Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1998)

A free-spirited yet naive country girl is caught between her wealthy, manipulative "cousin" Alec and the handsome, educated farmer Angel Clare in this Victorian tragedy from novelist Thomas Hardy.

Director:

Ian Sharp

Writers:

Thomas Hardy (novel), Ted Whitehead

Stars:

Justine Waddell, Jason Flemyng, Oliver Milburn

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Young country girl Tess Durbyfield goes to work for her aristocratic relatives, the D'Urbervilles, in an attempt at helping her family to raise some money. Her cousin Alec falls in love with her and seduces/rapes her.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | forename in title | relative | thomas hardy | tragedy | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Did You Know?

Goofs

In The Chase scene, Alec shows Tess a place to rest, saying: "these leaves aren't damp yet," touching them with his hands. But he's wearing gloves.

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Connections

Version of Tess (1979)

User Reviews

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.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 September 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Egy tiszta nő

Filming Locations:

Church of St James the Less, Dorney, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

London Weekend Television (LWT)

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color