If you're a big Thomas Hardy fan like I am, or if you're a fan of the British writer David Nicholls (One Day, Us) you might be a little bit excited about the new adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd that's just been released in Australian cinemas. Nicholls has worked with Thomas Hardy's novels before, adapting the more well-known Tess of the D'urbervilles for the BBC, and I think his deep connection with Hardy's themes of class, gender, and the improbability of circumstances and luck is clear in his own writing, where happy endings are not mandatory, and rabbits are not pulled out of hats just to make true love conquer all.
For those of you not familiar with the story (and I'll admit that while I own the novel, I haven't yet read it but I will, I swear), I'll do my best to bring you up to speed, but remember that the novel and the film will be two completely different texts. The film follows Bathsheba Everdene, a young orphaned woman who comes to work on her aunt's farm. She's a spirited but hardworking young woman (played in the film by Carey Mulligan) who finds her unusual name uncomfortable to hear said aloud, but has no idea as to why she was given the name as her parents are no longer around. While out on a ride, she catches the eye of Farmer Gabriel Oak, who owns 1000 hectares of land and 200 sheep or so, and is doing well for himself. The two become friends, but when Oak proposes marriage to Bathsheba, she refuses, saying that she likes the idea of being a bride, but only if she doesn't have to have a husband afterwards. Her ideas at this point in the film are quite ahead of her time (the late 1800s), and this makes her easy for the modern viewer to relate to. She believes in working hard, and equality for the sexes, and this is an aspect of her character which grows stronger over the course of the film, though she is not without flaws. She also believes that it will be uncomfortable for her to marry Oak as he is a landowner and she has no property, no name, only an education.
Time passes, although how much is unclear, and Bathsheba leaves her Aunt's farm to take her place as the owner of her own estate, left to her by her Uncle. But for Oak, fortune has not been so favourable-- in a particularly distressing scene, a young and inexperienced sheep dog chases all of Oak's sheep over the edge of a cliff, leaving him destitute. He sells his farm, leaves town, and heads out on the swag in search of work. Their fortunes well and truly reversed, Bathsheba and Gabriel meet again. After he saves her property from a fire which threatens her barn, she hires him as shepherd and superintendent of her farm (which mostly produces grain) and keeps his counsel as her trusted and truest (perhaps only) friend.
Gabriel is not the only person in pursuit of Bathsheba's heart and hand in marriage anymore. At the sales yard, when Bathsheba and her wares are slighted by buyers because she is a woman, she catches a glimpse of the town's most eligible bachelor, Mr Boldwood. Boldwood is her neighbour, an older man with a surly and miserable countenance but a large fortune. She at first thinks he may be an ally but he too slights her in the marketplace, and later, she and her companion Lyddie decide it would be a good idea to send him a Valentine's Card in jest. Mr Boldwood takes her rather seriously, however, and he too asks for her hand in marriage. She says she will think, as the idea of her saying no makes him visibly miserable. As he waits for her answer, his slide towards obsession becomes clear as the sides of his hair turn whiter and whiter. She eventually refuses him, after a 'change of heart'.
Cap off this amazing storytelling with the gorgeous cinematography and scenery and you have a film that I want to sit through again and again and again. I haven't even had a chance to mention the comedy provided by Lyddie or the complexities of the Frank> Fanny > Bathsheba plot, but I really must leave something for you to find and delight in when you see it for yourself.
Favourite film of the year? Perhaps, but it is only June.
Five stars. Will see again and will definitely read the book. Bravo.
Hi there Emily - I've just found you!!! I have to confess I read this at school (along with Wuthering Heights) but remember little of it. However... I'm keen to see the movie and am glad you enjoyed it. I love that the adaptation's done (a classic) justice!