I guess I've seen all of the Tess movies and series, and each one has a different take on the book: Polanski is presenting Tess as a child of nature, an innocent, naive girl, a victim; then there's the ITV series, and this BBC series, most recent of all. Personally this series is the best take out of the three. Why? Here are my reasons for loving this brilliant series:
1. Tess has such hidden strength in this movie, such a strong code of conduct and morale, of good and bad. She is just crushed by the circumstances, but she is not a victim. And this is also my impression from the book, I always saw Tess as someone strong, independent, filled with passion, love and hate. I always thought the message for Tess is "Man can be destroyed, but not defeated". Plus she is not a stupid peasant girl, she tries to learn, she recites poems and likes to read. Loved that they finally depict Tess in this modern way!!
2. Angel - the most perfect Angel ever. Blood young, no experience, dreaming of a perfect world in Brazil,a bit of a hypocrite...becoming then a man in the face of adversity, waking up to see the world as it is. Polanskis Angel was definitely miscast, and the one from the earlier series was too old and artificial. THIS is the true Angel!
3. Alec - I think this is the ONLY series where Alec is not the stereotype of the villain twirling his mustache and prying the young girl to steal her innocence. There is a very deep psychology behind Alec: he tries to be good, he longs to be loved by his mother and Tess, but when he is rebuffed and refused in his advances his goodness turns to malice and violence/rape. Alec in his way loves Tess very much, but he has this type of personality that mingles cruelty with uttermost devotion. Hans Matheson is just brilliant!
4. Scenes of rape/sex/nudity - even if some might condemn the series for these scenes and say that it's got nothing to do with Hardy, I would reply that on the contrary, this is an important part of what the book is about. Hardy might have skipped descriptions of scenes (as is with Tess' rape by Alec, who is not even very well indicated in the book - it could be rape or just seduction) in order to avoid scandal, but that is why this book was so modern and revolutionary, and I am glad that someone had finally the courage to do it and represent matters as they were. The scene where Tess observes a naked sleeping Angel is so human, so real, and so sweet!
I recommend this series to anyone that loved the book, the interpretation is modern, refreshing, full of color, life, passion, love and pain.
Another BBC masterpiece! 10/10
1. Tess has such hidden strength in this movie, such a strong code of conduct and morale, of good and bad. She is just crushed by the circumstances, but she is not a victim. And this is also my impression from the book, I always saw Tess as someone strong, independent, filled with passion, love and hate. I always thought the message for Tess is "Man can be destroyed, but not defeated". Plus she is not a stupid peasant girl, she tries to learn, she recites poems and likes to read. Loved that they finally depict Tess in this modern way!!
2. Angel - the most perfect Angel ever. Blood young, no experience, dreaming of a perfect world in Brazil,a bit of a hypocrite...becoming then a man in the face of adversity, waking up to see the world as it is. Polanskis Angel was definitely miscast, and the one from the earlier series was too old and artificial. THIS is the true Angel!
3. Alec - I think this is the ONLY series where Alec is not the stereotype of the villain twirling his mustache and prying the young girl to steal her innocence. There is a very deep psychology behind Alec: he tries to be good, he longs to be loved by his mother and Tess, but when he is rebuffed and refused in his advances his goodness turns to malice and violence/rape. Alec in his way loves Tess very much, but he has this type of personality that mingles cruelty with uttermost devotion. Hans Matheson is just brilliant!
4. Scenes of rape/sex/nudity - even if some might condemn the series for these scenes and say that it's got nothing to do with Hardy, I would reply that on the contrary, this is an important part of what the book is about. Hardy might have skipped descriptions of scenes (as is with Tess' rape by Alec, who is not even very well indicated in the book - it could be rape or just seduction) in order to avoid scandal, but that is why this book was so modern and revolutionary, and I am glad that someone had finally the courage to do it and represent matters as they were. The scene where Tess observes a naked sleeping Angel is so human, so real, and so sweet!
I recommend this series to anyone that loved the book, the interpretation is modern, refreshing, full of color, life, passion, love and pain.
Another BBC masterpiece! 10/10