Far From The Madding Crowd * * * *

Generally I like to go into the cinema with little or no prior knowledge of the story and just let it unfold.  But sometimes it can’t be that way - if you've read it, you've read it.   However, if you haven’t read Thomas Hardy’s Far From The Madding Crowd, don't worry about it. This production is such an insightful and accurate telling of the tale, just by watching it you could almost kid someone you've done your reading. (Free tip there for any students who've got it on their reading list). Personally I love a good period drama; what with their fancy clothes and beautiful ways of clearly expressing their feelings.  They don’t break up their sentences with - “You know ...I mean like.... ….because. ..sort of…”   And they look at each other when they talk, not their mobile phone; and they don't try to converse whilst sucking on a plastic water bottle like someone on the verge of dehydration. This, apparently, is the fifth film production of the famous Thomas Hardy novel.  It’s directed by Danish director Thomas Vinterberg who gave us The Hunt in 2013 which would be one of the most frightening and disturbing films about false accusation that I have ever seen. But it was also told with great lucidity - as is this.    Apparently Vinterberg is part of some movement (or brotherhood) called Dogme 95 which swears to create films on “traditional values of story, acting, and theme” plus a few more demands. (I think most of the members have broken the rules by now but it remains a good policy). In this adaptation of Far From The Madding Crowd Carey Mulligan plays the heroine, Bathsheba Everdene.  I don’t think Mulligan has ever given us a disappointing performance and she certainly doesn’t in this role. Bathsheba Everdene is a fiercely independent woman. She  inherits a fine house and farm. But this is the Victorian era and it’s just not right for a woman to be managing a farm and staff alone no matter how successful and adept she is proving herself to be.   She needs a husband -  or some folk think so.  There weren’t too many cool bars and nightclubs in those days,  never mind Facebook or Tinder, so a girl wasn’t given much choice. Even a fine looking girl like Bathsheba. The story revolves around three men in her life who are suitors: The handsome rugged, highly competent, ever reliable farm hand; the handsome, very wealthy, but shy older man from the adjoining estate; and the handsome, fearless soldier with a dark side. Like an idiot she chooses the wrong one. You can see why this has been made into a film several times.  When it comes to storyline and character development a modern script writer couldn’t do much better than Thomas Hardy did over a hundred fifty years ago.I do not know if it was my familiarity with the story but the film almost had a building block feel about it. That is not a complaint.  In fact it was quite pleasing to see all the key events enacted and lock together to make a satisfying whole.  Not too many loose ends here. As mentioned, Vinterberg has a very clear  way of directing. The performances are strong whilst the locations, costumes and overall sense of period is convincing and beautiful to look at.This is an excellent adaptation of a fine novel.   As Bathsheba's dilemma of wanting her independence, and a partner, is probably more applicable today than ever, it would have been tempting to pull it from it’s period.  But that would be like serving a gourmet meal on plastic plates rather than fine china.  It would also have been pointless, as Vinterberg's adaptation gives us the pleasure of being convincingly transported to another place and time whilst making the story accessible and pertinent.