one character and go through the narrative from her perspective, but also connect it to her work as well. That was something I was interested in doing — not doing a straight biopic, but doing something that's inspired by who she is and letting the narrative be what it wanted to be. [...]

It's a very different period drama

O'Connor said she's shedding period drama tropes with Emily and working in pursuit of a feeling of realism. "I don't do any crane shots and there's not too many top hats," she said. "Nobody is doing that kind of period drama acting and I encouraged them to just play it as real as you can and forget that you're in a period drama. Those clothes dictate how you walk."

She said there's a "super natural" approach to lighting in the movie, which aims to put the audience in the world as flies on the wall. O'Connor also pointed to Armando Iannucci's recent adaptation of David Copperfield as an example of a period drama which used a different approach and showed that younger people still want to see these stories.

"I was really interested in younger people coming to see [Emily] and, with Emma playing it, there's something they will really love," said O'Connor. (Tom Beasley)

Total Film interviews Frances O'Connor:

Total Film: What was it about Emily Brontë's story in particular that made you want to take the jump from acting to writing and directing?

Frances O'Connor: I've always wanted to write and direct something and I've always loved Emily as a character. I read [her] book, Wuthering Heights, and also Jane Eyre, Charlotte [Brontë]'s novel, when I was about 15 and just loved them. I think the thing I really loved is this kind of wildness in it – you really feel the author, I think, in the novel. The thing about Emily is that she died when she was 30. She was an intensely private person. And yet, she created this kind of gargantuan piece of literature that is full of fierce intelligence and humor and atmosphere, so she's a fascinating character. And yet no one's ever made a film about her and we don't know that much about her. So I wanted to tell a story, not a straight biography, but take elements of who she was as inspiration. And then [in] the novel Wuthering Heights, there are themes that I was interested in exploring too, like how do you find your voice as a young woman when you can't see anyone else around you like you?

As you said, there hasn't been a biopic or much made about her previously. Did you feel any pressure being the first in a way or treading new ground with that?

I think you have to take courage in your hands when you're telling a story about a real historical figure, but I was very clear in my mind that I didn't want to do a biopic. I really wanted to speak to the younger audience, because of the themes I'm exploring. And so I didn't really think of it as a period film and I didn't really think of it as a biopic. When you see the film, you understand why there are elements in it that have a supernatural vibe [or] atmosphere. But in terms of pressure, no, I didn't. I know there'll be some people that are pissed off about it, people like Brontë historians will probably say, 'Well, that didn't happen.' But I feel like everything in the film is connected to the truth about who she was as a person. 

What made Emma Mackey the perfect actor to play Emily?

Firstly, she also loves Emily Brontë, and she actually said in the past, 'I'd love to play Emily Brontë,' so she's qualified. She's super bright and she's a very passionate person but, at the same time, she's got this fierce intelligence to her the same way that Emily did and she knows who she is in a really strong way. It's just very compelling when you put that on screen. And I think because she wanted to play it in a way that was very personal to her, that's why she's so amazing in the film. [...]

What about Anne and Branwell, the other Brontë siblings? How did you approach those dynamics?

Anne in our film is played by Amelia Gething. She's also a huge talent just starting off. She really is the peacemaker, and Anne was also the peacemaker in the Brontë household, definitely. And Branwell, I've made him the only one who really understands [Emily] and the one who sees her for who she is, and accepts her, which helps her be who she's meant to be and helps her like herself, In truth, he was quite a tragic figure, he was the golden boy of the family. (Emily Garbutt)

Metro shares the trailer too.

Kate Bush as a pioneer of gender questioning in PopMatters:

Wuthering Heights debuted in 1987 when Bush was just 19 years old, reaching No. #1 in the UK charts. Based on Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, Bush fulfilled its legacy with a celeste, bass, organ, guitars, percussion, and rock opera flare. It is sung from (the other) Catherine’s point of view as Cathy: a ghost petitioning her lost but alive love Heathcliff to let her in through the window. “Ooh, it gets dark, it gets lonely … On the other side from you / I pine a lot, I find the lot/ Falls through without you.” The refrain’s “Wuthering” echos “withering”—and listeners also fade to spectral form. In the video, Bush’s dance in her red dress is ethereal but iconic, inspiring fans worldwide to don red and reenact the performance via flash mobs. (Katherine Factor)

More literary-bent singers as Entertainment Weekly features the novel This Bird Has Flown by The Bangles' singer Susanna Hoffs.

The ageless multi-hyphenate, 63, exclusively reveals the cover of her debut novel, This Bird Has Flown (due in April 2023) here, and discusses the inspiration for a book that her publisher, Little, Brown, describes as "for lovers of Daisy Jones & the Six, and inspired by favorites like Jane Eyre and Bridget Jones's Diary."

The Charlotte Observer quotes radio play-by-play man Anish Shroff saying: 

But then one day we're broadcasting a game in a backdrop of a snowstorm and I could say, 'It's like somebody ripped a page out of Emily Brontë'.

The Sun-Star (Philippines) wonders why Regency romances are so popular:

Works from authors like Austen and the Brontë sisters helped solidify the historical romance genre in the 1900s and are still being read today. They’ve gone on to inspire countless works, making their lasting mark on pop culture. (Candice Urot)

In the 1900s? 

EspectáculosBCN (Spain) publishes a list of the 'best of Victorian writers'. Charlotte and Emily are there, but not Anne:

Charlotte y Emily Brontë
De Jane Austen pasamos a sus competidoras más directas, las hermanas Brontë, las más aclamadas Charlotte y Emily. Parafraseando a Charlotte Brontë, no existieron en la tierra dos temperamentos y escrituras más distintas que la Austen y Charlotte. Jane Austen fue sátira y razón, y Charlotte Brontë fue sentimiento y pasión pura. Y si Charlotte y Jane son de mundos diferentes, Emily Brontë vino de otro universo.
Quiso la fatalidad que todas las muertes de la familia se vincularan a la enfermedad romántica por excelencia, la tisis. Charlotte, Emily, Ann (sic) y Branwell son los talentosos hermanos Brontë. Ann se destacó en poesía, y Branwell en pintura y escultura. Por su parte, Emily y Charlotte pasaron a la posteridad literaria por su trabajo como novelistas.
Las letras apasionadas de estas hermanas son inconfundibles. Jane Eyre de Charlotte tuvo mucho éxito de inmediato. Charlotte retrató a una antiheroína, carente de riqueza y belleza, pero con una inteligencia superior. Se considera una de las primeras novelas feministas con una crítica profunda a la sociedad conformista y cruel.
Emily, por su parte, escribió el clásico Cumbres borrascosas duramente vilipendiado en la época, considerándolo cínico y atrevido. La escritura de Emily se considera hoy como muestra representativa del romanticismo pasional y brusco de la literatura inglesa. (Aimara Villanueva) (Translation)

La Diaria (Uruguay) reviews the novel The Friend by Sigrid Nunez:

Junto con los gatos, los perros son los animales que más páginas ocupan en la literatura, tanto sea como eventual compañía en la solitaria tarea del escritor (el galgo Lux de Victor Hugo, el terranova Boatswain de Lord Byron, el mastín Keeper de Emily Brontë, el fox terrier Wessex de Thomas Hardy, (...) (Martín Betancor) (Translation)

Ziarul de Iasi (Romania) talks about Wide Sargasso Sea:

Meritul „intertextului” lui Jean Rhys este acela de a reconfigura un personaj schematic (în forma sa iniţială) şi de a-i conferi dimensiune psihologică. Fantoma lunatică „Bertha” devine, în acest roman postmodern, sensibila şi nevropata „Antoinette”, victima unui univers rigid şi extrem de neconcesiv cu inadaptaţii.
Un personaj mai curând secundar al celebrului roman englez, din veacul al XIX-lea, Jane Eyre (semnat de Charlotte Brontë), Bertha Mason pe numele său, a constiuit o provocare imensă pentru imaginarul ficţional şi non-ficţional al secolului XX. La sfârşitul anilor şaptezeci, două teoreticiene de primă mână, Sandra M. Gilbert şi Susan Gubar, se bucurau de un mare succes cu volumul The Madwoman in the Attic, unde creionau, estetic şi psihologic, identitatea feminină articulată într-un univers patriarhal, folosindu-se de metafora prozatoarei victoriene (a nebunei captive). În plus, cu aproape un deceniu şi jumătate mai înainte (în 1966), scriitoarea jamaicană (naturalizată în Marea Britanie), Jean Rhys, se afirmase pe scena literară europeană (după o publicarea mai multor cărţi fără audienţă) cu romanul Wide Sargasso Sea (ieşit pe piaţa editorială românească în excelenta traducere a regretaţilor anglişti clujeni Ecaterina Popa şi Ioan A. Popa, beneficiind totodată de o interesantă introducere critică a Ecaterinei Popa) - reconstrucţia parabolică a destinului aceleiaşi enigmatice Bertha Mason din Jane Eyre. De unde acest interes cultural enorm al modernităţii şi postmodernităţii pentru un personaj fantomatic din epicul britanic tradiţional?  (Codrin Liviu Cuțitaru) (Translation)

Gazete Duva R. (Turkey) and the madwomen in the attic: 

Charlotte Bronté’den Jane Austen’e kadın yazarlar, erkek dünyada kadın yazar olmanın her tür zorluğuyla baş etmeye çalışarak günümüze kadar okunan büyük eserler yaratmayı başardılar. Çoğu kez “kendilerine ait bir oda” gibi, yazarlığın gerektirdiği konsantrasyonun en temel aracına bile sahip değildi bu kadınlar. Hem kendi seslerini bulmak hem de günün eril anlatılarına belli ölçüde uyum sağlayan eserler ortaya koymak durumundaydılar. Bu çatışmalı motivasyondan ötürü eserlerindeki karakterler ve olay örgüleri, en uzlaşmacı göründükleri anlarda bile aslında sağlam bir feminist potansiyel taşır. (Zehra Çelenk) (Translation)

Vogue (Italy) reviews Room at the Sea by André Aciman:

Ambientato a New York, racconta il casuale incontro di due sessantenni, Paul e Catherine, entrambi sposati: complice una copia del libro Cime Tempestose, iniziano a chiacchierare, si conoscono meglio, entrano in una progressiva intimità fino a scoprire che si stanno inesorabilmente innamorando l'uno dell'altra. Cosa succederà alle loro vite? Aciman guida il racconto da moderno interprete del Romanticismo, e come fosse un nipote di Emily Brontë ci guida nelle sfumature di questo amore di mezz'età, sorprendente e vivificante. Perfetto da leggere sotto l'ombrellone. (Federico Chiara) (Translation)

De Volkskrant (Netherlands) lists the best books of 2022 so far including

Het lied van ooievaar en dromedaris (fictie)

Anjet Daanje

Anjet Daanje is een echte bèta en als haar moeder niet zou hebben gezegd dat ze gevoel had voor taal, was ze misschien nooit gaan schrijven – leve de moeders! Een paar jaar geleden brak ze door met De herinnerde soldaat, uitgekomen bij de kleine, in Groningen gevestigde uitgeverij Passage, nadat uitgever Thomas Rap haar had laten weten geen brood meer in haar werk te zien – leve Passage! Ze heeft een haat aan optredens (‘achteraf denk ik: wat heb ik voor stomme dingen gezegd?’) en ook dat maakt haar zo leuk. Leve Anjet Daanje! (Wilma de Rek) (Translation)

Hyperallergic mourns the death of artist Carole Caroompas.

In her tightly composed canvases, Caroompas incorporated a mix of high and low visual culture to explore gender roles and power dynamics. She drew from art history, novels such as Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights, movies, rock music, magazines, and advertisements to both reflect and subvert the way images construct identities and reinforce systems of dominance. (Matt Stromberg)

Filming the wind in Télérama (France):

Caresses, emportements romantiques (voir les multiples adaptations échevelées du bien nommé roman d'Emily Brontë, Les Hauts de Hurlevent), le vent s'impose de mille manières différentes. (Cécile Mury) (Translation)

Süddeutsche Zeitung features the forthcoming night of the books (August 13th) which will include the following:

Heiter und ein bisschen absurd wird es zum Abschluss, wenn Schauspieler Stefan Krause seine Gäste in die fantastische Welt der Londoner Geheimagentin Thursday Next mitnimmt (21 Uhr). Er liest aus Jasper Ffordes Roman "Der Fall Jane Eyre". Selbige wurde aus dem berühmten Roman von Charlotte Brontë entführt, nun gilt es, den Erpresser zu stellen. Vor und zwischen den Lesungen besteht die Möglichkeit, Bücher zu tauschen oder zu kaufen. Der Eintritt ist frei. (Translation)

According to Milano Post (Italy) you should read Jane Eyre is you are a Capricorn.

Capricorno – “Jane Eyre” di Charlotte Bronte 

Probabilmente siete il segno più dolce dello zodiaco. Sei autosufficiente e disciplinato. Il tuo stile a volte è considerato un po’ vecchia scuola. In questo senso non ti si può non consigliare un grande classico. Sì, Jane Eyre. Dietro tutto il romanticismo c’è la storia di una donna indipendente che ha imparato ad avere fiducia in se stessa. (Translation)

Ahora (Argentina) quotes a poem by Charlotte Brontë. 大公網 (China) mentions the film To Walk Invisible.