Tess of the d'Urbervilles
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Gemma ArtertonBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Stereo; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Stereo
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 212 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-01-13
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Worldwide
Product features:
- A passionate, sensual and very modern version of Thomas Hardy's infamous novel, combining young, upcoming acting talent with recognisable and much-loved faces. When the beautiful and innocent Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy D'Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting the manipulative Alec proves to be her downfall. Starring Gemma
Movie Reviews of Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Movie Review: A Haunting Story
Summary: 5 Stars
I've never read the book before, and this was my first time watching a film adaptation of this story. Its funny because I accidentally started watching it, but within a few minutes I found myself captivated by this movie. By the end of the first two hours I found myself hating Alec for what he did to Tess. However, near the end I almost started liking him, which really surprised me. Even though he was a bad person his character was a tortured soul. He cared for Tess as much as he could care for anyone. He even tried to make things right by marrying her. I actually felt sorry for him as she kept rejecting him. I knew that he had never changed, but I felt that he really did care for her. Perhaps it was more so lust than true love that he had for her. I also felt sorry for Tess. I felt sorry for both of them if that is possible. I didn't quite understand the whole mistress thing though. I came to the conclusion that he wanted to marry her, but he couldn't because she was legally still married to Angel. She was his only lover though, so in theory they were married, but just not legally. Perhaps Alec didn't deserve death either. He told her that her husband wouldn't come back, but even Tess thought he wouldn't come back. I didn't think he was coming back either. I understand that she was exacting revenge upon the man who had essentially ruined her life. However, she also played a part in her own destruction. I felt her biggest downfall was telling Angel about her past. I suppose that was part of her characteristic purity. Angel was not as effective of a character as Tess, or Alec. I didn't hate him, or like him much. He was a wet mop of a character. His weakness was interesting though because it almost made it seem that Alec was more in love with Tess, or at least more passionate. Fate played a large part in everything else that happened to Tess. It seemed as though the murder of Alec was her way of finally taking fate into her own hands. Anyway, this movie had me crying for quite a while. The ending where she recreates the May Dance scene was also tragic. The only way for her to have had a happy ending would have been if Angel had fallen in love with her before she fell from grace. I took peace in the fact that at least she was set free in the end. In any case, this is a haunting story that lingers in the mind.
Summary of Tess of the d'Urbervilles
TESS OF THE D'URBERVILLES - DVD MovieTen years have passed since the BBC last produced Tess of the d?Urbervilles, then starring Justine Waddell, and this new four-episode miniseries based on Thomas Hardy?s Victorian novel does well, again, by sticking closely to the original plot. Gemma Arterton this time brilliantly portrays Tess Durbeyfield, a character whose blend of naiveté and sexual allure makes her a guy magnet. Arterton?s long, dark hair and fair skin alone are the model of Gothic beauty, and her acting imbues Tess with the sweetness that helps maintain viewer sympathies as Tess embarks on a road of endless hardship. As the story is chock full of heated drama, each hourlong installment shows how Tess endures drastic emotional and social life change, leaving one feeling both exhausted for her and craving to witness more of her strength. As far as literary characters go, Tess warns young women to the wild ways of men and inspires all to strive for honesty. The morality implicit to the story is made apparent in this BBC version, and leaves the viewer questioning the effectiveness of Tess?s stringent moral sense, especially by today?s different sexual standards. Tess, in 2008, seems permanently punished for something that not only was not her fault, but also that may be unfortunately more common than perhaps it once was, namely teenage pregnancy. Episode One launches directly into Tess?s early meeting of her true love, the seemingly heroic Angel Clare (Eddie Redmayne). But her family?s poverty trumps the crush; once her robust parents John Durbeyfield (Ian Puleston-Davies) and Joan Durbeyfield (Ruth Jones) discover their hereditary ties to the royal d?Urbervilles, they send Tess off to a mansion to inquire for work. It is there that she encounters the villainous predator, Alec d?Urberville (Hans Matheson), and the tensions between a story about an upwardly mobile lady and a lady doomed by fate begins to take hold. The loss of Tess? child and Tess? inability to gain respect following her un-Christian motherhood comprise the next two episodes? story. In these, we witness women bonding against a society of men who judge Tess too harshly. There are her loving sisters, like Liza-Lu (Jo Woodcock), and the girlfriends who support her through her milkmaid career and worse. As Tess, however, reunites with Angel and agrees to marry him, tragedy is foreshadowed by her dearest friend, Retty Priddle (Emily Beecham), who withers from jealousy. The closer Tess comes to happiness, the more those around her suffer. Once Tess experiences an ultimate shunning, without giving away too much, dire circumstances prevail.
Episode Four reminds the viewer of the destructive aspects of Tess? aggressors, Alec and Groby (Christopher Fairbank), her employer who works her like a horse. By the time forgiveness arrives for Tess, it is too late. This version of the story explores less its sexual connotations, as does Roman Polanski?s Tess, relying more heavily on the scales shifting hour to hour from fortune to failure and back. The whole viewing is a roller coaster ride, well-worth every moment to be reminded of the ways this classic tale lives on in its application to contemporary life. --Trinie Dalton
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