FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD DELIVERS DELIGHTS AND DECIDES……
This is a star studded cast – Michael Sheen starred in The Queen, Matthias Schoenaerts in Rust and Bone and Carey Mulligan in The Great Gatsby. The truly memorable story of Far From the Madding Crowd is in itself a gem for directors to work on. In some ways a story more suiting to the female viewer, yet in others a magnet for a male audience too, this film really does grab the attention though is a little slow to warm up. Thomas Hardy – (1840 – 1928) the writer of the novel which has already been made into a film previously, is one of Britain’s most respected Victorian writers whose work is studied in schools and universities as we all know, though Hardy was said to be something of a mysoginist with his own family – unsurprisingly in the time he lived in perhaps. …
This is a saga which takes place in the Wessex countryside ( a name Hardy coined for some of his work) and when Bathsheba Everdene inherits a farm and a fortune, the suitors start to line up when she has told all her workers she is now Mistress of the business – including sheep and corn farming. Dewy-eyed, intelligent and suitably craggy male admirers all have their turn in declaring their love for her but she falls for the cad and then finds a “can of worms” of lost love and intrigue and exploitation whilst another of her admirers looks on intelligently. The love and seduction scenes with her chosen beau are a veritable and surprising sight to behold. But she moves on, times change and thesuddenly n they don’t – all will be revealed when you see the film’s story unfold with Bathsheba just managing to hold on to her lead in the enchanting story mostly surrounding her personal and love life.
The backdrops of countryside and the use of enchanting horses, sheep, geese and sheepdogs together with sunsets, weather changes, and haystacks aplenty add to the allure of this totally convincing though rare tale of this lady’s role as the desired and the desiring. Actress Carey Mulligan had a hard job to do and with the sensitive directing from Thomas Vinterberg, she managed to achieve her feminine centre-of-attention lead and is believable in her innocence about love and men whilst being seduced by her admirers. She knows she needs to be tamed, and eventually she does succumb to one man – I won’t spoil your enjoyment of the plot further – see it and find out if you can watch it all without an increased heartbeat, a giggle, or a discreetly shed teardrop. Most suitable to the hopeless romantic or to those with the secret love we hold for someone in all of us. I give it a thumbs-up especially with the wonderful crew and cast in tow. Far From the Madding Crowd? Which crowd would that be?
Director – Thomas Vinterberg, Stars – Carey Mulligan, Michael Sheen, Matthias Schoenaerts. Gabriel Oak and Tom Sturridge.
(119 minutes) At London cinemas now.
Penny Nair Price.
Running time:- 119 minutes