Far from the Madding Crowd

Thomas Vinterberg clearly wants you to swoon while watching his spirited yet safe adaptation of Thomas Hardy's classic novel, as the director jettisons boisterous rural colour in favour of something more romantically focused. Carey Mulligan is compelling as Bathsheba Everdene, a woman who inherits a Dorset farm in the 1870s and whose beauty and capability attract the attention of three men: landowner William Boldwood (Michael Sheen); her devoted employee Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts); and caddish Sergeant Troy (Tom Sturridge) who swoops in to win her affections. The romantic outcome is abundantly clear throughout, with complexity abandoned and meaningful looks constantly exchanged. Furthermore, the conservative approach is surprising given that Dogme 95 pioneer Vinterberg (Festen, The Hunt) is at the helm. Yet the story remains gripping and the cast is wonderful, with Mulligan proving an altogether less tortured Hardy heroine than usual. Charlotte Bruus Christensen's ravishing cinematography leaves the film buffed free of grit, danger, and the sweat and dirt of outdoor toil. Still, by cranking the yearning up to eleven, you may eventually be seduced into submission.