Review of Far from the Madding Crowd (2015) by Marina A — 28 Apr 2015

Thomas Hardy isn't exactly peaches and cream and squeezing out the romance from his tale of trials, tribulations and hard-to-get-to happy endings, can be difficult but done right, the final moments should be full of elated love and Thomas Vinterberg's Far from the Madding Crowd doesn't quite get there.

The movie is gorgeous, unsurprisingly considering it is shot by Vinterberg's long time cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen, the performances are wonderful all around - Carey Mulligan is particularly great bringing a humanity and likeablity to the character I haven't really seen before (Bathsheba has always come across as a self centered tease) - and the men are all adequately charming (Michael Sheen is particularly good), but the final act, and particularly the final scene, doesn't have the emotional punch the movie works up to. It certainly looks stunning (all passionate kisses should be shot under glorious sunrises with swelling music) but doesn't carry the emotional power that the nearly exact replica of a scene in Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice has.

I liked it well enough but I didn't love Far from the Madding Crowd.

That all said, the best thing about the movie is Craig Armstrong's spectacular score. One of the best I've heard in some time.