This movie and story is laughable
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prettyinpink_19 — 18 years ago(May 15, 2007 08:27 PM)
You might want to read the book, if you haven't, before you call it a laughable story. In my opinion, it is by far the greatest book ever written. This film only covers the first half of the story. Personally, I like the second half of the novel better than the first. If you read the book you may end up liking it and you should give the film another chance. But if you have read the book and you just don't like it, then I respect your opinion more than if you had just watched this one version and called it laughable, especially since the Bronte sisters are considered to be among the most important authors in English literature. Everyone has their opinions and I will not critize yours but I think you should read the book and get the full story.
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Montmartre1 — 16 years ago(January 11, 2010 08:19 AM)
You are absolutely right.
it is one of greatest books ever written, of that there is no question.
The film is a masterpiece, though it didn't explore all aspects of the book it did, in my opinion capture the essence of the story.
The performances were superb. I've seen all versions and truthfully even though there is much to be said about many of the later ones, I find this the most powerful and haunting.
Olivier WAS Heathcliff and Oberon was Cathy.
Thanks for what you said. I've just seen it (again) just a few minutes ago and am so moved. -
wisherc13 — 14 years ago(November 27, 2011 07:49 PM)
I know this is an old post, but I just read your point about "You have been taught and influenced to believe this to be a good movie," and that being the reason everyone who loves this movie so much must love it (for, as you have stated, in your estimation it is "laughable").
I'd just like to throw in that I had never heard of this film before I decided to watch it, and I absolutely adore the film. No outside influences whatsoever, and I still think it's a fantastic film both from a critical and layman's perspective, so your theory really doesn't hold much water there. -
petelato — 13 years ago(May 21, 2012 12:11 PM)
funny u should say that, i have every intention of seeing men in black 3 when it comes out next month.
However, just to give you insight into my taste in entertainment,
I LOVE the original Moby Dick with Gregory peck.
Huge fan of Downton Abbey, Justified, Breaking Bad, and Hell on Wheels.
So just giving you a slight peek to the fact that I enjoy many different styles of stories, from the classics, to period pieces, to thrillers.
But to each their own, if you liked the horrible characters in Wuthering Heights, than bully for you mate.
I'd rather cheer on a High School teacher who gets cancer and turns to meth making to help out his family. Of course, only in entertainment, in the real world I'd rather he not make such a poor choice.
cheers. -
heinolebt — 11 years ago(February 11, 2015 09:17 AM)
Hi, you really have a Point. I have the same Problem with Casablanca. I think it's a rather uninteresting Story with lots of clichs, yet practically everybody else Claims to love it. It's nice to read that someone has the same Point of view.
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Flabulous — 11 years ago(December 02, 2014 02:52 PM)
Band wagon fallacy. Your logic implies that because the majority believe it, it's true. The majority once thought the earth was flat.
I don't agree with Pete's analysis, but a fallacy is a fallacy and should be omitted from discussion. -
daria84 — 18 years ago(December 02, 2007 02:30 PM)
I loved this movie, I wouldn't compare it or put in in Gone With the Wind level but it's far better than all the stupid love stories we got nowadays in modern movies. I didn't really care for Cathy, in fact I thought she was quite a b*tch but Lawrence Olivier's performance was great, I wished Vivien Leigh would have played the part of Cathy, I think she would have pulled out a better perfomance and the chemistry with Larry would have helped a lot to make this movie even better.
Viva Clark Gable, el eterno y nico Rey de Hollywood -
Keatonics — 18 years ago(December 23, 2007 08:51 AM)
I agree with you, Petelato. It is a sappy story, overacted even by the great Olivier. The characters are pathetic and unsympathetic. They ruined their own lives and we are to feel bad for them?
Wyler's direction was way over the top,quite melodramatic.
The film's saving grace, if there was one, was Geraldine Fitzgerald, whose portrayal was stunning. But her character was quite pathetic, as well, marrying someone she knew was in love wi9th someone else.
Why everyonje raves about this film is beyond me. -
petelato — 18 years ago(December 23, 2007 10:18 AM)
Alleluia!!
At least there are other people out there with the ability to think for themselves, instead of following the herd.
I just recently watched another Olivier movie that has been hailed as a classic, "Rebecca", and it was the same thing!!
Unrealistic and over-dramatic.
But I do enjoy watching these films,just to get a vibe on what the general public was into back then, I wonder if people will watch films that we have made #1 in the present day and wonder what were we thinking. -
AliciaHuberman59 — 18 years ago(December 26, 2007 12:10 PM)
I think the film is a good example, if not one of the best, of the Gothic romance. I've always found it hard to find Cathy's character sympatheticshe was a vain, shallow fool who threw away true love for a bunch of peacocks strutting around in the yard!
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KMoran55 — 18 years ago(January 07, 2008 09:28 PM)
I believe you all are forgetting the social conventions of the time. Although, from time to time, women followed their hearts and married as they chose, the economic realities of those times were very harsh. Women were essentially treated as chatteltransferred from father to husband as part of a business deal. If the woman was lucky, she and her husband did come to love one another, if not, well that's why books like Wuthering Heights and Anna Karenina were written. The story is intended to show how many lives were destroyed by these conventions. (BTW, that which you call overacting, I think of as passion.) In the book, it even shows how the destruction carries on to the next generation. I've always considered it an indictment of the social conventions of the 1700s and 1800s.
But, to each his (or her) own. -
jacowium — 12 years ago(January 19, 2014 09:57 PM)
Six years since your post, but I'd still like to reply
just to say thank you, thank you, thank you! I find it so frustrating how latter-day readers and movie lovers forget that the original stories were written in another era altogether, and social conventions were markedly different from today. Judging characters' actions using modern values is just off, and will lead to a very murky understanding of the novel (or movie).
It is indeed true that in the early 19th century, a wife's fate was largely dependent on the wealth (not necessarily status) of her husband. Status didn't necessarily mean wealth. Anyway, if one has learnt a bit about the historical conventions of the era, then Cathy is indeed not (necessarily) a shallow person, but is only doing what almost every other young woman in her situation would have done. Women did not receive the same level of education, and had very few (if any) prospects of generating their own income and taking care of their own lives. Spinsters had it tough. It was therefore impossible for young women like Cathy to ignore those realities of her life. All of this do not excuse her actions, but rather explains it.
But as you said, from our perspective today, the circumstances portrayed in the Bront sisters' books, Jane Austen, Henry James, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, etcetera, indict the conventions of their eras.
Please click on "reply" at the post you're responding to. Thanks.