Teachers who want to expose students to a "classic" while avoiding the issues it raises should assign the movie, not the book. Far From the Madding Crowd In this passionate romantic drama, Carey Mulligan stars as a headstrong young heiress pursued by three suitors: a strapping farmer, a dashing soldier & a prosperous older bachelor. Miss Christie, however, is too sweet and superficial, and so is the film. Troy, and Peter Finch makes Boldwood strong and honorable in his love for Bathsheba. Alan Bates, in a change of pace, is the loyal shepherd. But when we get to close-ups we find that Hardy's people have been ironed out by a bland and empty "treatment." They are no longer interesting enough to absorb us for three hours. The spacious landscape of Dorset is photographed in stunning beauty, and we get panoramas of hillsides with heroic characters running up and down them. It's as if the plot and the setting were pulling in opposite directions.Īlas, when Schlesinger abandons Bathsheba's inner life and constricted universe, he's stuck with a simplistic love story and lots of pretty scenery (both of which, it should be added, will appeal immensely to a great many moviegoers). but in the end they don't seem to add up to a statement about Bathsheba and her society. There are splendid scenes of rural life - harvesting the grain, herding the sheep, etc. Schlesinger seems to shy away from this kind of social approach, preferring to supply a picturesque and charming (but aimless) movie about life down on the farm.
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