Yes, the real Emily Bronte is much of an enigma, one can assume there would be creative license taken for any film about her life but other than very basic biographical information/setting this film will lead those seeking her story astray (as Emily supposedly did to the William character).
Not that it wasn't a cinematically beautiful film but the story is as ridiculous and cliche as you could imagine any trope about a young independent woman finding her way in the world--think Hallmark does emo in the 1800s...
So what does happen? A dashing young curate comes to a far flung parish only to be first repelled and then enraptured by one of the parson's 3 eligible daughters, the "odd one" at that. This young woman challenges his faith, her writing ignites his passions!
Are you nauseated yet?
There's sex in the rain also maybe in a graveyard, I don't actually know where, I gave up paying attention through much of the last half (think I went for more popcorn and a walk along the moors).
Anyway there's a breakup (shock!), a death or two, followed by regret and torment which Emily channeles (pun intended) into writing one of the most remarkable novels ever penned by a woman. At this point in the film if I'd had a copy of WH I'd have thrown it at the screen!! Emily did NOT need a man/relationship/break-up (such lazy and cliched storytelling!) as motivation to create her masterpiece. I guess we'll never know what did, this film sure didn't enlighten us.
As a fan of the Brontes and their work for over 30 years, having read books about them AND visited their home/Haworth I'm appalled at the lack of vision or care with telling Emily's story. It's not only a pitifully banal tale but leaves out such important details as her love of animals, her close-knit relationship with Anne, and the fact that the sisters had to use male pen-names for years.
These sisters were stuck in a man's world, mostly writing for themselves but hoping (I believe) to be taken just a little seriously as female authors. It's just a shame that this production didn't do these literary sisters any better justice than the society they lived in.
I wish I'd saved my time and stayed home to read Wuthering Heights (again) instead.
Not that it wasn't a cinematically beautiful film but the story is as ridiculous and cliche as you could imagine any trope about a young independent woman finding her way in the world--think Hallmark does emo in the 1800s...
So what does happen? A dashing young curate comes to a far flung parish only to be first repelled and then enraptured by one of the parson's 3 eligible daughters, the "odd one" at that. This young woman challenges his faith, her writing ignites his passions!
Are you nauseated yet?
There's sex in the rain also maybe in a graveyard, I don't actually know where, I gave up paying attention through much of the last half (think I went for more popcorn and a walk along the moors).
Anyway there's a breakup (shock!), a death or two, followed by regret and torment which Emily channeles (pun intended) into writing one of the most remarkable novels ever penned by a woman. At this point in the film if I'd had a copy of WH I'd have thrown it at the screen!! Emily did NOT need a man/relationship/break-up (such lazy and cliched storytelling!) as motivation to create her masterpiece. I guess we'll never know what did, this film sure didn't enlighten us.
As a fan of the Brontes and their work for over 30 years, having read books about them AND visited their home/Haworth I'm appalled at the lack of vision or care with telling Emily's story. It's not only a pitifully banal tale but leaves out such important details as her love of animals, her close-knit relationship with Anne, and the fact that the sisters had to use male pen-names for years.
These sisters were stuck in a man's world, mostly writing for themselves but hoping (I believe) to be taken just a little seriously as female authors. It's just a shame that this production didn't do these literary sisters any better justice than the society they lived in.
I wish I'd saved my time and stayed home to read Wuthering Heights (again) instead.