Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9.5/10
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge, Juno Temple, Tilly Vosburgh, Mark Wingett, Dorian Lough, Sam Phillips, Bradley Hall, Hilton McRae, Jessica Barden, Harry Peacock, Victor McGuire, Jody Halse, Pauline Whitaker, Belinda Low, Leonard Szepietowski, Jon Gunn, Andrew Price, Thomas Arnold, Richard Dixon.
Thomas Hardy deserves his place in the pantheon of great British writers and yet any attempt to really showcase his work on film has not met with the same feeling of passion displayed in his word, lust yes, abundantly so, but not love. It has been one aspect of British cinema that has forever been tainted, it’s almost lack of respect for the great English pastoral. Something had to buck the trend of neglect and with Thomas Vinterburg’s vision and grasp of attention to detail, the 2015 version of Far From the Madding Crowd is a true cinematic godsend.
In her short but illustrious career so far, Carey Mulligan has had many defining and keenly played roles attached to her name, however, surely the finest yet is that of Bathsheba Everdene, a part once performed with refinement and wilful exuberance by the great Julie Christie and yet given a type of honest cunning and feminine power by Ms. Mulligan. The character of Bathsheba Everdene is one of the great female voices of Victorian England and it takes a woman of glowing stature to not only bring the woman who typifies the same hubris that awaited her Biblical namesake, but to bring that presence of captivated fulfilment and willing destruction out in the male leads without ever spilling over in to the realms of mawkish fantasy.
The interaction between Ms. Mulligan and her three suitors, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen and Tom Sturridge was as appreciated and as it was graceful and throughout it all, Matthias Schoenaerts’ representation of the solid, dependable and steadfast rock like figure of Gabriel Oak was as enjoyable as Michael Sheen’s slow descent into oblivion as the noble William Boldwold. Matthias Schoenaerts brought something extra to the role that was missed by Alan Bates’ original Gabriel Oak, there was something more of the studious, serious man damned by circumstance and Time to Mr. Schoenaerts performance and it made for a more realistic love story between two people that in which the 1967 film failed to capture fully.
With Juno Temple giving a fine performance as the doomed Fanny Robbin and Jessica Barden giving all to her role as Ms. Everdene’s companion, there should be no doubting the serious quality attached to this particular version of Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd. There are defining versions of plays and films, of any artistic endeavour and it’s highly unlikely that any reproduction of the author’s work will ever capture fully the artistry supplied by this entrancing cast nor the sense of lost English pastoral that comes across in waves in such faithful fashion.
A terrific film in which Carey Mulligan and Matthias Schoenaerts could well be contenders at next year’s awards season. A film of passion and glory, a film that is exquisite and timeless.
Ian D. Hall