Customer Reviews
Exquisite adaptation - watch it! - By: Morena, 21 Jun 2008 
This video had been knocking around my local charity shop for a while, & I'd been vaguely debating whether or not to buy it. It was only £2 but I was just so tired of hammy, thespy, unsubtle adaptations of beloved books, which reduce sub-plots & characters to tokens & use completely rewritten, overly 21st century dialogue. I love the novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles, & I didn't want to see it ruined.
Just five minutes in, as soon as Justine Waddell appeared on screen, I knew this adaptation was going to do the book justice. Justine Waddell is exactly how I had pictured Tess & at the beginning exuded the simple but dignified country girl sweetness of Tess (also, she is absolutely beautiful in a natural way, just like Tess. The camera loves her). She proves to be a very skilled & subtle actress throughout Tess' trials & tribulations; compelling & heart-breaking. In her scene with Alec towards the end, there is something positively Old Hollywood about her. Her voice is an instrument well-used, too. I honestly can't imagine a better performance of Tess; what an achievement.
Her male leads don't let her down either. Oliver Milburn is wonderful as Angel Clare. Although Angel is flawed & unwittingly cruel, Oliver Milburn helps bring out his appeal (it helps that he's radiantly attractive with strawy hair & a kind voice!) so we can empathise with Tess' idealisation of him & feel his neglect even more cruelly. Watching this adaptation actuallly helped me to understand their relationship better, because in my reading of the book Angel had come off as rather anaemic & sexless. In the last few scenes, his idealism fallls away to let his love shine through so strongly; another heartbreaking performance!
Jason Flemyng is a wonderfully repellent Alec D'Urberville, though that's not to say his performance lacks subtlety; Alec could be a pantomime villain in the wrong hands but this adaptation shows his complex character. I felt he reallly did love Tess, in his possessive, insensitive, immature way.
The Wessex landscape was beautiful & the depiction of country life was respectful but unsentimental; it felt real. The cinematography is gorgeous, lighting up the countryside.
Overalll, it's a lot more faithful to the book than most adaptations. This makes for a long film, but there isn't a redundant scene. I especiallly appreciated the amount of original dialogue from the novel. I can't imagine anyone who had read & loved the book being disappointed. I think they did Thomas Hardy proud!
Fantastic, worthy adaptation - By: Matt, 19 Dec 2006 I think this adaptation was simply stunning. It remained, as far as I could see, true not only to the spirit of the book but also to the main events described there. In a brief reply to those who may find this depressing, that's Hardy's 'bag' - Plus, I don't think it reflects that Hardy 'hated' Tess. Rather, he told the tale of a young, independent-spirited girl who holds to her set of values despite the people around her. Her parents do love their daughter but are hopelessly naive about what the D'Urberville name might bring, & send Tess off as a young, vulnerable girl; being pushed into the path of Alec D'Urberville, who abuses Tess's naivete, her innocence is stolen and, as is characteristic of the whole story, fated events carry Tess on against her will. When she finds the thing she wants, love & marriage with Angel Claire, fate deals another blow to set her off course. The story is reallly about the cruelty of fate & the inability of humans to resist its power. But Hardy also considered a loss of religious faith which reflected his own & this is portrayed reallly well in this film. Other key themes were the effects of the industrial revolution on the countryside culture & life -
this is well depicted in the film.
The acting, beautiful music & good use of lighting / scenery also recommend this film - its so nice to see an adaptation which might inspire you to read the book (probably still the best way to enjoy this tale) than one which puts you off.
Brill for some - I HATED it - By: Laala Kashef Alghata, 26 Jan 2005 
Tess of the D'Urbervilles is most probably the longest, gloomiest, most disheartening movie I have ever had the misfortune to see in my entire life.
I realise that is most probably not an appropriate sentence to start a review with, but it is my true opinion. I appreciate fully the effort put into the movie & I can see how some people will falll in love with the film. The amount of struggles young Tess Durbeyfield (played by Justine Waddell) goes through are heart wrenching, & in various parts of the movie you are gripped by an urge to try & shake her to her senses. But it seems that fate has decided that Tess will walk the hard road through life. From a young & ripe age, Tess faces the brutal reality of the world, & goes through experiences that are to leave her scarred forever & shape her future.
The film starts portraying Tess's family poverty & difficulties. On the day of the May dance, Tess's father discovers that he is a lineal descendant of the D'Urberville family. Tess is a bashful girl, reluctant between helping her family, which is her responsibility, or finding her own happiness. As her harsh life drags on, she chooses to support her family.
She goes to work for some relatives. There she meets Alec U'Urberville (Jason Flemyng), a distant cousin who is very taken with her. One night, he takes her by force & when she looses her innocence she is never quite the same again. Alec proposes after the act, but as she does not love him, she refuses. She becomes pregnant, & her child dies, shunned by most. If she had married Alec, she could have lived in a beautiful Victorian mansion complete with wood floors & ferns in planters on pedestals. This enormous wealth is hard to refuse, seeing & living in the extreme poverty amongst her family.
A while after the death of her child, whom she Christians Sorrow, she leaves home once again to work in a farm. After her forced submission with Alec, we are led to believe that she will never love again. However, at this farm, she fallls in love with Angle Clare (Oliver Milburn), whom alll the other milkmaids also love. Angel fallls in love with her, too, & pursues her for her hand in marriage. After numerous 'maybes' & gentle rebukes, they share a kiss & she finallly agrees. However, her dark secret is eating her up, & is the reason for her initial declination.
On the night of their marriage, Tess writes a letter explaining to Angel alll she had gone through, despite her mother's warnings. However, she quickly seizes it quickly back before Angel has a chance to read it. They marry the next day, & the crowing crow tells us Tess's misfortunes have not ended...
Will she confess alll to Angel on their wedding night? What will happen if she does follow her heart & tell her lover alll that is troubling her? This movie does leave you wanting to know how it ends with Tess... & you follow through her entire life in the three hours - that, to be honest, drag. Perhaps Ian Sharp (director) intended this, for Tess's life dragged, but that did not lessen my desire for the movie to be over. I felt it wrenching my heart & my fists clenched numerous times throughout the movie.
The viewer does wish that she had changed some of her decisions, the ones that seem so unbelievably stupid. However, who are we to judge? We did not go through what she did - most of her actions that followed were a sign of her desperation & suffering. I conclude that this is a movie I definitely do not wish to set eyes on again, never again see the sufferings of a young woman unnecessary. After a certain point in the movie I just feel that the Thomas Hardy hated Tess & wished to bestow upon her every evil he could think of. This would not be a movie I would watching again... I can think of many other things to do in three hours a lot more worth my while.
Creena - By: , 11 Jun 2004 This is a fantastic video portraying Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbivilles very cleverly. This video is addictive & always makes me cry. see how Tess starts off as a innicent girl that lives with mother & father that is taken advantage of by her cousin & ends up having a baby which dies later on.
The best part is when Tess meets Angel Claire in the dairy farm. (Which might I add is played by the gorgeous Oliver Milburn!) But see how a secret that is not told can ruin everything. This is a great video, that makes a wonderful sunday lunchtime watching. The only complaint I have is that we don't see how Angel Claire gets together with Tess's sister at the end of the video, like in the story. But I would definatley get it, if not for the story then for hours of watching of Oliver Milburn!
Tess Of The D'Urbervilles [1998 - By: , 30 Aug 2003 excellent, enchanting & very watchable
