Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (1992) Review
Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is a close adaptation of the novel. It was released in 1992 and stars Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, and Janet McTeer. Though not perfect, it is a very good adaptation of the text. It is also admittedly a personal favorite of mine.
ABOUT WUTHERING HEIGHTS 1992
In Wuthering Heights, Mr. Earnshaw brings home a poor orphan boy one night, much to the displeasure of his family. While his daughter, Catherine, warms to the boy, her brother, Hindley, never does. And as the children grow older, a deep love develops between Cathy and Heathcliff. However, when Mr. Earnshaw dies suddenly, Hindley becomes the master of Wuthering Heights.
Heathcliff is then forced to become a servant at the Heights. Despite this, he and Cathy remain inseparable. It is only when Cathy is injured and forced to spend several months away from home in the company of strangers that she gets a taste of a different world.
She becomes torn between her love for Heathcliff and society’s expectations of her. Her eventual choice will have consequences that dramatically change all of their lives and trickle down into the next generation.
WUTHERING HEIGHTS 1992 REVIEW
Wuthering Heights is a complex, non-linear masterpiece, and among the versions I’ve seen, this film does the best job of adapting it to the screen. One of my favorite things about this adaptation is that it tells the full story and doesn’t cut off halfway. Filming only half of the book greatly diminishes the impact of the novel, as both generations are so intertwined in the original text.
Also, in leaving out the love story between Catherine and Hareton, you remove some much-needed happiness from the novel, which counterbalances much of the misery in the rest of it. You miss out on a very sweet romance as well.
RELATED: Fairy Tales in Classics – Wuthering Heights
Another choice I quite like in this version of Wuthering Heights is the framing device in which Emily Brontë finds an abandoned old house and imagines what might have happened there. These two imagined scenes bookend the story nicely, putting words from the narrative directly into the author’s mouth.
This adaptation takes full advantage of the gothic atmosphere in Brontë’s novel, which is especially evident in the haunting score composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto. It perfectly conjures up the yearning winds on the moors and the passionate yet torturous love at the center of this unusual story.
This version even plays up the supernatural elements of Wuthering Heights a little more than most tellings. The framing device of stating that it is a story from the very beginning gives the filmmakers the freedom to go further than they might otherwise.
This is a film that handles the material of the original novel with respect. Many small moments from the book, along with all the important speeches, are included word for word. For this reason, the 1992 version will definitely appeal to any avid fans of the book like myself.
THE 1992 CAST
As to casting, the frankly baffling choice of Juliette Binoche as Cathy Earnshaw and her daughter is distracting at times, especially since she doesn’t really make any attempt at hiding her French accent. She is very good in both roles, capturing the two women’s differing natures well; she just seems like a strange choice. I can ignore this, however, as Fiennes and Binoche have excellent chemistry.
Ralph Fiennes is a very good Heathcliff, smoldering and dark. He plays him as the character was written: intense, unashamedly villainous yet somehow charismatic. Janet McTeer gives a solid performance as Nellie Dean, making the character more sympathetic than usual.
The only problem I might have with it is that certain parts of the story are handled very quickly. While this is necessary to fit the full plot into less than two hours, much of the beginning feels rushed. Nevertheless, it is a powerful rendition of a timeless classic and a must for any book fan (especially those with a soft spot for the Gothic).
WUTHERING HEIGHTS 1992 STREAMING – WHERE TO WATCH
As of February 2026, you can stream Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights on Kanopy and Hoopla, or rent or buy it on Digital and DVD.
Editorial Note: This article is from our contributor archives and has been lightly edited and updated by us. Since 2021, The Silver Petticoat Review has been exclusively written by Amber & Autumn Topping. See About Us.
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