Synopsis
A strong-willed peasant girl is sent by her father to the estate of some local aristocrats to capitalize on a rumor that their families are from the same line, but is left traumatised from her experiences.
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Cast
- Nastassja KinskiTess Durbeyfield
- Peter FirthAngel Clare
- Leigh LawsonAlec d'Urberville
- John CollinJohn Durbeyfield
- Rosemary MartinMrs. Durbeyfield
- Carolyn PicklesMarian
- Richard PearsonVicar of Marlott
- David MarkhamReverend Mr. Clare
- Pascale de BoyssonMrs. Clare
- Suzanna HamiltonIzz Huett
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
This is a wonderful film; the kind of exploration of doomed young sexuality that, like Elvira Madigan, makes us agree that the lovers should never grow old. - 100
Slant Magazine
Tess is thus an almost unprecedented example of sweeping historical epic that also functions as an intense personal meditation on the capricious vicissitudes of love and death. - 83
The A.V. Club
Not as radically stylized as Polanki’s violent Macbeth, Tess is literature rendered in consummately classical terms. - 80
The Dissolve
The film, like its source, is filled with pessimistic fatalism, but it spares no pity for the instruments of fate, painting Alec as an irredeemable villain. What, if anything, this meant to Polanski remains unknowable. - 80
The Guardian
An outstanding piece of work. - 75
Chicago Reader
Seen in the context of Roman Polanski's career it becomes something rich and strange, shaded into terror by the naturalistic absurdism that is the basis of Polanski's style. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Visually, Tess is a masterpiece, capturing in amazing detail the scenery and atmosphere of the England of yore. The film's chief drawback, however, is its lack of vitality. Instead of Hardy's passionate tale of ruin and disenchantment, Tess is cautious and reserved. - 60
Empire
Insufferably long, but very good in parts.
