Kristie NgMovie Review: Far From the Madding Crowd
Far From the Madding Crowd could easily pass off as a 2-hour long tourism advertisement for the rustic English countryside. With views of listless sheep grazing on vast meadows, swaddled in the effervescence of steely sun rays. It’s hard not to gasp in admiration when the shots flick and blend into one another. But it isn’t all picturesque and pleasant in this adaptation of Thomas Harding’s novel of the same title.
Directed by Thomas Vinterberg, Far From the Madding Crowd follows independent farmer turned wealthy landowner Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) as she trails through Victorian England, finding her footing (and life partner) in a male dominated society.
Not many girls can attest to having been proposed to not once but thrice by 3 eligible (and way too handsome) suitors as Bathsheba finds herself tangled with the burdens of 3 men’s affections. Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), the gentle, brooding shepherd who asks for Bethsheba’s hand in marriage by gifting her one of his lambs (how charming); William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), Bathsheba’s older, affluent neighbour; and Sergeant Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge), a bold impulsive man who pretty much founds the concept of flirting with nifty swordplay.
If the name ‘Everdene’ sounds vaguely familiar, Suzanne Collins, the author of The Hunger Games Trilogy; borrowed Bathsheba’s last name for her very own Katniss Everdeen. Inspired by the original heroine found in the pages of the 1874 novel, brought to life twice in the 1967 and 1998 remakes.
Although many elements match up (romance: check, bachelors lurkin’ around their sweetheart: check), Far From the Madding Crowd isn’t your typical Jane Austen style film remake. In fact it is quite the opposite.
The free-spirited and more than self-adequate Bathsheba refuses to be any man’s ‘property’ as she struggles between upholding her own values and taking on the assertive role as mistress of the household. After all, she proclaims with the utmost confidence to her employees on her first day that “It is my intention to astonish you.”
But Bathsheba does eventually succumb to the ultimate act of self-betrayal – she falls in love. And as aforementioned, this isn’t just a romance, there will be no happy endings… not just yet.
Although published one and a half centuries ago, the themes, troubles and situations Bathsheba goes through still resonates with the modern day Beyoncé-loving headstrong woman (all the single ladies!) as she demands to be taken seriously in the workplace, or simply refuses to be tied down.
Carey Mulligan breathes pluckiness into Bathsheba, exuding a fierce protection of her own liberation in the slightest of details. For example, the resolution in her voice when she insists time and again that she needs no man – a quality most Rom-Com female leads lack.
It is a tricky situation to navigate through but Bathsheba is a reminder that women shouldn’t diminish themselves. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. This isn’t just a period drama romance; this is a love story about a girl and her convictions, and in our opinion, we think we could do with a little more Bathshebas in this world.
Rating: 4/5
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Information:
Cast: Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen, Tom Sturridge
Rating: PG
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 119 minutes
Release date: 2 July 2015
Photos courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox