RIOTUS

After the dust-up surrounding “Wuthering Heights” by Emerald Fennel, I was made aware of a Japanese version from 1988, (Japanese: 嵐が丘, Hepburn: Arashi ga oka), directed by Yoshishige Yoshida, and starring Yusako Matsuda, and Yuko Tanaka. Consequently, we now have a version of Wuthering Heights that takes place on the smoky plains of a volcanic mountain instead of the moors of England. And the tension is between the divided house of the ruling clan of the area.

The ruling lord takes in a homeless child and dubs him Onimaru. His daughter, Kinu, is almost instantly infatuated with him, and from there, the downfall of this family is set into motion. As Onimaru grows into a man, his rough exterior, aggressiveness and physical presence seems to put everyone on edge. Kinu also becomes more and more enamored with him, especially when he puts his violence to use for her benefit. As the story moves on, jealousy, rivalries, and even the movements of the local god tends to set the pace for the downfall of everyone involved.

Heavily influenced by Akira Kurosawa’s Ran, what we see is an intersection of class, sex, violence, and even obsession. Hewing much closer to the text of Brontë’s original book—instead of a windswept, doomed romance —it’s a deeply gothic, disturbingly violent, dark tragedy.

Everyone is somehow touched by Onimaru’s presence and propensity for violence, whether directly or indirectly. And by the end, his complete obsession with Kinu is the final straw that brings down the whole house on itself.

If you’re looking for a much more accurate representation of Brontë’s work, this production is most definitely the best direction to go in. 


A warning, though. There are moments of very graphic violence in this production, including sexual assault and an exploration of obsessive necrophilia. So, viewer beware.