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Showing posts from November, 2012

Tess of The D'Urbervilles

After being impressed by Thomas Hardy in Under the Greenwood Tree , I saw another brilliant adaptation of his novel,  Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented . Even though this is a Victorian tragedy, I really loved watching the story unfold amidst breathtaking landscapes. The folks at BBC who produce such period dramas have a keen  aesthetic sense, the setting is the most striking feature of this four part BBC undertaking.  Lush green fields as far as the eye can see, it's nature at her best in contrast to the nature of man at his worst. And this in a nutshell is the crux of this classic novel.  The story obviously revolves around a young, pious and naive girl; Tess Durbeyfield who faces cruelty and betrayal by the men in her life. Tess is first betrayed by her alcoholic irresponsible father whose main job seems to be producing kid after kid without the paternal instinct to hold on to a job long enough to provide for his large family. Tess has

Under the Greenwood Tree

Saw a beautiful period drama 'Under the Greenwood Tree' yesterday and as always I couldn't help falling in love with the lead characters, especially Dick Dewy. This is a heart tugging adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel - Under the Greenwood Tree or the Mellstock Quire: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School. Never read the book before, but I intend to... have to find out more bout Dick Dewy. The movie starts one cold December morning when a school teacher hired by the new vicar, rides into the quaint  little rural village, Mellstock. It's snowing all around and the horse drawn carriage trudges its way through the biting cold carrying Fancy Day, the homely teacher. That one scene was enough to hook me: snow, horse drawn carts, Fancy Day's bonnet and her bulky gown... that's half the magic of any period drama. The rest half is taken up by the flawed, intense and ruggedly good looking men who take your breath away... think Mr. Darcy, Mr. Rochester, Mr. Knigh