Delving into the deepest obsession a human being can experience guided Jacob Elordi’s performance in ‘Wuthering Heights’, the most recent adaptation of the romance classic under the direction of Emerald Fennell, alongside Margot Robbie.
“Obsession was the key point, finding out what real obsession is, what it is to be really obsessive and not be able to let go of something. How that applies to a human being, and where it intersects with love, when it’s something beautiful and when it’s scary,” Elordi told EFE about the difficult task of articulating Heathcliff in the film.
Based on Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel of the same name, ‘Wuthering Heights’ tells the story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, two characters from different social classes who grow up together and develop an intense relationship forbidden by the social conventions of their time.
“The emotion I really had to understand about Cathy was that sense of superiority when she was living in a kind of squalor. She’s acting like she’s the queen, and she’s in this ruin,” Robbie tells EFE.
The director describes her character as “an extremely difficult, spoiled, vain and cruel woman, but also one of the most endearing characters of all time”, facing the dilemma between love and comfort.
“Her options are to find a man and marry him, and he had better be of a higher social class, because otherwise she will condemn everyone she lives and works with to poverty. It’s incredible pressure,” Robbie added.
For his part, Elordi embodies a man who is “violent, vengeful and touchy, but also one of the great romantic heroes of all time,” explained Fennell.
Choosing the cast was one of the biggest challenges for the director. “I needed exceptionally talented actors who could connect with the audience and with each other, to create empathy,” she told EFE.
Wuthering Heights: A very personal adaptation
The film has aroused expectation since the release of its first images, driven both by the popularity of its protagonists and by the changes in the adaptation, even before the verdict of the specialized critics.
Although some critics have praised the film, on social networks several Brontë fans have expressed their disappointment with the portrayal of Heathcliff, described in the novel as a dark-skinned, black-eyed man, and with Cathy’s age, which in this version exceeds 30 years.
Fennell claims to fully understand her panic as she self-declares herself “Emily Brönte’s biggest fan” and confesses that ‘Wuthering Heights’ is her “favorite book of all time.”
“I knew I could never make a film that perfectly captured a masterpiece as gigantic and enormous as ‘Wuthering Heights,’ but what I could do was create something that came close to what I felt when I read it.”
For Robbie, Fennell’s vision is “a very specific interpretation, rather than an adaptation,” which he believes “is a bit liberating for die-hard ‘Wuthering Heights’ fans.”
This film marks the third collaboration between Fennell and Robbie, along with her production company LuckyChap Entertainment, although it is the first one in which the actress works under his direction.
Robbie was also behind titles such as ‘Promising Young Woman’, Fennell’s debut film, and ‘Saltburn’, the film that catapulted her international career and in which Elordi also participated and where obsession once again marks an important axis of the plot.
Eroticism, passion and connection in times of drought
Wuthering Heights’ revives the dark romanticism of the 18th century in an era marked by a lack of emotional and physical bonding.
The film explores eroticism even visually: walls the color of Cathy’s skin, with veins and moles, suggestive scenes between Elordi and Robbie, and sexual references even in the sound of a death at the beginning of the film, foreshadowing the tragic love story that will unfold.
“I think the scenes that are really going to get people’s heart rates racing are the ones where they’re really close to each other but can’t touch. There’s one scene in particular where he puts his hands like this on her face, and it’s about as erotic as it gets,” Robbie previews.
In a context where romantic love is questioned and disconnection abounds, the director seeks to rekindle emotion: “I wanted to make people feel something, which is very difficult to achieve,” she concluded.
Fennell thus proposes a version that renews Brontë’s intensity for an audience that is still searching, in the 21st century, for the border between love and obsession, reported Agencia EFE.
Find out more at ‘QueOnnda.com’.
