On the back of the success of her last effort, “Fish Tank,” Andrea Arnold’s adaptation of Emily Bronte’s classic “Wuthering Heights” looks to be going full steam ahead. The director discussed the project at the recent London Evening Standard Film Awards.
“‘Wuthering Heights’ is something close to my heart,” Arnold told BBC. “I think it’s close to a lot of people’s hearts which makes it a huge responsibility. It may not be to everyone’s taste but that’s okay.”
“We are in pre-production, running up and down to Yorkshire and meeting people. It’s forming itself.”
The classic 1847 novel follows the story of young Catherine Earnshaw who commits to an adulterous, passionate yet restrained love affair with foster brother Heathcliff that eventually has vengeful and destructive consequences. Scribe Olivia Hetreed adapted the story.
“It dropped out of the sky before Christmas for me, and I never thought I would ever take on an adaptation of a book of any kind or even someone else’s script.” Arnold, though, saw many similarities in the story to her own work, noting that “[Heathcliff is] an outsider, he’s a Gypsy boy. It’s a big class story. All my films have been about class, and ‘Wuthering Heights’ is more of the same.”
This particular project has thus far seen a merry-go-round of talent involved including directors Peter Webber and John Maybury, as well as thesps Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman, Abbie Cornish, Ed Westwick and Gemma Arterton. No cast has been set for Arnold’s version yet but the helmer admits she is holding out valuable information.
“I’ve got a picture of someone on my phone, but I’m not going to show you!” A picture on her phone? Has Arnold once again picked someone out of obscurity like she did with Katie Jarvis for “Fish Tank”? Or perhaps it’s a nod to Jarvis herself? Speculation aside, casting announcements should be due soon.
