Toto Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 I just watched Wuthering Heights (1939) starring Laurence Olivier as Heathcliff and Merle Oberon as Cathy. Spoiler alert - don't read on if you haven't seen this film. At the end, Cathy dies but Heathcliff's love for Cathy continues. Dr. Kenneth enters the room, claiming to have seen Heathcliff walking the moors with a woman. After desperately searching for Cathy's ghost in the snowy cold storm, Heathcliff freezes to death. His soul joins his love in death at their favorite place forevermore: Dr. Kenneth: I tell you, I saw them both. He had his arm about her. So I climbed up after them. And I found him, only him, alone, with only his footprints in the snow. Ellen: Under a high rock on a ledge near Peniston Crag. Dr. Kenneth: Yes. Lockwood: Was he dead? Ellen: No, not dead, Dr. Kenneth. Not alone. He's with her. They've only just begun to live. Goodbye Heathcliff. Goodbye my wild sweet Cathy. In the final memorable image, the young, ghostly spirits of Cathy and Heathcliff are re-united for eternity. The themes of the nature of love as being both destructive and eternal are in this movie. It's a great one. Any thoughts? Are there other films with a similar love after death themes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unwatchable Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 Forgive me, but I loathe this film. I wish a gigantic rogue wave had washed old Heathcliff and Cathy out to sea. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 Not similar to WH, but THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR seems to lean that way. Sepiatone 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 11 minutes ago, Sepiatone said: Not similar to WH, but THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR seems to lean that way. Sepiatone That love was dead from the start! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomJH Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 The lovers in Maytime reunited in death as they wander through the cherry blossoms. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceA Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 Is this about those Nekromantik movies? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CinemaInternational Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 Final moments of Somewhere in Time came to mind..... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SansFin Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 Death Takes a Holiday (1934) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fausterlitz Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 What Dreams May Come (1998) -- Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra are reunited in heaven, before being reincarnated on earth (and meeting again as children) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toto Posted March 18, 2022 Author Share Posted March 18, 2022 On 3/18/2022 at 10:31 AM, unwatchable said: Forgive me, but I loathe this film. I wish a gigantic rogue wave had washed old Heathcliff and Cathy out to sea. Don't hold back with how much you don't like this film! (just kidding). I do really like Wuthering Heights but I can understand that the story and characters may not appeal to everyone. Heathcliff does turn pretty mean later in the movie and Cathy seems stuck on staying with the upper classes. They are not exactly likable characters through much of the film. However, to me the theme of the destructiveness of love (i.e., how mean Heathcliff is to his wife) is a major theme in the movie which I think is interesting. My husband doesn't like WH either. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toto Posted March 18, 2022 Author Share Posted March 18, 2022 1 hour ago, SansFin said: Death Takes a Holiday (1934) I looked up Death Takes a Holiday (1934) and it looks good. It stars Frederic March and it involves a story about the grim reaper re-entering life to learn about love. This is a pre-code romantic drama. I'll check it out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 53 minutes ago, Toto said: Don't hold back with how much you don't like this film! (just kidding). I do really like Wuthering Heights but I can understand that the story and characters may not appeal to everyone. Heathcliff does turn pretty mean later in the movie and Cathy seems stuck on staying with the upper classes. They are not exactly likable characters through much of the film. However, to me the theme of the destructiveness of love (i.e., how mean Heathcliff is to his second wife) is a major theme in the movie which I think is interesting. My husband doesn't like WH either. It is nice to see when someone understands why a movie they really like may not appeal to others (like you are doing here). For me, Heathcliff isn't a likeable character; not even close. The fact he had a strong love for Cathy doesn't overcome how much of a jerk he is. I don't view Cathy as dislikeable, but that isn't saying much. I do like the film, due to its fine production values and acting and as you note the story is a classic and interesting. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 8 hours ago, unwatchable said: Forgive me, but I loathe this film. I wish a gigantic rogue wave had washed old Heathcliff and Cathy out to sea. Perhaps you need a different translation: 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SansFin Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 4 hours ago, Toto said: I looked up Death Takes a Holiday (1934) and it looks good. It stars Frederic March and it involves a story about the grim reaper re-entering life to learn about love. This is a pre-code romantic drama. I'll check it out. I hope that you do. It is quite moving. I can say little of it because it would be spoilers but I will say that it is much deeper and far more romantic than any synopsis suggests. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unwatchable Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 I can't believe no one has mentioned this cheese: 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Proulx Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Good Bye Mr. Chips - He never got over Katherine Then, there's Love Story 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aritosthenes Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Ain't Them Bodies Saints. A Very Long Engagement. Broken Circle Breakdown. Logan. A Ghost Story. Cloud Atlas. Blade Runner 2049. Enemy. Under the Silver Lake. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aritosthenes Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 9 hours ago, Fausterlitz said: What Dreams May Come (1998) -- Robin Williams and Annabella Sciorra are reunited in heaven, before being reincarnated on earth (and meeting again as children) Film (and Performances) that Stand the Test of Time (imo). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Really James, for my money I'd go with a movie in which ONE of the lovers die and /or the other loves the dead one for the rest of their lives, or SHOWS the two lovers together in eternity at the end. All we know in R&J is that they both died. As for eternity, we'll never know....... Sepiatone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vautrin Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Gonna take a Sentimental Journey. Maureen O'Hara conks out halfway through the film due to a long-standing heart condition. Knowing her time might be short she a adopts a cute little blonde moppet so said moppet will look after hubby John Payne after O'Hara checks out. Of course this doesn't work out all that well and Payne is ready to send the kiddy back to the orphanage. Maureen starts to appear to the kid and urges her to keep on keepin' on. Eventually Payne comes around and the two settle down in a loving relationship. It doesn't hurt that Payne, a Broadway director/producer, is loaded. Pretty sappy, though there are a few good moments and William Bendix provides some I'm pretty dumb but I'm kind comic relief. Orpheus, direct by Jean Cocteau. Wonderfully imagined film set in the postwar Paris of cafe intellectual types. Orpheus' wife Eurydice dies and he goes down to h e double l to bring her back. After she's back she accidentally looks at him and disappears down yonder again. Then he is killed, they reunite and come back to life, not sadder but wiser people. Ingenious special effects and visuals and an overall magical vibe make this a most excellent film, though maybe one dying, then coming back, then going back, then the other one dying, then both coming back to life is a bit of a cheat. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unwatchable Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 13 minutes ago, Vautrin said: Orpheus, direct by Jean Cocteau. That is a superb example. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misswonderly3 Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 Portrait of Jennie 1948 Joseph Cotten and Jennifer Jones. Kind of Ghost and Mrs. Muir-ish. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unwatchable Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 7 minutes ago, misswonderly3 said: Portrait of Jennie Another great example, and what an odd film. It leaves much to the interpretation of the viewer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 "Goodbye, my loved one. No more fear. No more pain. Rest well for such a little while and then we will be together, forever." 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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