1954’s Los Abismos de Pasion, directed by Luis Buñuel, sees the action of Wuthering Heights moved to rural Mexico. In this adaptation much of the spirit of the 1847 Emily Brontë’ novel is preserved although, as in other adaptations, the second half of the novel is omitted and characters change somewhat. The most notable change in character can be seen between the book’s Edgar and the film’s Eduardo. In the film Eduardo (Ernesto Alonzo) is a much stronger character than the novel’s rather weak Edgar. Eduardo is also more aware of the relationship between his wife, Catalina (Irasema Dilián) and Alejandro (Jorge Mistral), the film’s Heathcliff analogue. By making Eduardo a stronger character than the character upon which he was based, the film creates a great deal of drama but sacrifices the original purpose of Edgar, which was to compare with the harshness of Heathcliff.
In Emily Brontë’s novel Edgar is a kind man who trusts his wife completely. He believes that she is completely dedicated to him, and he truly loves her. He is the perfect foil to Heathcliff. Where Heathcliff is rough, ineloquent, and uncompromising, Edgar is soft, well-spoken, and willing to compromise to make Catherine happy. Even when Heathcliff returns, he trusts that Catherine will not give in to her old friend and allows them to see one another. He is accommodating and unendingly kind to the woman he has married. This is not true of the film version of Eduardo.
Eduardo is much harsher. He is crueler than the character from which he was adapted. In the very first scene of the film his cruelty is hinted at as he pins butterflies to a display. He is rough and rude to Catalina when Alejandro returns. He does not trust her and almost immediately forbids them to see one another because he is jealous of her love of Alejandro. Though he is proven to not be as strong in his resolve as Alejandro, Eduardo is not as weak as Edgar Linton was when Heathcliff entered Thrushcross Grange after being told to not come back. Eduardo is capable of standing up for himself and is not shown to be as much of a weakling as Edgar was in a similar situation.
Making Eduardo a stronger character than Edgar is not an altogether bad decision though. It simply means that in Los Abismos de Pasion Eduardo is not the foil to Alejandro that Edgar was to Heathcliff. In fact, making them more similar to one another creates a more successful drama than the 1939 adaptation. Making Eduardo a stronger character creates competition for Alejandro. It is more exciting to watch to strong characters fight for the love of Catalina than it is to watch a strong character like Heathcliff walk all over Edgar, a character so weak that he is almost non-existent in other adaptations.
Los Abismos de Pasion is a good film. It captures the spirit of Wuthering Heights, especially the passion of the characters, but it does not capture the story perfectly. This is no travesty, however; it would be nearly impossible to create a film version of the novel without changing some characters, such as Edgar, to make them more compelling on the screen. Edgar as the soft foil of Heathcliff in the novel does not translate well to film, so making him a stronger character made for a more successful dramatization.