Wuthering Heights. Andrea Arnold, 2011.
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Edition screened: Artificial Eye Blu-ray, released 2012. Scots English with English subtitles. Runtime approximately 129 minutes.
Summary: Hunting violence and abuse of domestic animals.
Details: 1) Beginning at 23:10 is a 15-second shot of two dead pheasants hanging in the kitchen, beginning with a graphic close-up. The quick cut to this scene is cued by Mr. Earnshaw admonishing Heathcliff, “I hope you don’t feel pleasure over this” after he has punished Hindley by beating his hand.
2) At 45:15 Heathcliff slaughters a sheep by stabbing a knife into its throat. This is cued by Heathcliff carrying the sheep into a barn. We see the sheep convulsing and blood flowing.
3) Beginning at 51:25 is a 40-second block of dialogue taking place around a goose plucking.
4) At 59:35 we see a rabbit caught in a snare, followed by a fairly explicit depiction of Heathcliff breaking its neck. The scene concludes at 59:55 with a brace of three rabbits tossed onto a table.
5) At 1:39:55 a small dog is hung by its collar and left to strangle. We don’t see the death, but the dog is in genuine distress. Jump to 1:40:25 to miss all of it. This is repeated with a second dog at 2:01:55, jump to 2:02:17.
The sheep slaughter could be skipped by jumping ahead to 45:50. During that skip, Hindley warns Heathcliff that he will be asked to leave if he speaks to Catherine without permission. The dog hanging scenes can be skipped without ruining anything. I think the allusion here is to a symbolic act of clan warfare, that upon defeat you leave nothing for the victorious enemy.
The recurring animal distress in this film is unfortunate. Arnold has made a gorgeous film with one fourth the yacking of a BBC production, but four times the power. Her dramatic portrayal of nature and especially dust particles floating in the sun, explain the characters’ relationships to one another and to the world around them far better than blocks of tinny britchat.
The credits indicate “No animals were harmed as a result of their participation in this production” which seems an intentionally convoluted variation on a common statement.