Luis Buñel’s Abismos de Pasión, the 1954 adaptation of Wuthering Heights, transplants Emily Brontë’s iconic story into 18th century Mexico. The film was shot in black and white, with all dialogue in Spanish. In contrast with the original novel, Buñel’s adaptation only spans the short period of time between Heathcliff’s return to Wuthering Heights and shortly after Catherine’s death. Consequently, the second generation from the novel is eliminated and viewers are introduced to fewer characters, namely: Catalina/Catherine, Alejandro/Heathcliff, Isabel/Isabella, Eduardo/Edgar, Ricardo/Hindley, and María/Nelly. The plot is truly driven by the romance between Alejandro/Heathcliff and Catalina/Catherine, which alters the meaning of the film in relation to the original text.
Like previous adaptations, Abismos de Pasión uses many scenic shots, still focusing on the natural landscape that is where Catalina and Alejandro spent their childhood. There is contrast between the farm and the desert. The contrast continues with the balance between light and dark shadows that highlights characters. Many times viewers see a character walking down a dark hallway towards the light or through a light covered area, such as the many times Alejandro is shown walking through the darkness towards light. This can speak of his character, as he is often shown as shunned by all others and seeking a light or a refuge of some sort. Buñel’s use of medium shots and close ups effectively convey character emotion without showing expansive establishing shots of their exterior surroundings. The score is not very prominent, particularly because English speaking viewers are more focused on subtitles. As a result, Buñel uses different means to set the pace of the film with the constant focus on bugs. The bugs develop the characters’ cruel natures, as at one point each is shown to be both predator and prey. As the pace quickens and the cruelty develops, more animal imagery is integrated within the plot; the beginning of the film includes a shot that pans Eduardo’s room filled with butterflies, and by the end viewers are shown the image of a pig getting its throat slit.
Buñel does not entirely capture the story or overall tone of Wuthering Heights, but does successfully use Heathcliff/Cathy’s romance as the base for what Troost categorizes as an integration adaptation. He emphasizes the love story that can transcend death and remains faithful to parts of Brontë’s novel to develop character relationships. While it is difficult to jump right in to the character’s action at the beginning of the film, Buñel’s adaptation holds its own as a work separate from, but influenced by, Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.