Tess (Special Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Tess (Special Edition)
Movie Review: A marvelous adaptation, but I prefer A&E's
Summary: 4 Stars
I was surprised how similar much of the script and scenes were to the 1998 A&E adaptation, which I saw 6 years before this one....the hand scene, for example ("Which are my hands, and which are yours?" --"They're all yours"). The scenes in the carriage alone with Alec, the somewhat disturbing strawberry scene, the scenes with Angel carrying Tess and the other 3 girls across the flooded path, among others.
It always breaks my heart to see Tess' baby denied a Christian burial.
Interestingly, the actress that plays Mrs. Durbeyfield in the A&E version plays Mrs. D'Urberville/Stokes' henhouse servant in Polanski's. Instead of wearing a gorgeous blue dress in the final scenes, Tess wears a gorgeous red and black dress here.
Still good, but seemed to drag a little more. Also, Angel asks Izz (Isabel?) to run off with him to Brazil in this version. I thought it made his character seem even more despicable, though in the end he left without her.
In my shallow opinion, Oliver Milburne is more attractive as Angel, and Justine Waddell far outshines Kinski.
Movie Review: Film - five stars, DVD - three stars
Summary: 4 Stars
I agree with a previous reviewer that the DVD transfer is not as stunning as it could have been. "Tess" features gorgeous cinematography, but the DVD looks like nobody cleaned up the dirt from the film's negatives. The film looks good in daylight scenes but any scenes set at night or with grey skies looks grainy and specs of dirt are evident throughout.
It's great to have "Tess" on DVD, and the featurettes are a nice bonus since there is not a lot of information about the making of "Tess", but if this is supposed to be a "Special Edition" a two-disc set would have been more appopriate.
Even the cover of the DVD makes Nastassja Kinski look anorexic.
Talk about a DVD sacrificing quality for $$$$.
Movie Review: Not Masterpiece Theater- but well done
Summary: 4 Stars
While taking artistic liberties from the novel , Polanski's Tess is a very entertaining and beautifully filmed movie. The settings and costuming recreate the feeling of Hardy's Wessex as well as any filmed version of his works ever has.
Nastassja Kinski was beautiful in the role and although her acting can be somewhat wooden at times she does make a memorable Tess. The rest of the cast make up for her shortcoming by providing outstanding performances.
The pace tends to slow in certain parts of the film but if you are a fan of period films loosely based on classics you can do worse than spending some time watching this.
Movie Review: Shabby Treatment of Tess - Columbia screws up again!
Summary: 3 Stars
Roman Polanski's film of Tess finally makes it to DVD but in such a poor transfer that it hardly seems worthwhile. This is a film of rare beauty in so many ways and long awaited so why have Columbia given it such a cheap and nasty transfer to DVD.
The print is not new and not restored. The colours are bright and true but there are loads of artifacts, scratches, dots, jumps, speckles etc throughout the film.This is a 3 hour film and there are very good extras, 72 minutes worth, taking the running time to over 4 hours. Columbia decides to cram all this information onto a single disc and naturally the picture and sound quality suffer. If they had gone to a second disc this would be improved but the print used is still far from perfect.
Important also; this copy is not the 'roadshow' version that played the major cities on its initial release with the intermission and musical overtures, however they have left the exit music at the end but cut off the final few chords!!!
Even worse is the sound quality. This was one of the first major features to use 'Dolby Stereo'. On its initial release the sound was flawless with a very lively surround track and great depth that particularly showed off the luscious score by Phillipe Sarde. The print used here has not been enhanced for 5:1 and doesnt even seem to have been remastered for DVD. Throughout the film there are wierd low frequency rumblings and distortions, and more irritatingly 'hiss'. These episodes come and go but generally the sound balance is all wrong. When the surround does come to life it leaps into life but with strange sounds coming from strange places in the sound stage.During the Stonehenge sequence at the end of the film when there is supposed to be spiritual activity coming from the surround channel, on this DVD version sounds like a party going on nearby. Very disturbing at the climax of the film. The sound levels are inconsistent throughout - sometimes very loud followed by too quiet and I found myself consistently reaching for the remote.
This is yet another blunder by Columbia as it is sold as an overpriced SE. Which means that we are unlikely to see a decent transfer in the next 10 years.This is a shabby way to treat such a special and beautiful film after so many years of neglect. Buyer beware!
Movie Review: Not such a special edition
Summary: 3 Stars
Columbia's DVD of Tess is doubly disappointing - not only is it a disappointing transfer but it's also the cut version of the film, which tends to lose a little heart and more than a little irony. There's still much to admire, from the beautiful Scope cinematography and Phillipe Sarde's superb score to Polanski's feel for time and place (even if it is shot in France rather than Wessex) and, ironically, sexual prejudice, although Nastassja Kinski never really convinces in the lead and Leigh Lawson's despoiling cad seems constantly on the verge of twirling his moustache. The murder still seems a plot contrivance, although it does throw in one great moment of vintage Polanski with a spot of blood on the ceiling.
Still, at least the 72-minute documentary is very good.