Days of The Week (Films Watched January 9 – 16)

 

 

#52FilmsByWomen continued this week with Andrea Arnold’s adaptation of WUTHERING HEIGHTS.

I knew coming in that this was a divisive film – and if I didn’t the mere mention on social media that I had queued it up reminded me. The funny thing is, I never counted on the adaptation of a Bronte being the sort of film that splits its audience.

And then I discovered why…

Arnold’s adaptation has a keen eye on the realities of Catherine and Heathcliff would have faced, not to mention a real understanding for how damned bleak that story really is. In Roger Ebert’s review of the film, he wondered aloud how often anyone would want to return to that sort of honest depiction. Fair question: after all, Bronte’s book has been re-read many a dog-eared time. However, I don’t think that was the point of what Arnold was going for.

I feel as though she wanted to scratch away the veneer we have coated a truly difficult time in history – to take an era that was truly trying, and a social dynamic that was deeply imbalanced and say “This? This is what we’re romanticizing?”

I was fascinated by this movie – even if it never met an animal it didn’t want to harm – and really found myself rapt by Andrea Arnold’s approach. Her framing, her muted palette, her sparse dialogue. All of it cam together so damned well to leave me deeply affected…

…if not wildly bummed-out.

 

 

Here’s the week at hand…

 

Screenings
SHORTS NOT PANTS (Winter Programme) – A lack of depressing shorts included in the mix makes me believe that James has turned a corner.

 

Streaming/Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Never Seen
WUTHERING HEIGHTS – …no really, how is this story romantic?
THE ICEMAN – Sometimes a movie lingers on your ‘to-watch’ list for a long time for good reason.

 

Streaming/Blu-Rays/DVD’s I’ve Seen Before
THE BIG SHORT – As this film began (and the next three listed followed) I started doing my first jigsaw puzzle since I was nine years old.
BEGINNERS – I suddenly feel the urge to roller skate. Anybody?
HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE – I love that the knock against Marilyn is that she has to wear glasses. I mean seriously folks…
KINKY BOOTS – By this point – eight hours later – the puzzle had defeated me.
THE DEPARTED – The rat stands for obviousness!
AMERICAN HUSTLE – Curiously, I still like this movie, but a little of its gloss has worn off.

 

Boxscore for The Year
9 First-Timers, 12 Re-Watched
2 Screenings
21 Movies in Total

How’s about you – seen anything good?