“Wuthering Heights” (15)
Directed by Emerald Fennell 
⭑⭑⭑⭑☆

OSCAR-WINNING writer-director Emerald Fennell puts her own indelible stamp on her interpretation of Emily Bronte’s classic novel which is both visceral and visually arresting — but which may not be to the liking of fans of the much-loved book. 

While it isn’t a faithful adaptation it still centres on the toxic relationship between star-crossed lovers Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, set against the backdrop of the Yorkshire moors. The two are played brilliantly by newcomer Charlotte Mellington and Adolescence’s Owen Cooper as youngsters, and later by Australian stars Margot Robbie (who also produced the film) and Jacob Elordi as adults.  

Both Cathy and Heathcliff are odious and monstrous characters who do not have one redeeming feature between them. 

In the novel Heathcliff is described as a “dark-skinned gypsy” which this version has overlooked along with every other adaptation bar Andrea Arnold’s 2011 film. Yet Elordi gives a solid performance as the tall, dark, brooding Heathcliff who is cruel and vengeful and totally nails the Yorkshire accent. Opposite is Robbie who is wonderfully petulant, spoilt, manipulative and snobbish as Cathy who marries her wealthy neighbour Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif) to secure a higher social standing. She never considers Heathcliff as her equal until he returns as a rich man, when they embark on a torrid affair. 

This is an audacious adaptation punctuated by a vibrant and bold colour palette (red representing Cathy’s hell?) which examines Britain’s elitist and brutal class system. 

I really enjoyed it, but then I love Fennell and never cared much for Bronte’s novel.  
MD
In cinemas February 13

Little Amelie or the Character of Rain (PG)
Directed by Liane-Cho Han Jin Kuang and Mailys Vallade
⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑

THIS brilliant animation takes you where you never expected to go — into the mind of a vegetative child. What’s going on in there? Well, the contemplation of God, and oneself, as a passive tube with an eerie gaze that betokens the presence of life.

It then places itself specifically in time and place — Japan, August 13 1969 — for the moment when language — as bewildering speech act and miraculous sign — enters such consciousness and floods the burgeoning being with the capacity for reciprocal emotion, and words galore. As she perceives and names its detail, the infant deity is creating the world.

This point of view, sketched in the bleached-out colours of an incomplete, unmastered reality, shifts vertiginously in scale, warping behind glass, raindrops and water, to intuit a sense of the historical moment in which she is implicated, and of the violence and tragedy to which Japan has been subjected. The being is overwhelmed and yet, nurtured by love from an unexpected quarter, beyond the family, becomes a human child.

There’s no doubt that this is a masterpiece.
AR
In cinemas February 13

Crime 101 (15)
Directed by Bart Layton
⭑⭑⭑⭑☆

FROM the British writer-director of American Animals, Bart Layton, comes an old-fashioned, classic heist thriller with Steve McQueen vibes which is both smart and a riveting ride. 

Based on Don Winslow’s novella Crime 101, it is set in a gritty Los Angeles and follows an elusive jewel thief (Chris Hemsworth) who has carried out a string of nonviolent high-end robberies along the 101 freeway, a relentless detective (a sublime Mark Ruffalo) who is closing in on him, and a disillusioned insurance broker (a superlative Halle Berry). 

It is slick, stylish and terribly elegant in its execution, and IN the way the three stories interweave into an intricate and intense game of cat and mouse. Hemsworth, channelling McQueen, shows a more vulnerable side for once as the meticulous thief who follows a strict code of conduct and whose plans are upended by the arrival of a totally unhinged and frankly frightening Barry Keoghan. 

Layton keeps you on the edge of your seat with thrilling car chases as the film quietly explores corruption, the disparity between the haves and the have nots, and the pursuit of status.   

It is a must see. 
MD
In cinemas February 13

Stitch Head (U)
Directed by Steve Hudson
⭑⭑⭑☆☆

A MAD scientist’s undervalued and long-suffering assistant searches for purpose in this sweet and charming monster mash animated feature. 

Written and directed by Steve Hudson, it is based on the Guy Bass novels and centres on Stitch Head (Asa Butterfield) who resides in a castle on top of a hill where he looks after all the monsters created and sidelined by his boss (Rob Brydon), who is perpetually engaged in the attempt to devise his greatest creation. Yet he is blind to the fact that under his very own nose is his first ever monster, Stitch Head, whose life is upended by the arrival in town of a tired-looking freak show searching for a new attraction. 

A cross between ParaNorman meets Frankenweenie, this is a deliciously dark yet endearing comedy fantasy which will appeal to old and young alike. Be warned that it contains musical numbers. 
MD
In cinemas February 13