Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1998) (TV)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Ian Sharp

Writers:

Thomas Hardy (novel)
Ted Whitehead (writer)

Release Date:

13 September 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Young country girl Tess Durbyfield goes to work for her aristocratic relatives, the D'Urbervilles, in...

Plot Keywords:

Relative | Thomas Hardy | Rival | Rape | Class Differences

Cast

Justine Waddell	...	Tess Durbeyfield
Jason Flemyng	...	Alec D'Urberville
Oliver Milburn	...	Angel Clare
John McEnery	...	Jack Durbeyfield
Lesley Dunlop	...	Joan Durbeyfield
Rosalind Knight	...	Mrs. D'Urberville
Anthony O'Donnell	...	Crick
Christine Moore	...	Mrs. Crick
Bryan Pringle	...	Kail
Debbie Chazen	...	Marian
Candida Rundle	...	Izzy
Amanda Brewster	...	Retty
Linda Armstrong	...	Car Darch
Hannah Waterman	...	Nancy
Charlotte Bellamy	...	Cissie

Runtime:

UK:180 min | USA:180 min | Australia:176 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Abbey Street, Cerne Abbas, Dorset, England, UK

Company:

London Weekend Television (LWT)

Movie Connections:

Version of Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1924)

Unforgettable

I first saw this as a 3 parter on UK ITV in 1998 and was bowled over by it - imho it's the best ever screen adaptation of any Thomas Hardy novel full stop. Over the years I've seen many films and TV plays adapted from his books many of them very good, but all of them way behind this outstanding LWT (RIP)/ A&E co-production.

Poor, pure and simple country girl gets buffeted by Fate between 2 wealthy men, one essentially bad and the other essentially good, and she nobly suffers all the emotional troubles they bring her. All of the phases of her life as delineated by Hardy are brought out in the screenplay by Ted Whitehead, who did an excellent job in condensing down a long complex novel into a mere 3 hours but still not losing anything of importance. The rosy photography is lovingly and befittingly Constable/Turneresque with so many gorgeous hues and colours of simple rustic scenes and is never rushed - Hardy would surely have approved! The anguished music reflects the emotions at all stages and complements the visual sumptuousness of it all. One very minor niggle was the sometimes sloppy sound dubbing - they presumably had to work to get the accents correct later in the studio. Jason Flemyng as Alec was suitably caddish and young Oliver Milburn was realistically idealistic. But excellent as this was in all departments Justine Waddell was still the best thing about this production: she fitted my idea of tragic Tess perfectly - was she Fated to play her? If you don't crack into a million pieces when she repeatedly whispers "It's too late" to Angel you're made of sterner stuff than me!

If you like Hardy's novels you shouldn't miss this, it's a beautiful, heartbreaking, haunting and vividly memorable version of the tragedy.