Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Writer: David Nicholls (Screenplay) Thomas Hardy (Novel)
Starring: Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge, Juno Temple
Plot: In Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood, a prosperous and mature bachelor.
Runtime: 1 Hour 59 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Costume Drama 101
Story: Far from the Madding Crowd starts as we meet the independent Bathsheba Everdene (Mulligan) who works on a family farm, with the neighbor of a shepherd Gabriel Oak (Schoenaerts) who becomes friends, leading to her first marriage proposal, only for her to refuse, wanting to remain independent.
After a tragic twist of events, Gabriel loses his farm, just as Bathsheba inherits her own farm, where Gabriel ends up working on. Bathsheba does continue to turn heads with William Boldwood (Sheen) being the latest man that wants to marry her and things get even more complicated when Sergeant Francis Troy (Sturridge) arrive on the property, leaving Bathsheba having three men wanting her love.
Thoughts on Far from the Madding Crowd
Characters – Bathsheba Everdene has always worked for a living, she has always wanting to remain independent, which sees her reject the first marriage proposal. She always attractions attention, even if that means she becomes everything she promised not to be. She will run a farm and isn’t afraid to get her own hands dirty, wanting to be fair to everybody who works for her too. Gabriel Oak is the quiet farmer that becomes friends with Bathsheba, he asks her to marry him before getting rejected and losing everything he owns, in a twist of events he ends up working for her, being her most loyal farmer, always putting the farm before rank. William Boldwood is a wealthy older man in town that wants to offer Bathsheba a chance to be his wife, he comes off fair with his offer, giving her the remaining independence, she requires. Sergeant Francis Troy is a full of himself soldier that has seen his love not turn up for their wedding, before turning his charm onto Bathsheba making her fall for everything he sells her on, never being the man she could be happy with.
Performances – Carey Mulligan is great in the leading role, showing she is one of the go to actresses for a costume drama, while Matthias Schoenaerts continues to prove himself as one of the best actors in the business, Michael Sheen shines in the supporting role, while Tom Sturridge makes you want to hate his arrogant character.
Story – The story here follows the lives of a farmers daughter and a neighbouring father as their fortunes change putting boundaries in their lives, when it comes to love and friendship. This is based on a classic Thomas Hardy novel and puts us into a world before women were allowed to independently think, with Bathsheba designed to go against the trends placed on front of her, only she doesn’t seem to make smart decisions, still trying to play into the traditions of what is known. The three love stories only have one of the three men being a sensible pick, with that same one being the only one with any sort of romantic connection about them. It doesn’t feel like this is anything we haven’t seen before, which just plays into the same old story we see all the time.
Romance – The romance shows how Bathsheba must make up her mind on three potential partners, all from different background, even though she only has a spark with one of them.
Settings – The film shows the farming like in the 1800’s and just what it would have meant to the people who run the farms, trying to find love and break boundaries.
Scene of the Movie – The storm.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Bathsheba does everything wrong in love.
Final Thoughts – This is a typical costume drama which shows how the love felt should have just been followed, instead of leading us down a trail that was always going nowhere.
Overall: Costume Drama we have seen before.
