New Wuthering Heights film unleashes fresh wave of Bronte-mania
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Members of the public walk along Main Street in the village centre of Haworth, northern England, where Emily Bronte and her sisters used to live.
PHOTO: AFP
HAWORTH, Britain – Perched on the edge of the rugged Yorkshire moors that inspired Emily Bronte to write her masterpiece Wuthering Heights, the quaint village of Haworth has long been a place of literary pilgrimage.
Now, the latest big-screen adaptation of her classic 1847 novel – starring Australian actors Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi and with a soundtrack from British singer-songwriter Charli xcx – is drawing a fresh influx of visitors.
It was here that Emily and her sisters, Charlotte and Anne, lived and wrote.
More than 150 years after the sisters’ deaths, “the world is still fascinated with their stories”, said Canadian retiree Nancy Marto, adding that being able to visit Haworth was “a dream come true”.
“I think the fact that there is a new version of Wuthering Heights... speaks to the power of these authors, to Emily, but also to her sisters,” she added.
Two weeks after the release of the film, picturesque Haworth in north-west England with its narrow, cobbled streets and small stone houses, is packed.
The film, loosely based on the book, was one of the most anticipated of the year.
At the heart of the plot is the passionate relationship between Heathcliff, a boy of mysterious origins taken in by the wealthy Mr Earnshaw, and his daughter Catherine.
The moors, battered by the elements, play a central role in the novel, as well as in Emerald Fennell’s film.
Mr Johnnie Brigg, a local tour guide, has been inundated with requests in recent weeks.
“They want to come here and experience the Brontes, the moor, and find their own interpretation of Emily,” he said.
The film would attract a “whole new generation of people” who had not yet read the book, but were “completely besotted” after seeing the film, he added.
The parsonage between the village and the moors where the Brontes lived with their clergyman father and brother, Branwell, is now a museum – Bronte Parsonage Museum – dedicated to their memory.
Emily’s sister Charlotte also wrote Jane Eyre here, another classic of English literature.
The museum’s Mia Ferullo, who has been giving talks on “Bronte-mania” for the past fortnight, said “so many people” were “picking up the book for the first time” as a result of the film.
Museum director Rebecca Yorke said 500 people of all ages and backgrounds visited on one Saturday.
Numbers like that were usually only seen in peak season such as during the August summer holidays, Ms Yorke added.
“Everyone is talking about Emily Bronte and Wuthering Heights... It’s just extraordinary,” she said. AFP
