Monday, March 30, 2009
Far From The Ordinary Epic
British filmmaking of the late sixties in the hands of folks like Tony Richardson, Richard Lester, and Lindsay Anderson was, like their counterparts in the French Nouvelle Vague a visual fest of cinema's possibilities. John Schlesinger's 1967 adaptation of Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd stands as more than a big ordinary epic film from the sixties because it comes from that world of creative ferment.
An important element of that mix was contributed by Nicholas Roeg, who served as Director of Photography on the film. Madding Crowd calls for shots of vast panoramic splendor of Dorset and these are wonderful indeed. But What makes the film crackle still are the times faces in fields are caught briefly or the way the details of Peter Finch's profile is allowed to go into high contrast silhouette when he comes to terms with his fate with the unattainable object of his desire, Bathshseba Everdene, played by Julie Christie.
But most impressive are some of the sequences between Christie and Terrence Stamp as Sgt. Frank Troy in the early stages of their romance. The famous swordplay seduction is a stand out, but more impressive still is the use of telephoto lenses to isolate these characters on the promenade in a highly pivotal moment in their relationship.
I am not a big Victorian novel person so I am probably the last to address the issue of Schlesinger's fidelity to Thomas Hardy's tale. But the story of three suitors surrounding a willful desirable woman is certainly a powerful archetype. Spike Lee used it to great effect in Do the Right Thing
I first saw Far From the Madding Crowd at a Sunday matinee as part of a roadshow revival package about twenty five years ago. I remember the print being adequate but not in the best of shape. The recent widescreen DVD release, on the other hand is quite lovely. One can spend three hours easily watching something with much less merit.
posted by well-executed buffet at 11:04 PM
Comments:
Post a Comment