Far From The Madding Crowd Review - Michael Sheen Steals The Show

By Alex Leadbeater / May 5, 2015

Rating: ˜…˜…˜…˜… Far From The Madding Crowd is a story driven by the emotions of characters who repress their emotions. The heroine is a fiercely independent woman unexpectedly thrust into a position of power by inheritance, who sees advances from three potential suitors with various, complex (if not always moral) reasons for interest. But being set in late 19th Century Britain means this is all delivered with a stiff upper-lip. Getting all that across in an accessible movie without holding the audience€™s hand is no easy task and one this latest adaptation of Thomas Hardy's breakout novel seems to fail at with the very first scene, in which Carey Mulligan€™s Bathsheba Everdene muses over her odd given name in voice-over. Narration is a fine enough trait, but, in a story built on stifled thoughts, having everything explained as you go along cuts out a fair share of emotional involvement. Thankfully it€™s a one-off moment, ultimately lent power by its isolation, with the film instead going all in as a subtle, nuanced period piece. The cast can not be praised enough for achieving this, clearly understanding their character€™s innermost emotions, but having the control to rarely show them (and when they do, it€™s only through slight alterations in body language). As the lead that holds the balance of independence and romance in a pre-feminism world, Mulligan is certainly deserving of all her plaudits in this regard, not falling back on the de facto, Lizzie Bennet-inspired strength, but the real standout is Michael Sheen. Mr Boldwood, a once-jilted middle-aged land-owner facing issues of mortality and legacy, is given neither the background nor on-screen development of his fellow suitors, yet with the celebrated thespian in control that unspoken ache is palpable, his eyes moving from momentary joy to a more dominant melancholy with unmatched naturalism.

It€™s not just Sheen and the rest of the cast that make Madding Crowd a worthy film, rather than just another stab at adapting a celebrated book. Thomas Vinterberg, directing his first English-language film in ten years, accentuates his cast€™s strong work by shooting them in an on-the-face-of-it conventional, but evidently purposeful, way. Scenes are consistently angled so characters€™ faces are exactly half in shadow, mirroring how what they say and who they really are can be two different things, something heightened further by framing the actors, most often Mulligan, in profile, almost mocking the stiffness of the times. More subtle is how the camera never once leaves the eye-ball level of its characters. Not as restrictive as it sounds, this ensures that any landscape shot of the Devon countryside, bathed in light from an oversized sun or whipped by winds and snow, feels as authentic as the acting, further helping you get in line with the characters. Releasing a prestige period picture in the summer months is normally the sign of a stuffy misfire or something too arts-y for the mainstream crowd Oscar-bait attracts. The film's restrained nature may see it fall into the latter category, keeping it from being a major hit, but for all it loses in marketability, it gains in being a suitably emotive experience. Have you seen Far From The Madding Crowd? How does it match up to the 1967 version? Share your thoughts on the Thomas Hardy adaptation down in the comments.