Loin de la foule déchaînée

Far From the Madding Crowd has two of my favorite aspects: 1) The story is set in good old England back in the 19th century, which I love - especially because of the setting, costumes, and overall atmosphere. 2) There is an emancipated female character at the centre, who comes down hard on her own terms and doesn't just let herself be seduced by some male opinion - in this case, she is very well portrayed by Carey Mulligan, who on the one hand comes across as really fragile, while on the other is extremely captivating. The story flowed effortlessly, and was accompanied by an unobtrusive musical score and some nice shots of the English countryside. In short, a film that is my cup of tea, at least for the reasons mentioned above. (05/07/2016)

This film is the same as its female protagonist, both feminine and feminist (by which I don’t mean to say these two things are mutually exclusive), and it is standard, but in the good sense of the word. The honestly made costume epics of Hollywood’s classic era that Vinterberg refers to in interviews are recalled not only in the soundtrack and grand landscapes in all colours, but also in the straightforward structure of the story and the frequent use of fade-outs. Vinterberg and Nicholls do not needlessly modernise the source material; instead, they highlight what was already modern in the novel at the time of its publication (a strong and independent female character) by merely emphasising some of the protagonist’s character traits and making minor adjustments to the dialogue. The film is timeless and clearly focused thanks to the removal of the characters from the broader context of Victorian society and the suppression of the class aspect. Compared to Schlesinger’s version, the compact narrative, which is given dynamics from the start by the “will they or won’t they” of Oak and Bathsheba (rather than posing the question of which suitor will be the chosen one), makes the fact that Hardy’s book had originally been serialised almost completely unnoticeable. The effort to maintain a brisk pace (with well-designed plot twists and the introduction of new characters) and maximum cohesiveness saves the film from sentimentality, though it causes it to seem truncated in places (there was originally significantly more filmed material and it was necessary cut a lot of it out). At the beginning and at the end, it is obviously not clear enough that much more time than just a few hours has passed between events, which slightly diminishes the credibility of the decisions that the characters make. However, the authenticity never falls below an acceptable level, which is due to the actors, especially Carey Mulligan, whose Bathsheba is very contemporary and very likable in the way she is above it all (and the film thus doesn’t lack subtle humour). In fact, the level of authenticity is much higher throughout this film than it is in more than one modern romantic comedy that outwardly mocks melodramatic conventions. Vinterberg, on the other hand, respects those conventions without letting them diminish his requirements for veracity. While Schlesinger’s version was merely spectacular, this one is also believable. 80% (26/06/2015)

I don’t even know what I was expecting from this one. It was supposed to be a romance and it was a romance. Nothing more, nothing less. Perhaps I was just hoping that if nothing else, the film would offer decent acting. I was especially curious about Matthias Schoenaerts. For me, he is the most significant figure in contemporary European cinema and rightfully so, given the performances he delivers in European films. Only, the film was the kind of European romance which had no interesting elements except for the locations. Everybody is sweeter than honey even though they’re plagued by misery and adversities. An old lady might cry but I didn’t. (22/06/2019)

The combination of Thomas Hardy (the novels "Jude the Obscure" and "Trishna") and Carey Mulligan (the films Drive and The Great Gatsby) is absolutely magnificent. The novel itself is also something that I'll love to watch in older adaptations and will be melting away for a long time to come. (09/07/2015)

Impressively done, full of light and sunny shots, but still a class below, say, Jane Eyre. And while both films are formally very similar, dealing with similar things, Jane Eyre is more contemporary, rawer and more authentic. Far from the Madding Crowd has too many dream sequences that often don't even make much sense, they are more like eye-candy. It might be argued that this doesn't matter so much in 19th century Victorian England, but the opposite is true. Matthias Schoenaerts, on the other hand, is as excellent as ever and the rest sort of clicks into rhythm. Certainly not a bad effort, but there are far more interesting pieces in the same rank. Great music by the way, which heavily rips off The Village. (16/04/2016)