Emily Brontë is perhaps the greatest witch of them all

Cultured Vultures reviews Emily.

No book can trump Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights for me. In all the decades I’ve lived, there hasn’t been a book that’s made me feel as much as Brontë’s one and only novel. It’s always been an intriguing fact that she conjured all the material from her own imagination. After all, Brontë never knew romantic love in her own capacity, at least, that’s what history tells us. But the truth is, there’s so much we don’t know, and Frances O’Connor’s movie Emily is a fictional creation of the possible reality Brontë might have experienced, which would have given her the passionate material she needed to write a book like Wuthering Heights.

Much like Julian Jarrold’s Becoming Jane took certain liberties, so does O’Connor’s Emily. [...]

Mackey is brilliant as Emily. She’s fiery, irreverent, and manages to convey Emily’s sense of isolation so well. She allows us to feel closer to Emily, and see her rich, inner life up close. Given the gothic nature of Wuthering Heights, there’s supernatural elements in Emily as well. O’Connor shows us how haunted the Brontës are by the death of their mother, and crafts poignant set pieces to convey this feeling of loss and grief. The cinematography does such a great job of capturing this gothic mood, with the gang taking windswept walks through the moors and taking shelter from the rain in dilapidated cottages.

So yes, we don’t know where Emily got the inspiration to conjure a tale like Wuthering Heights, and while her experiencing a secret romance of her own is a possibility, it’s also entirely possible that she was able to write it from nothingness, pulling from the extensive sea of her own imagination. Writing and creating is akin to witchcraft, and Emily Brontë is perhaps the greatest witch of them all. (Natasha Alvar)

Also on Cinema Sentries.

No matter the extent of O’Connor’s skill, the film would be dead on arrival without a suitable star. Thankfully, Mackey delivers an indelible performance that elevates the project and gives further fuel to her rise as a budding “it girl”. She’s probably best known in the U.S. from the Netflix series Sex Education, but after a breakout turn in the 2021 French film Eiffel and a small role in Death on the Nile, she’s poised to break through with her impeccable work here as well as an upcoming appearance in Barbie. The rest of the cast proves to be capable if little known, with Adrian Dunbar (Brontë’s father) the most recognizable thanks to his lengthy association with the hit TV series Line of Duty.

O’Connor gets valuable assists in making her film seem fresh from composer Abel Korzeniowski and cinematographer Nanu Segal. The orchestral score takes some pleasantly unconventional turns, especially in occasional haunting choral arrangements, alternating major and minor key transitions to dramatic effect. The camerawork captures the desolation of the dreary rural countryside but pretties it up with superb shot selection and expertly lit interiors. 

There’s much to like in O’Connor’s directorial debut, and very little to criticize. She manages to make a tragic story enlightening and engaging, and while her freedom with the facts may rub history buffs the wrong way, she captures and amplifies the essence and enduring appeal of Emily Brontë. (Steve Geise)

The Pitch reviews it too.

Emily, Frances O’Connor’s debut as a director and screenwriter, is the product of 10 years of writing and rewriting. It’s a love letter to the Wuthering Heights author and poet, but it’s also a coming-of-age story, a journey through grief, a collection of steamy sex scenes and longing glances, and a historical drama with elements of horror. It’s a revelation that moves away from the tired storytelling of contemporary biopics to a more imaginative, whimsical place out on the English moors. [...]

Mackey’s performance is characterized by warring desires for love, companionship, solitude, and singularity. 

One standout scene that highlights Mackey’s talents and the genre-blending nature of the film is when Brontё dons her dead mother’s mask during a party game. It’s chilling to watch Brontё struggle with her sanity at this moment and to watch her loved ones respond to her “possession.” Composer Abel Korzeniowski does his share to set the tone with a tremulous accompaniment of strings and mournful piano. 

Little is known about Brontё’s life, and O’Connor embraces that by interpreting the hell out of the information we do have. The result is a breathless, joyful glimpse into Brontё’s life, which is too often characterized (as is the case with so many female authors) as miserable and externally stagnant. (Lauren Textor)

Still on screen, RTÉ lists the 'Top Ten romantic movies for your Valentine's night and one of them is

Wuthering Heights 1939

Based on Emily Bronte's novel set in 19th-century England, wealthy young Cathy Earnshaw (Merle Oberon) shares a loving bond with Heathcliff (Laurence Olivier), a poor childhood friend who works in her stables. Heathcliff leaves as he is jealous of a suitor and returns with a self-made fortune, he realizes he may have lost Cathy in his absence.

Richmondshire Today reports that there are plans to save a church in Wensleydale which was seen in Wuthering Heights 2011.

A conservation charity has backed a proposal for a major project to restore a small, crumbling and isolated church in the Upper Dales which featured in an acclaimed Wuthering Heights movie.

The Friends of the Dales has urged the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority to support proposals to secure the future of Lunds Church, near Hawes, where a chapel is believed to have served the farming community at the head of Wensleydale since at least the early 17th century.

In a letter to the authority, a spokesman for the charity stated those who could recall the church from more than 50 years ago, before its deconsecration, had been “saddened by its deterioration”. [...]

Before it was made redundant in February 1981, the building was the smallest church in the Ripon Diocese, seating up to 60 people, and in 2011, it featured in Academy Award-winning writer and director Andrea Arnold’s movie of Wuthering Heights. (Stuart Minting)

El Independiente (Spain) lists some Audible titles fir for Valentine's Day and the Spanish translation and recording of Jane Eyre by actress Clara Lago is one of them.

Finally, an alert in Huesca (Spain), via COPE:

Ciclo 'Amor sin Fronteras'

Aula de Cine

Campus de Huesca de la Universidad de Zaragoza

Facultad de Empresa y Gestión Pública de Huesca (Pza Constitución, 1)

15/02 19.00 h  Abismos de Pasión (1953), Luis Buñuel, México)