Review of Far from the Madding Crowd (2015) by Ryan B — 28 Apr 2015

I typically don't care for film adaptations of literary classics and this update of Hardy's book does suffer some of the obvious pitfalls that would plague such an update (most notably the predictable story, which over a hundred years ago probably felt fresh but in today's cynical landscape, feels slightly quaint).

But Carey Mulligan brings this character surprising modernity and while the three male leads all leave something to be desired, she carries the film with ardent determination that most likely throws her in the Oscar race before it's even begun.

Vinterberg, his Dogme days clearly behind him, handles the material well and like his previous film, The Hunt, gives the film a glow that makes it look like the whole film was shot at magic hour.