DVD: Wuthering Heights (15)

Expectations were high for Andrea Arnold's adaptation of Emily Bronte's ripe romance after her unsettling Red Road and the memorable Fish Tank.

This brutish Wuthering Heights doesn't match their intensity but the handheld camerawork yields a menacing atmosphere and it's an astute move to have a black Heathcliff who is incessantly abused. Solomon Glave plays a young Heathcliff, taken in by a Christian family, and Shannon Beer is a young Cathy, and their virtually dialogue-free scenes feel fresh and authentic. However, it's the older versions (James Howson and Kaya Scodelario) that don't quite gel. A strong first half but it becomes an ordeal by the end.