This is not the first time Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd has been adapted, but it’s certainly the finest interpretation out there. The Victorian-era story is based around heroine Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) and the fierce commitment she has to maintaining her own independence after inheriting a large farming estate from her uncle. The main challenge she faces is not of running the farm at a time when women in high positions were not taken seriously, of which she is quite capable, but of staying true to herself while a trio of suitors, all of whom are distinctive from one another, try for her hand in marriage.
It’s has been awhile since modern day cinema has seen a good melodrama that seems genuine and is full of spirit. Far from the Madding Crowd is quite lively, making it hard not to be immersed in the gorgeous world that Director Thomas Vinterberg navigates so deftly. It would be difficult to argue that this film is lacking in atmosphere, when the rich set pieces are as central as the characters themselves, lush and sunny, capturing the incomparable beauty of the countryside.
Though this is a character drama first and foremost, and the film lives or dies on Mulligan’s acting. It certainly shows no signs of dying away when the Tony Award nominated actress approaches Ms Everdene with the same elegance as Hardy portrays in his classic. She’s headstrong and endearingly determined to her work initially, slowly and subtly conveying the inner conflict that is being brought out of her by all three men.
The three suitors are necessarily at different stages and statuses, each inspiring a different side of Bathsheba, and giving Mulligan a perfect opportunity to showcase the nuances she brings to her character. First you have the genuine and gentle Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenarts) who assertively asks for her hand in marriage but is refused just as quickly. Oak is the only one of the three to know and fall in love with Bathsheba before she comes in to wealth, eventually losing his own fortune and becoming her employee. The dynamic between them is very much comparable to the millennial idea of the “friend zone.”
Oak’s circumstance is a far cry from the stern and brilliantly acted William Bloodwood (Michael Sheen) whose own estate is adjacent to Everdene’s. It’s here where the film’s pacing takes a tumble and speeds up, cutting out a whole heap of material so that Bloodwood’s brusk proposal doesn’t make as much sense as it should. Despite this, Sheen’s performance is grand, working with the mild-mannered characterisation to make Bloodwood a sympathetic character regardless of whether or not his part in the story is rushed.
After the third player in this story, Sergeant Troy (Tom Sturridge) watches his betrothal to Fanny Robin (Juno Temple) fall apart due to a ridiculous mistake, he stumbles upon Ms Everdene and is immediately sucked out of his mild depression and engaged in nothing but lust. Troy is unlikable and completely arrogant yet his soft charm whenever Everdene is around places him head and heels above her other suitors. Everdene and Troy is an integral part of Hardy’s story that cannot be stamped out of the film, yet it muddles up almost every character. Bathsheba morphs from strong to woefully naive, making mistake after mistake in the name of lust which does take away from her character.
Her erotic interest in Troy slowly unravels as his oppressive attitude becomes clearer and Fanny’s re-appearance complicates matters. This results in the melodrama ramping up and effectively re-injecting the film with excitement after a dash in the middle threatens to undo the film’s strong first quarter.
The film does suffer from it’s run time, whereas more time with these characters would have led to deeper, richer dynamics. The pace does suck some emotion out of the trio of suitors, but it makes up for this with a satisfying and well-acted conclusion.
Review Score: FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Runtime: 118 minutes
Far From the Madding Crowd is screening as part of Sydney Film Festival 2015. The remaining screening is Saturday 13th June at 1:30pm. Information and tickets can be found HERE.
Far from the Madding Crowd is scheduled for a cinematic release on June 25th through 20th Century Fox
———-
