Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

The main problem with Hardy's novel, which is largely replicated in Vinterberg's faithful adaptation, is its awkward attitude towards its lead female character. Small wonder, then, that Bathsheba draws the attention of three suitors, each one representing a different social class and a unique brand of manhood: stoic farmer Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts) stern, serious-minded landowner William Boldwood (Michael Sheen) and sexy, emotionally scarred sergeant Francis Troy (Tom Sturridge). When she inherits the farm belonging to her late uncle, she insists on running it herself - working in the fields and sacking the male workers who disrespect her authority. In a time ruled and defined exclusively by men, Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) stands apart as a free-spirited, independent young lass who refuses to bow to convention. Today, 141 years later, that same question haunts Thomas Vinterberg's sumptuous, smart adaptation - one that tries valiantly, but doesn't wholly succeed, in celebrating the strength of a character that was always somewhat illusory to begin with. At almost every turn of the deliciously gradual tale of romantic chaos, the new version is just as visually striking as the 1967 film - some of the locations are virtually identical - and is more naturally rendered dramatically, with a rough language truer to Hardy's blend of poetry and rural speech.How do you solve a problem like Bathsheba Everdene? It's a question that has plagued literary enthusiasts since 1874, when Thomas Hardy first introduced her to the world in one of his classic novels, Far From The Madding Crowd. Will Joyner of The New York Times wrote a positive review of the adaptation: 'Strangely, and to its great credit, this new Far From the Madding Crowd, which was produced by Granada Television in Britain and WGBH-TV in Boston, does not simply survive the viewer's tendency to compare and second-guess it thrives upon it.

British TV series or programme Far from the Madding Crowdįar from the Madding Crowd is a 1998 drama television film adaptation of Thomas Hardy's 1874 novel of the same name.

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy