In Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldw... Read allIn Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood, a prosperous and mature bachelor.In Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood, a prosperous and mature bachelor.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 11 nominations
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe scene where Bathsheba tries to impress Gabriel and his friends by wading in to a sheep bath with them and the animals had little Hollywood glamour to it. Carey Mulligan said: "That was so much fun, although slightly disgusting by the end of the day. The sheep were doing their business in the water. The boys whinged constantly but they were wearing wetsuits under their costumes - I was wearing no wetsuit, so I was basically swimming in sheep s*** all day, which was a joy."
- GoofsIn the final scene when Gabriel leaves the farm he is wearing white trousers and white shirt with a dark waistcoat but shortly later when B catches up with him he is dressed in completely different clothes.
- Quotes
Bathsheba Everdene: It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in a language chiefly made by men to express theirs.
Bathsheba is a magnet to men with her feisty and independent behaviour, and the film documents the "love square" between her and three men in her life: Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), the hunk of a farm manager; William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), the wealthy neighbouring landowner; and Sergeant Troy (Tom Sturridge), a dashing Han-Solo style rogue, flash-as-you-like in his scarlet army uniform.
In reviewing this film I need to declare a couple of loves.
Firstly, Dorset. Of all the English counties, this has to be one of the most glorious. Green rolling hills, dramatic coastline such as that at Golden Cap (featured in the film), quaint villages and – most importantly in this context – gorgeously photogenic. Hopefully, this might tempt more visitors to stop there rather than 'driving on through' to Devon and Cornwall for their holidays.
Secondly, and with apologies to the wife, Carey Mulligan. To be clear, this is not a sordid sexually-motivated affair (although there was THAT shower-scene in "Shame") but a deep love of her acting talents and screen presence. This is a love affair long in the making, beginning ten years ago with her startling presence in Bleak House at the age of 20 (looking much, much younger); her stunning minx-like Dr Who performance as Sally Sparrow in "Blink"; and on through her breakout movie performance in "An Education" in 2009.
Where Mulligan excels is in roles where she can play a strong, confident and independent woman, so the role of Bathsheba is perfect for her. She is utterly believable as the 1870's landowner holding her own against the men-folk, and even pulling off the somewhat out-of-character plot twist half-way through the film.
The supporting cast is also excellent. The ever-reliable Sheen ("The Queen"; "Frost/Nixon") delivers a heart-breaking performance as the love-lorn Boldwood; Schoenaerts (recently in "Suite Française") is manly enough with a scythe to no doubt set female hearts a flutter; and Sturridge is deliciously unpleasant in his powerful role.
Above all, this is just a crackingly good story, through David ("One Day") Nicholls's tight screenplay. If you decide to avoid this film because it is "old stuff", think again. The roller-coaster ride of the plot gives UK and US 'soaps' a good run for their money in the drama stakes, and the denouement is both surprising and satisfying.
Direction is by the relatively unknown (to me at least) Thomas Vinterberg ("The Hunt"), but big kudos needs to go to Vinterburg's collaborator Charlotte Bruus Christensen for the stunning cinematography: some of the scenes (notably the harvesting scene towards the end of the movie) are bucolically gorgeous.
Also worth noting is the soundtrack by the brilliant but sparingly used Craig Armstrong ("Love Actually", "The Great Gatsby") which is luscious and suits the film to a tee. The woodland rendezvous scene makes your hair stand on end and this is largely down to the music combined with Claire Simpson's excellent editing.
I struggle to find aspects to criticise. I was gripped, and suitably shocked at the right moments, which is just what you want for a good night out at the movies. Having already praised the cinematography, one gripe I would have is with the lens flare at the end of the film (natural this time, rather than of the JJ Abrams variety) which was annoyingly distracting to me in the closing scene: but I recognise this is a personal complaint that I might be alone in.
Just a word of warning as well for animal lovers: that despite it being a UK 12A certificate, there are some pretty torrid scenes with sheep and a dog that might upset sensitive viewers - perhaps it should have been given a "Ewe" certificate (that joke will only work for UK readers!).
In summary, this is a treat for a more elderly audience, but should be a must see for audiences of all ages as a rollicking good tale, well told and beautifully shot.
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- bob-the-movie-man
- May 7, 2015
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Xa Đám Đông Điên Loạn
- Filming locations
- Mapperton, Beaminster, Dorset, England, UK(Bathsheba Everdene's farm)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- £12,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $12,236,500
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $164,985
- May 3, 2015
- Gross worldwide
- $30,599,369
- Runtime1 hour 59 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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