Rent Tess (1979)

Period Drama. - Tess review by Steve

Sumptuous, detailed and deeply moving version of the Thomas Hardy tragedy. When a much loved classic novel is turned into a film, sometimes the book of our memory comes into conflict with another imagination. But no complaints here. Roman Polanski does a magnificent job.

For me this is the best Hardy adaptation (by a long way), and of any Victorian novel. The Wessex on screen is magnificent, winning Oscars for art direction, costumes, and cinematography. It is stunning from panorama to close-up. The sunrises and sunsets linger in the memory.

The long story is adapted with understanding and finesse with the conclusion at Stonehenge particularly effective. It has an epic quality and runs for nearly three hours, but there are no longueurs.

Does every man who reads the novel fall in love with Tess? This is a heartbreaker of immense literary power. And the magic works on screen, with 17 year old Nastassja Kinski a most poignant heroine. Her screen presence never overwhelms the character's naivety and passive virtue. Her beauty is haunting. Hard to imagine how this could be improved.

Kinski Rocks - Tess review by PT

The young Kinski is absolutely superb at breathing life into Hardy's Tess.

An innocent young lady, who through no fault of her own, suffers suffering on top of suffering. Beautiful countryside caught in panoramic shots compliment the beautiful Tess, culminating in the heart breaking ending. An emotional classic.

A great romantic story - Tess review by Philip in Paradiso

Nastassja Kinski is Tess in this madly romantic film by R Polanski, which is faithful to the novel by Thomas Hardy and captures the atmosphere in the book, transferring it over to the screen. It is a beautiful film and N Kinski is simply so utterly beautiful herself that she dominates the narrative effortlessly. It should be said that the movie is as good as it is simply because the story is so compelling and moving, as written by T Hardy.

I would have a few reservations, however. First of all, the pace of the film is quite slow and the film is perhaps a bit too long (2 hrs 45 mins or so). But one could argue this is in keeping with the novel by T Hardy. Second, N Kinski's acting can feel a bit limited in its range at times: she tends to look cross, embarrassed and/ or pouty a lot of the time, as if this were what Tess's part and fate demand.

It is still a beautiful film that I recommend and enjoyed watching.