By John Corrado
Following a successful run in theatres, Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights is being released on physical media this week, including 4K Ultra HD.
Fennell’s adaptation of the classic Emily Brontë novel stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as Cathy and Heathcliff, in a sweeping period love story.
The film mainly received mixed reviews, but I was personally a big admirer of this one (you can read my full review right here). It’s built around heightened feelings, with Fennell stating that she based her adaptation off of how she felt when she first read the book as a teenager. It translates into a bold approach.
I was swept up by the swooning romance of it all, and it’s beautifully crafted on just about every technical level. The film is a visual pleasure to watch, and the 4K disc does justice to it, beautifully capturing skin tones, the textures of the costumes, detailing in the sets, and the moody, windswept backdrops captured on film by cinematographer Linus Sandgren.
Film Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)
Bonus Features (4K Ultra HD):
The 4K disc includes three featurettes. A digital copy code is also included in the package, which ships with a matte slipcover.
• Commentary by Director Emerald Fennell
• Threads of Desire (6 minutes, 51 seconds): Fennell and costume designer Jacqueline Durran talk about the outfits for the film, which Durran describes as “imagined version of period costumes,” inspired by 1940s and ‘50s melodramas.
• The Legacy of Love and Madness (5 minutes, 32 seconds): Fennell talks about her approach to adapting the book, calling it more of a “sister” than a “twin,” honing in on Cathy and Heathcliff’s forbidden love story, and heightening the feelings that she experience when she first read it as a teeneager.
• Building a Fever Dream (12 minutes, 9 seconds): This featurette looks at the production design by Suzie Davies, Linus Sandgren’s cinematography, and the other details that make up the distinct look of the film, from the food to the walls designed be the same colour as Robbie’s skin. It certainly gives any viewer a deeper appreciation of the amount of craftwork that went into it
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