BOOK TO MOVIE ADAPTATION: FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD
The legendary British novelist and poet Thomas Hardy showed more than century ago his talent for the first time with the novel Far From The Madding Crowd. At the beginning the author decided to publish the story without mentioning his name as a monthly serial Cornhill Magazine. Thanks to the decision he won many followers in short terms.
The book was released in 1874, but was rewritten on two occasions in 1895 and 1901. The novel is 464 pages and still gathers positive reviews. Currently Far From The Madding Crowd is standing with average 4.4 out of 5.0 Amazon stars. “Love It”, “Thomas Hardy never wrote a bad book”, “The choice of words, description of sky and the weather are extraordinary”, are just few of the recent comments by the readers. However, there are negative ones, based recently on the difficult language used in XIX century.
Thomas Hardy
BBC listed the novel among Top 50 of best books in The Big Read survey. Guardian also put it in its chart for the greatest love stories of all time giving the prestigious 10th place.
The adaptation of the book started exactly a century ago with the first silent drama directed by Laurence Trimble. The most popular film with the same name was released in 1967 by John Schlezinger and received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Music Score. The movie’s budget was huge for those times with $3 million. The box office was total disappointment in USA, but made nice numbers in UK.
The English novelist and scriptwriter decided to try one more adaptation. Thomas Vinterberg took the responsibility for directing the new movie. He is known mostly by his movie Hunt (2012) that received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign film. The big strike by the casting crew was arrangement of amazing Carey Mulligan. The budget of Far From The Madding Crowd wasn’t announced, but it seems that isn’t so high.
The movie is set for release on May 1 in USA and UK, but already was shown in several festivals. The initial response is very high. IMDB is giving average 7.0/10 rating. Rotten Tomatoes added 7.3/10. So far everything sounds interesting. Let’s see what will be the real result on the big screen.
Read more Book to Movie adaptation articles:
The Water Diviner
The Hunger Games
Divergent Trilogy
Gone Girl
American Sniper
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Unbroken
Fifty Shades of Gray
The Gunman
The Longest Ride
True Story
Child 44
Posted on April 23, 2015, in Books, Movie and tagged adaptation, book, FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, movie, Thomas Hardy. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
Land Of Books 
The film boasts a fiery and mercurial performance from Mulligan but it is a very long way removed from the pared down intensity of Vinterberg’s Dogme roots. The director is surprisingly conventional in his approach to his material. He is very fond of crepuscular lighting and of beautifully composed shots of the farm workers in the fields.
Every now and again movies take our breath away in the most simple, unexpected ways. This movie staring Carey Mulligan does so in spades. Based on the 1874 novel by Thomas Hardy it’s the story of one woman’s determination to be a contrarian in a man’s world. She is pursued by 3 different types of men who are smitten with her. The beautiful settings, the rich costumes and the acting are all first rate as it hearkens back to a time when being a woman typically meant being a wife and mother. Mulligan who always brings depth and elegance to each role she does is simply exquisite as Bathsheba. A woman who celebrates her own direction and often does so alone. A gorgeously done movie.