Review of Tess (1979) by Alice . — 13 Jun 2011
Wonderful adaptation (well, according to Wikipedia, anyway, it seems to almost completely match Thomas Hardy's book) of "Tess of the d'Urbervilles". I loved the story, it was heartbreaking but I can't really dock it stars for that.
Not all movies are meant to mindlessly entertain. It had themes of feminism, classicism, traditional living vs. modernism, Paganism vs. Catholicism, rape vs. seduction, etc. It's deep. It's beautifully filmed (won an Oscar for Cinematography), Polanski, despite his reputation, is a brilliant filmmaker, I love everything he does, which is why I rented it.
Nastassja Kinski, mostly unknown at the time, is brilliant in her role (guess talent runs in the family - fortunately not the madness of her father, Klaus!). I enjoyed watching all the special features, it's really neat how they filmed this, so much hard work that wouldn't need to be done today, taking new effects and CGI into consideration.
It's long, but it's an epic, and I can't imagine cutting it. Reading all about the book (or the book) teaches you so much that you wouldn't possibly pick up without it, especially the Pagan themes.
Loved it, highly recommend it.
This review of Tess (1979) was written by Alice . on 13 Jun 2011.
Tess has generally received positive reviews.
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