"The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," a feature-length 1996 television costume drama produced
by the British Broadcasting Corporation, was seen here on broadcast TV in 1997. It was
based upon the little-known book of the same name, published in 1848, by the Victorian-
era British author Anne Bronte. She is the least-known of the three famous Bronte sisters,
all of whom specialized in moody works set on England's scenic moors, upon which they
were raised. Emily Bronte, of course, gave us Wuthering Heights ; Charlotte,Jane Eyre.
And some of us probably can't help thinking that were Anne not a Bronte, this work
would neither have survived, nor have been adapted for television, as it's rather heavy
going.
It concerns Helen Huntingdon, in flight from an alcoholic, brutal, but wealthy and high-
status husband, Arthur Huntington. She has taken her young son Arthur, and taken up
residence, as the dour and mysterious Mrs. Helen Graham, in a rundown Hall on the
moors. It's not long before a handsome young yeoman farmer of the vicinity, Gilbert
Markham, takes an interest in her, and her son. It's also not long before malicious gossip
about her begins to circulate around the isolated village to which she has moved.
Much of the movie is set on the moors, and it has received the typical lush BBC treatment
in the matters of location shooting, costumes, set decoration, carriages, etc.
Unfortunately, while the camera whirls around and around, it doesn't succeed in making
the production any less static. Mind you, I see where some other reviewers have
complained about gratuitous scenes of sex and violence thrown in; but some of us may
find them a bit of a relief. And the frequent flashbacks can be a major source of
confusion.
Furthermore, let's be perfectly clear about this: the underlying 1848 book was an
important early proto-feminist document. I've not read it for many a year, but its filmed
treatment lays out mercilessly the frustrating, restricted lives of women at that time,
ranging from suffering under benign domestic tyranny, to their extreme difficulties in
making independent livings, or living independently, to the fact that, upon marriage, a
woman, her money, and any children she might have, became the property of her
husband. On those grounds, book, and any treatment thereof deserve respect. But surely
not affection.
Tara Fitzgerald (Waking the Dead); stars as Helen: she's a beautiful woman, high of
cheekbone; her beauty survives even a possibly historically accurate, but surely
unfortunate hairdo. She's also a very likable actress; it was an excellent idea to cast her as
the not-easy-to-like Helen, preachy, holier-than-thou, and severe. In fact, Helen can
perhaps best be compared to the 20th century American figure Carrie Nation. Many of us
may agree that Ms. Nation's heart was in the right place. She was a suffragist; she
opposed the consumption of alcohol because she thought it had many undesirable results.
And let's say we're in agreement with her: still,Carrie with her axe, laying waste to bars,
in support of Prohibition,could not have been a pleasant sight. And, at times, Helen
Huntingdon seems only to lack the axe. (So let us not forget that Bronte pere was a
clergyman, and, in fact, must have been one tough old bird: in his seventies, one day, he
drank down a bottle of brandy, then submitted to what must have been an excruciatingly
painful cataract operation.) Well, anyway, a modern audience may have trouble deciding
who'd be most unpleasant to live with, Helen; or her hell-bound husband Arthur. As
beautifully played by the handsome Rupert Graves (V for Vendetta ); he clearly is
dissolute, and will come to an early, bad end; but he's charismatic, recognizes his own
limitations; gives every sign of having a sense of humor, even about himself. (It seems
likely that the author modeled him on the fourth Bronte child, the only boy, Branwell.
That weak young Bronte, son of a clergyman and in a household of brilliant women, was
an underachieving alcoholic, an opium eater, and died at age 31.)
Toby Stephens (Jane Eyre ) is a handsome, sexy Gilbert Markham, yearning to lighten up
Helen and her life: he lights up quite a few scenes. And Pam Ferris (Rosemary & Thyme
- The Complete Series) does good work as his mother, Mrs. Markham. As to the DePue
subtitles report: thank goodness, the production has them, as you're getting all kinds of
country accents. But the BBC has again made the subtitles rather tricky to access. This
production has its virtues; but it wouldn't be to everyone's taste. It's not to mine.