[WUTHERING HEIGHTS
opens in Cleveland on Friday October 26th exclusively at the Cedar
Lee Theatre.]
Review
by Bob Ignizio
Cruelty begets more cruelty, and life
is so filled with misery and regret that by the end, death must seem
a mercy. That seems to be the message contained in WUTHERING
HEIGHTS, the latest adaptation
of Emily Brontë's classic novel of unrequited romance. Somehow this
writer has made it through 40-some years of life without ever having
read Ms. Bronte's novel or seeing any of its prior screen
adaptations, so this review is based solely on the film itself.
The
plot concerns a young black man named Heathcliff (Solomon Glave as a
young boy; James Howson as an adult) who is taken in by Mr. Earnshaw
(Paul Hilton) and brought to live at his home of Wuthering Heights
along with his son Hindley (Lee Shaw) and daughter Catherine (Shannon
Beer as a young girl; Kaya Scodelario as an adult). Heathcliff and
Catherine are drawn to each other romantically, which is just one
more reason for Hindley to despise his adopted brother. When Mr.
Earnshaw dies, Hindley takes over the estate and makes Heathcliff a
servant, but he's not the only one who will suffer; much pain and
tragedy awaits for all the characters.
