An overlong and somewhat plodding screen treatment of Thomas Hardy’s novel about a beautiful English farm girl who affects the lives of three men.
John Schlesinger seems much at home with this tale of Wessex folk, and his direction is enhanced by Nicolas Roeg‘s seductive camerawork and Frederic Raphael’s script.
Set in late rural Victorian England, Julie Christie (then the archetypal modern miss) plays Bathsheba Everdene.
Christie is a little out of place in this period costume drama as a headstrong young woman who inherits her dead uncle’s farm.
The ambitious Bathsheba is torn between three very different men, dashing Sgt. Troy (Terence Stamp), wealthy landowner William Boldwood (Peter Finch) and poor Gabriel Oaks’ (Alan Bates) rude rustic. Troy finally wins her love.
The film boasts exceptional production values with exquisite photography and a stirring score.
Bathsheba Everdene
Julie Christie
William Boldwood
Peter Finch
Gabriel Oak
Alan Bates
Sergeant Troy
Terence Stamp
Fanny Robin
Prunella Ransome
Director
John Schlesinger
