Thomas Hardy's romance of tragedy comes to the screen handsomely produced, with a fine cast and carefully interwoven human dramas, yet it is somewhat embalmed, lacking an inner-fire we in the audience can latch onto. The film might have been more exciting intrinsically had it not been preconceived as a tableaux picture--an awards-grabber; it looks quite beautiful, yet it's too steady, too smooth and slow. Julie Christie is lovely but somewhat monotonous as a fickle lass in Victorian-age Wessex who leads on three different men. The trouble with the film is, we are never sure if she's aware of the damage she's doing (if so, is she ashamed, is she ultimately a masochist who enjoys the game-playing or, if not, is she so guileless she's unaware of her treachery?). Perhaps Hardy's book makes the young woman's behavior more clear, but here we are never allowed to get inside her head--she's an enigma. Supporting performances are very fine, but unfortunately the screenplay leaves them all stranded by the final third, where the picture goes awry, leading to a cold finish. Terrific cinematography by Nicolas Roeg, and Alan Bates in particular is heartbreaking, but the movie is too low-keyed to make a big impact. **1/2 from ****
Review of Far from the Madding Crowd
