The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a 1996 British television serial adaptation of Anne Brontë's novel of the same name, produced by BBC and directed by Mike Barker. The serial stars Tara FitzGerald as Helen Graham, Rupert Graves as her abusive husband Arthur Huntington and Toby Stephens as Gilbert Markham.
Anne Bronte's "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall", Wildfell Hallin asukas, Die Herrin von Wildfell Hall, Незнайомка з Уайлдфелл-Холлу, Dvojí život Heleny Grahamové, A Wildfell-ház lakója, Незнакомка из Уайлдфелл-Холла, A Moradora de Wildfell Hall, Främlingen på Wildfell Hall, Fruen til Wildfell Hall
An absorbing adaptation of an unfairly forgotten novel. Anne Bronte may be the forgotten Bronte, but while The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is not as beloved as Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights, it is fascinating in its own way, most notably as a pioneering feminist tale.
All three Bronte sisters wrote about mad, bad and dangerous men, and it is thought their brother Bramwell himself was an alcoholic. It is interesting to see how Anne’s take on the wild, moody, Byronic “hero” differs to her sisters, no romanticism here. Huntingdon is no loveable rogue, or a wild man to be tamed, just looking for the right woman. He is abusive, and awful, and our heroine breaks free. For a Victorian…
Interesting to note what's been tightened and added (most notably a significant escalation of the abusive behavior depicted in the book), but the main side effect of turning this ruminative epistolary novel into a modernized melodrama is that the characters basically become ciphers that make clumsy, unmotivated decisions, and ratcheting up the pace defies the dull ache of the heroine's protracted misery.
Toby Stephens: I rather have your friendship than the love of any other woman in the world.
Me: -ugly sobbing-
Love the story, love the actors, do not love the shaky extreme close-ups of Toby Stephens’ nose and chin
my second favourite entry into the rupert graves climbing through windows in period dramas cinematic universe
Fun to watch after reading the book. I don't think it merits any attention on its own.
Definitely spicier than what I usually expect for a BBC adaptation, but it fits with the subject matter.
I think some of the story changes make Gilbert look better and Arthur look worse. I don't love that because a huge part of the book's point is to show how SO many men are spoiled and act awful (whether it be drunkenness or smacking people in the head with a horse whip).
Of course, I may have missed it, but I don't think there is much rape content apart from one slammed and locked door in the book. This Arthur is very rapey and…
Pretty decent Gothic style period romance with dark, twisted horror elements based on a Anne Brontë novel (that I would love to read). The amazing Tara Fitzgerald plays Helen, the abused wife/mother of a disturbed adulterous drunk and Toby Stephens (definitely one of my favorite nepo babies) is Gilbert, a simple farmer enthralled by a quiet, ostracized artist. Some of the lines Gilbert delivers to Helen are downright swoony and makes you realize just how dead chivalry is these days.
