There is one thing that I strive to achieve as a film critic, and that is to truly be taken seriously. Now in my time of writing I have realized the fact that one reason that I never really have hit that point is because I am too lenient in my rating of films. I find myself giving out lots of 9's, 9.5's, and 10's, and not really giving out many 5's, and 6's. Still that doesn't mean I don't take the time to watch movies that I think might be bad. I mean come on I watched Green Lantern over the weekend, and I'm not really in the mood to talk about it. So here I was ready to watch Far From the Madding Crowd a film that I thought would be bad; a dull, trite, and lifeless movie. I was so ready to go ahead and call this a stupid movie that you all should not see because it was fully a "Weinstein" movie that would be boring. But I can't actually say that. Far From the Madding Crowd is not a dull movie at all. In fact as far as romance movies go it's a full blooded, and rich love story. In fact it's such a lively, joyous (not to say that it's happy all the way through), and rollickingly good old timey romance I might even go ahead and say that this is what would happen if Quentin Tarantino got his hands on one of these things. No, I am not kidding when I say that. Far From the Madding Crowd works because it keeps the energy up, and it's smooth story going thanks to a sentimental, but not overly sappy script that allows scenes that hit you hard in both the your head, and heart. It switches between perfectly realized funny and emotional scenes, and (to justify what I said about Tarantino a minute ago) interconnects these with scenes of shocking, if not too graphic, violence that are invigorating none the less. Far From the Madding Crowd is based off of a book by Thomas Hardy (Not to be confused with the actor) who wrote it back in 1874, and has me wondering why a romance from that time has more heat then one from this time (cough, cough Fifty Shades of Grey cough). The book was about a woman named Bathsheba who takes control of her uncle's farm, and is courted by 3 men each having different standings in life. This all seems a bit sappy at first. But it's not. The film plays out almost like a sitcom of a period piece love story with the movie more about a host of charming personalities that are entertaining because they are acting off of each other as interesting events play out. It even has a viscerally satisfying "will they won't they" situation in it. Carrey Mulligan, and Matthias Schoenaerts lead this into very emotionally satisfying places, and they along with the rest of the cast perfectly create these characters perfectly. The full blooded enticing thing about Madding Crowd is that those personalities have a wild amount of sexual tension which combined with the excitement coming from the screenplay, and a graceful storyline. There are a few very beautiful moments throughout the film that effected me greatly.One in particular has Bathsheba singing duet with one of the men. I will not get that song out of my head anytime soon. It's just so nice. It's a great perk the Vinterberg seems to be a great director for this material. The direction is spectacular, and the cinematography is so beautiful that I was taken aback by it. Every detail is very well realized. As far as problems with the film go I think that it's all a little bit shallow, and those who are not fans of the sweeping storytelling like this are not going to get into it. I did though, and Far From the Madding Crowd is one of the best films of the year. I give Far From the Madding Crowd a 9 out of 10. Reviewed by Stephen Tronicek
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |