FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD (2015)

Genre: Romance/Drama
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge, Juno Temple
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Rating: PG
Released By: 20th Century Fox 
Official Website: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/farfromthemaddingcrowd/

Opening Day: 2 July 2015

Synopsis: Based on the literary classic by Thomas Hardy, FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD is the story of independent, beautiful and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan), who attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), a sheep farmer, captivated by her fetching willfulness; Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge), a handsome and reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), a prosperous and mature bachelor. This timeless story of Bathsheba’s choices and passions explores the nature of relationships and love ? as well as the human ability to overcome hardships through resilience and perseverance.

Movie Review:

Period love stories have always seemed to the writer as being overly dramatic and filled with awkward flirting, and Far From the Maddening Crowd seemed no different. The old-fashioned love story, based on the novel by Thomas Hardy and set in the sexist Victorian England, revolved around Bathsheba Everdene (played by Carey Mulligan), the orphan-turned-heiress / landowner, and her three suitors of different backgrounds and statuses.

In terms of its themes and imagery, the film does remind one of 2005's Pride and Prejudice, which also featured Carey Mulligan (but more on that later). In what is probably his most mainstream outing yet, director Thomas Vinterberg's wide shots of the rolling hills and dramatic cliffs is reminiscent of Joe Wright's cinematography. That aside, Vinterberg's usage of the idyllic English countryside serves as a contrast to the underlying unease throughout the film, that one wrong move would ruin Everdene. Personally though, the writer found the at-times too-vivid colours too jarring, preferring the usual misty and foggy portrayal of then-England.

As the rose amongst the thorns, and the free-spirited landowner, Everdene holds her own, mostly, when faced with three persistent suitors, shepard Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), William Boldwood (Michael Sheen) and Sergeant Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge). Carey Mulligan steps up to the role with ease, portraying Everdene as charismatic and headstrong, two much-needed characteristics to survive in a male-dominated society. Mulligan was also excellent in bringing out the weakness of the character, the wounded wife controlled by her husband, and the helpless widow in danger of losing the farm to his debts. Compared to the 2013's Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby, Mulligan's performance in this film is much more noteworthy.

An interesting side note: Mulligan played Kitty Bennett in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, the one-half of the flighty Bennett sisters, whose other half (spoiler alert!) runs off with Wickham, the good-for-nothing soldier. With her marriage to Frank Troy in this film, it makes one wonder if there were really so many soldiers in the British Army waiting to prey on naïve maidens, but I digress.

Out of the three suitors, it could probably be predicted who Everdene would end up with, although it did take pretty too long. Schoenaerts' Gabriel Oak is the Nice Guy who does not finish last (sort of), but that also means that Oak is the most boring of the three. Broody and moody for most of the movie, his most expressive parts were probably at the start, when he punishes his sheepdog. Though short, that sequence was, for the writer, the most memorable and tragic of his scenes. 

The other two suitors were comparatively much more expressive. William Boldwood starts out brooding as well, but his spiral into despair probably made the character the wildcard of the lot. When it came to character change, Sheen's portrayal of the eccentric but sedate Boldwood gradually turned obsessed and slightly maniacal, increasing the anticipation for his fateful Christmas party. And finally, the sergeant with the wolfish grin who was Bad News ? Sturridge's Frank Troy was easy to hate, even from the start, amplifying the dread felt by the audience when Everdene finally succumbs to his charms.

Sticking to what seems like a faithful retelling of the Thomas Hardy love story, Far From the Maddening Crowd is unlikely to surprise readers and non-readers (who might have read the synopsis). If anything, this is probably the fault of the material, whose status as a classic love story makes it challenging for tweaks to be made. However, its faithfulness does not make the film any less enjoyable, providing readers with the joy of seeing the characters brought to life, and non-readers a more accessible platform to enjoy the material.

Movie Rating:

(With the book's classic love story status, and long sweeping scenes of the English countryside, the movie would probably interest literature loves and anglophiles. The performances from the cast are an added plus)

Review by Goh Yan Hui