Far From the Madding Crowd: Masterpiece Theatre [VHS]

Comment: In order to watch this region 2 dvd I bought the region free dvd player, and boy I was not disappointed! I loved the story, costumes and scenery, but most of all the acting. Actors playing Bathsheba, Gabriel, Mr. Boldwood, Troy, and Fanny, and even maid Liddy were great and very convincing.
Some reviewers were upset about several crude scenes, but I didn't think this movie was intended for children. I am definitely going to watch this adaptation again!

Comment: Of the two versions of Far From the Madding (1967 film version starring Julie Christie, Terence Stamp and Alan Bates) This version starring Paloma Baeza and Nathaniel Parker is the best. The cast is absolutely wonderful, especially the handsome Nathaniel Parker. I use to say, they don't make them like they use to(movies)until I saw this literary adaptation. The acting is superb and the sceney is stunning. I love a good well told story and this one makes the marks, with nothing spared. Everything about this period piece is so well done that I felt like I went back in time. It was not just a movie, it was an experience!

This movie ranks second to my all time favorite of the BBC productions, North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. In recent years I have become a huge fan of British literary film adaptations. No body does it like the Brits!

Comment: It was great to be able see this movie again. Thanks for making it available at a low cost.

Comment: A better dvd transfer for region 1 would be nice and so would a blu-ray transfer done with care. I have a region free player so I bought this region 2 product.

I saw the much earlier production when it was released so long ago. This is closer to the novel but leaves out a few words from the text that could have been included in the screenplay in my opinion.

"Vanity" says Oak to the gatekeeper on the toll road after Bathsheba passes by on her way to visit her aunt. This early part of the book is barely covered in the movie and is so needed for understanding.

It is her vanity that almost destroys her but causes terrible things to happen to others. She cares so much for herself and so little for others and all the while tries to make matters look the opposite. The film is subtle about her vanity while the book is not. Her vanity meets the man of similiar vanity and she marrys him. She soon learns her tragic mistake but is not much able to see it is her own fault.

But most of the others in the story can see it. Over time they lose respect for her and some start to leave her farm. Shepherd Oak is the only one who saves her farm many times but grows weary of her selfish vanity eventually. His life was saved by her when she lived with her aunt. He believes he should help her in return. The book makes more of this friendship. Oak can not save her from herself.

Of course, the ending is nicely done and pleasing.

The music, acting, camera work, and local scenery of farming are done ever so well. I really like this movie. My wish for better is due to my fondness for the novel, of course, as it has a complex plot and marvelous characters. In addition I was a farm boy in my youth and can easily see the difference between country folk and town folk.

I give it 5 stars. A feature about the making of the film would be great.

Comment: The 1967 version of Far From The Madding Crowd will always be my favorite, but this 1998 Masterpiece Theatre two-parter is a very compelling presentation in its own right. Beautifully photographed, capturing the rustic glory of the Dorset countryside and a very earthy portrayal of the novel's characters, I am very surprised that it has never been released on region 1 DVD. Surely there is enough acclaim and fans of this film to issue it in North America, especially now that John Schlesinger's epic of Thomas Hardy's novel was recently released in region 1 and it received a vast restoration of sound and scope compared to the region 2 print.

I must give particular praise to Natasha Little's portrayal of the sweet and wronged Fanny Robin, cast aside by Jonathan Firth's rakish Sergant Troy for Paloma Baeza's Bathsheba Everdene. You really feel for Fanny when she has been tricked into going to the wrong church on the morning that she and Troy were to be married. The scenes of the girl's hardships while she is with child makes me wonder if that was some foreshadowing for Hardy's later creation of Tess Durbeyfield. Baeza does a respectable turn as Bathsheba, and although she is very pretty I don't think she captured the striking beauty that Hardy's herione is described as possessing. Still, she played the role well and she established wonderful chemistry with Nathaniel Parker's Gabriel Oak. Parker is excellent, capturing Oak's essence, but for some reason I found him too old for the part (although Alan Bates was surely around the same age when he portrayed the character, but then, Julie Christie was older than Baeza when she portrayed Bathsheba). Nigel Terry as Boldwood more than matches Peter Finch's portrayal, while I don't find Firth as handsome as Terence Stamp, I feel Firth captured a bit more of Troy's rakishness and showed more dimension in the part. What I find frustrating about both film adaptations of FFTMC is that we never get to see Bathsheba and Oak kiss.
You know all along that Gabriel is the right man for Bathsheba, so you expect some kind of payoff (them getting married notwithstanding), but I guess it may be better to imagine rather than to be shown.

One thing I definately missed in this Masterpiece Theatre presentation is the wonderfully fitting music score that so defined the 1967 movie. Not that the score for the 1998 FFTMC is not good, I just felt it was lacking something. Oh well. Either way this is still a memorable version of Hardy's novel and very much deserving of proper DVD distribution. Please release it in region 1 DVD format!