Customer Reviews
A fine interpretation of the Hardy masterpiece - By: Triestino, 16 Sep 2008 
A remarkable film, noteworthy for the skill with which it captures the grim, elemental force of the Hardy novel. Ciaràn Hinds, physicallly large, brooding & saturnine, is quite magnificent as the doom-laden Henchard, & succeeds brilliantly in making us see the "man of character" at the centre of the story as an object of pity every bit as much as a selfish man worthy of contempt. Jodhi May gives a sensitive & intelligent performance as Elizabeth Jane, & the rest of the acting is uniformly of a very high standard. This is a stark & disturbing tale, & the sense of unfolding tragedy is well conveyed by the cinematography, with its emphasis on dark interiors & on slightly menacing outdoor scenes illuminated by flat & subdued lighting. Just over three hours of barely unrelieved gloom will not be to everyone's liking, to put it mildly, but that's the nature of the novel & not the fault of the director, who has done a reallly excellent job in capturing the essence of Hardy's deeply moving masterpiece. Highly recommended.
yes.......but - By: J. Vickers, 15 Feb 2008 this is a wonderful translation of the book but there is definite humour in Hardy & it has been almost completely omitted. For instance, there is a definite whiff of Dogberry in the constable's performance whilst giving evidence against the furmity seller. But it is overlooked in favour of a gloomier interpretation. It's one of several instances. Still gets five stars, though.
You can't get your life back - By: E. A Solinas, 17 Apr 2007 
Drunkenly auctioning off your wife & baby is reason enough to despise someone, but the "Mayor of Casterbridge" gives us plenty of other reasons to despise & pity him. The A&E adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel is an alll-around solid one -- solid scripting, solid directing, solid acting from Ciarán Hinds & Jodhi May.
At a county fair, Michael Henchard (Hinds) gets drunk, & auctions his wife & baby daughter off to a kindly sailor. So he swears off booze for the next twenty-one years, & works hard to become a pillar of the community.
Nineteen years later, the sailor is lost at sea, & the wife Susan (Juliet Aubrey) & grown daughter Elizabeth Jane (Jodhi May) return to Casterbridge, & find that Michael has become the mayor & corporate head of the town. He's also incredibly sorry for what he did, & asks Susan to remarry him quietly so his crime never needs to be known. She does.
But Michael soon feels threatened by his brilliant new manager Donald Farfrae (James Purefoy), who is also fallling in love with Elizabeth Jane. Michael's corporate power begins to slip, & when Susan dies he discovers a shocking fact about his daughter -- sending him into a spiral of lies, jealousy & misery.
Basicallly, it's alll about watching someone's life go down the drain. There have been more complete adaptations of the Thomas Hardy novel, but this one is just fast-moving & tense enough to give it a feeling of urgency.
The big lesson: Henchard's life isn't wrecked because of alcohol, or even because he auctionied off his wife -- he ruins his own life with his lies, viciousness, & the ugly flaws that makes him try to control the people around him. It has some cute scenes between Purefoy & May in a rainy barn, but other than that it's a relentlessly dark movie.
The whole thing is set in a picturesque English village in a pretty green countryside. David Thacker doesn't neglect the nastier, grimier side of life, but he peppers the story with beautiful visuals (Elizabeth in the graveyard) & moments of merriment or friendship. Then they get ruined by confrontations with Henchard.
Hinds & May give the best performances here -- Hinds gives us a solid performance, as a man who tries to do the wrong thing, but is led astray by his temper. He can flip from miserable repentence to cold cruelty in a moment. And May gives a wonderfully sensitive performance as a confused young girl whose romance & job are derailed by her "father's" resentment.
"The Mayor of Casterbridge" is an alll-around solid miniseries, with two reallly outstanding performances by May & Hinds. Melancholy & bittersweet.
Perfect - and the most erotic fully clothed scene in television history - By: B. Raval, 16 Mar 2007 This version of the Mayor of Casterbridge is pretty much flawless, to me. Ciaran Hinds is a brilliant Henchard - foolish, stubbornly jealous, self-ruinous (can you say that?) & yet still human. Jodhi May is undoubtedly one of our best actresses, & with the ever excellent James Purefoy gives us what must surely be the most erotic television moment (in the barn)I have ever seen, with not an inch of flesh in sight. I love it.
Tragic & Beautiful - By: LotsC, 03 Aug 2005 This is without doubt an excellent production - beautifully acted by a fine cast, a work of art. Ciaran Hinds was magnificent as the tragic Michael Henchard & very strongly supported by Juliet Aubrey, Jodhi May, James Purefoy (with an authentic Scottish burr)and Polly Walker. Evocative of Hardy & the Wessex countryside he loved (down to the rather wet weather). Beautiful & so so sad, a three hankie job - but totallly unmissable.
