February Part 3 - Wuthering Heights

 

I just watched this yesterday.

And it required significant effort as the movie wasn't screening at the neighbourhood cineplex.

As I drove downtown, I wondered along the way if I'd regret it.

I'm happy to report that the exertion paid off handsomely. 😊

Despite not reading the novel - I tried once in my teens but lost interest - I'm familiar with an earlier film adaptation starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche.

However, Wuthering Heights isn't high on my list of literary classic favourites - I prefer Thomas Hardy, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte and Alexander Dumas.

This iteration was released last week and immediately received mixed reviews from critics.

I seemed to see mostly negative ones and was contemplating skipping a cinema visit entirely.

What changed my mind was a stellar review from Straits Times Life! section's entertainment correspondent, John Lui, whose opinion I respect. 

This film is intoxicating - from the eye-popping sets and locations, to the cinematography and soundtrack.

Watching it on the big screen ( though it was one of the smaller theatres ) was marvelous.

The casting is on point, with Owen Cooper a standout as young Heathcliff.

I saw him in Adolescence and wasn't that impressed, but he's fantastic here.

Margot Robbie is luminous as Catherine, but Jacob Elordi steals the show with a performance that's best described as astonishing.

I've followed his evolution from teen heartthrob ( he was 20 in The Kissing Booth ) to full-fledged Hollywood star - his career really took off from 2023 onwards, with Saltburn, Priscilla and Frankenstein, culminating in his first Oscar nomination for the last one ).

As Heathcliff, he veers effortlessly from lovelorn farmhand to proud and cruel magnate, scorching the screen in every scene.

While the halfway mark gets a bit monotonous with too many sex scenes ( I think I nodded off at one point haha ), things thankfully get back on track after Heathcliff marries Isabella out of spite after finding out Catherine's pregnant.

To be honest, I think I never liked Wuthering Heights because the plot is too simplistic - i.e. a toxic romance and not much else.

But I found the movie highly enjoyable as a whole - a truly cinematic experience.

And for that, director Emerald Fennell deserves high praise.

I've seen 2 of her other films - Promising Young Woman and Saltburn - and loved them both.

She specializes in very dark stories, but as someone who's always had an inclination towards the morbid ( don't ask me why haha ), I'm a huge fan of her work, which highlights the depravity of the human race in a satirical manner. 

Wuthering Heights is doing very well at the box office, and I'm elated about its success.

I give it an 8/10. Go see it if you can.

Before ending this post, there's something interesting I'd like to mention.

I recently had an epiphany about someone I've known for decades. 

I've always been very fond of him, though fully aware of his reputation and our unbalanced dynamic.

It never bothered me until these past few months, when our communication amplified this one-sidedness even further.

And I finally realized there was no genuine friendship, just breadcrumbing tactics.

The thing is, my tolerance for BS plunged when I turned 40.

That's when multiple life events converged - church, family, work - and I eventually cut ties with many people whom I found toxic.

Now that I'm 50, lead my own department and have complete freedom in my personal life, my no-nonsense approach is even more pronounced.

And since he's my age, the lack of positive evolution in his behaviour is even more disappointing.

He may or may not know about this blog. But if he does read this, I hope he'll have some insight and reflect on what he did. 

Whether he decides to contact me again will be a good indication of his character, or lack thereof.

On a happier note, I reconnected with another old friend a few months ago, and he's the opposite of the abovementioned person. 

No online presence, reads voraciously, even remembers things I said 25 years ago.

Our first meetup in more than a decade lasted a whopping 4 hours, and I admired his openness, which illustrated how much he still likes and trusts me.

In our 20s, I had a personal nickname for him - Jesse, after a James Dean type character in Gilmore Girls. 

Good people are hard to find these days.

I plan to spend more time with him next month when my schedule finally slows down. 😊