Register  |  Sign In
View unanswered posts | View active topics It is currently Fri Mar 29, 2024 1:18 am



Reply to topic  [ 7 posts ] 
 Far from the Madding Crowd (2015) 

What grade would you give this film?
A 100%  100%  [ 3 ]
B 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
C 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
D 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
F 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Total votes : 3

 Far from the Madding Crowd (2015) 
Author Message
Let's Call It A Bromance
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:22 pm
Posts: 12333
Post Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)

Image

Quote:
Far from the Madding Crowd is an 2015 British romantic drama film directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starring Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge, and Juno Temple. It is an adaptation of the 1874 novel of the same name by Thomas Hardy. This film marks the fourth time this novel became a film: the second version was directed by John Schlesinger in 1967 with Julie Christie.


Sat May 02, 2015 9:05 pm
Profile WWW
Pure Phase
User avatar

Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 7:33 am
Posts: 34865
Location: Maryland
Post Re: Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
Danish art-house director Thomas Vinterberg delivers a rousing interpretation of the seminal Thomas Hardy novel Far from the Madding Crowd, one as sumptuous in its aesthetic as it is focused and taut in its construction. I say taut in part because it is around 50 minutes shorter than the version John Schlesinger directed in the late 1960s with, among others, Julie Christie and Terence Stamp, excising certain veins of roadshow-era pageantry indulged to memorable result by Schlesinger. I consider both adaptations perfect films, and they complement rather than replace or feud with one another in my mind. In only one area, mentioned below, do I have a clear preference.

For those entering the new film uninitiated, the well-known story of romantic indecision amidst an agrarian set in Victorian England turns on Bathsheba (Carey Mulligan), a beautiful and headstrong woman with a fierce sense of independence. She turns down an earnest, if impulsive proposal from local shepherd Gabriel (Matthias Schoenaerts, a chiseled and riveting brooder) and soon after inherits her uncle's fortune and farm, resulting in a level of agency rare for any 19th-century woman. There, she enters the orbit of two other men: a volatile soldier (Tom Sturridge, decently glamorous and narcissistic, but nowhere near as smoldering and vividly masculine as Stamp) and a well-established landowner (Michael Sheen) reserved to the point of emotional constipation and prone to confusing what he covets with what he loves. Gabriel, too, returns to her, his social standing diminished by tragedy, but his sense of calm and respect for the natural world still in place. As she strives to prove herself as the head of the farm, Bathsheba flirts with and evades the men, drawn to each in turn, yet afraid of losing her identity and influence.

With his heroine Bathsheba, one could argue Hardy created an early feminist character, and this film smartly foregrounds such a notion, and the result is tender and, in a curious way, buoyant, even as the story winds through grim twists and turns. It is the tale of a lust-driven proposal gone awry and the trials and tribulations which ultimately bring the lovers together again, both wounded, but also renewed, enlightened, empowered, and on a more level playing field. The film also honors the novelist's fascination with the land and humanity's choice to either try to conquer the earth or simply live in tandem with it. Largely shot on location in Dorset, the birth place and chief inspiration of Hardy, it is a gorgeous production in every way, from the sweeping locales (anyone claiming the horse-riding sequences are not swoon-worthy is without a pulse) to the most minute costuming or staging detail. The dialogue, the intrigue, is never far removed from a tactile sense of life under the sun in a field. And the cast is outstanding, led by a radiant Mulligan, embodying Bathsheba at her most courageous and at her most vain with equal clarity and grace, and further highlighted by a particularly transfixing Sheen, heartrending as an individual whose outward steel resolve only thinly disguises a fragility inviting self-destruction.

A

_________________
ImageImageImage

1. The Lost City of Z - 2. A Cure for Wellness - 3. Phantom Thread - 4. T2 Trainspotting - 5. Detroit - 6. Good Time - 7. The Beguiled - 8. The Florida Project - 9. Logan and 10. Molly's Game


Sun May 10, 2015 5:45 pm
Profile
New Server, Same X
User avatar

Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:07 pm
Posts: 28277
Location: ... siiiigh...
Post Re: Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
The only period drama David doesn't like is Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

_________________
Ecks Factor: Cancelled too soon


Sun May 10, 2015 8:27 pm
Profile
Rachel McAdams Fan
User avatar

Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 11:13 am
Posts: 14544
Location: LA / NYC
Post Re: Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
This was decent, but also disappointing. Carey Mulligan and Matthias Schoenaerts were both great and the scenery was lush and gorgeous, but the whole thing felt unusually rushed. Various events would happen with almost no development and it ultimately lessens the impact. It also makes no sense why Mulligan's character would even show an interest in the two other romantic interests after her characterization as this feminist free-thinker at the beginning (in terms of the performances behind these characters I found Tom Sturridge incredibly bland and Michael Sheen decent in an underwritten role). The whole thing also gets a little soap-opera-esque by the end with the twist involving Sturridge's character. Juno Temple is wasted in a role that serves little purpose. It's worth seeing, but far from some sort of masterpiece. B-


Sun May 10, 2015 11:51 pm
Profile YIM
Wallflower
User avatar

Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2004 4:53 am
Posts: 34875
Location: Minnesota
Post Re: Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
I loved it! Gorgeously shot and Mulligan is very lovely. Some beautiful imagery here. My only major complaint is that it does indeed feel rushed. I feel like big chunks of the story must have been left out. It's already 2 hours but I feel like it needed to be longer. Too much happens in this amount of time.

But aside from that I enjoyed this a lot.

9/10 (A-)


Thu May 28, 2015 12:50 am
Profile
Let's Call It A Bromance
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:22 pm
Posts: 12333
Post Re: Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
I really liked it. The entire thing is beautiful to look at and Mulligan is in her usual top form. Though I feel the film belongs more to Schoenaerts who really makes the film his own and him and Mulligan share excellent chemistry. I also thought Sheen was at some of his best here.


Fri May 29, 2015 9:07 am
Profile WWW
Iron Man

Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2004 9:15 pm
Posts: 622
Post Re: Far from the Madding Crowd (2015)
I was unfamiliar with the novel or the previous film based on this story, so I thought it would be conventional, and a lesser entry in the British romantic period drama genre. I guess my low expectations elevated my enjoyment level. It is a very well shot film; the cinematography is to die for and the directing is a surprise (considering the director's previous features were The Celebration and The Hunt). Carey Mulligan is predictably superb, and I enjoyed Matthias Schoenaerts (in a very different role from Bullhead) and Michael Sheen. At some points the storyline does feel abbreviated in a way, as if the editor was trying to keep the running time under control, but that does not diminish its impact. A-

_________________
Image


Thu Aug 06, 2015 1:44 am
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Reply to topic   [ 7 posts ] 

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 40 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group.
Designed by STSoftware for PTF.