The Tamesis
Wuthering Heights Make the world on tenterhooks. Emerald Fennell’s reimagining of Emily Brontë’s storming classic weaves together gorgeous, over-the-top set designs with whimsical costumes, playful world-building, winking humor, and an unbridled melodrama the likes of which we’ve never seen before.
What movies inspired this bold shift? Well, according to actress Margot Robbie, that includes notebook, british patientand Titanic–an unapologetic epic romance that will leave you spellbound. But, there are many, many more.
To this end, Fennell has now hatched a very special plan for the BFI: love storya series of extremely stylish films that influenced the Oscar-winner’s soon-to-be cult classics, four of which will be screened at London’s BFI IMAX in February to commemorate Wuthering HeightsReleased on February 13th. (The BFI will also host Emerald Fennell in conversation at BFI Southbank On February 4, the director will discuss her filmmaking process. )
“Since its publication 200 years ago, critics have challenged Wuthering HeightsEffectiveness as a love story,” Fennell said in a statement shared by the British Film Institute. “It’s too shocking, too cruel, too strange a narrative to fit neatly into the world of romance, but it’s still a love story. In the course of my research, I rewatched many of my own favorite “love stories” that challenged, subverted, and even obliterated the conventions of the genre. These stories put love stories under duress, sticking the needle into the strawberry cake and showing love in all its weird, gory detail. “
Browse her full list of love stories below and make sure to read them all before reading Wuthering Heights.
random harvest (1942)
Mervyn LeRoy’s adaptation of James Hilton’s epic novel of the same name tells a wild tale of amnesia, double lives and long-awaited reconciliation in which Greer Garson, a singer in a sombrero, peak-shouldered power suit and ruffled shirt, mesmerizes a tortured veteran played by Ronald Colman. A forgotten classic.
