Far From the Madding Crowd: Masterpiece Theatre (1998) Review

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(More customer reviews)This latest dramatization of Far From the Madding Crowd (my favorite Thomas Hardy novel) is true to the novel's characters and to its romantic countryside mood. Nathaniel Parker as Gabriel is an example of perfect casting - expressive, gentle and stalwart; and the others are wonderful too. Paloma Baeza seems at first a bit too thoughtful to resemble impetuous Bathsheba but she really acts and looks like a 19th century woman. Jonathan Firth's dashing Troy is the picture of reckless disregard. This version, in my opinion, is MUCH better than the 1960s Julie Christie version, which resembles more a 1960s translation of Hardy than Hardy himself. (And Christie looked nothing like Hardy's dark-haired independent heroine; she was wrong, wrong.) This PBS version is very right, very authentic. A classy, romantic production; I'm glad they filmed it again.

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Based on Thomas Hardy's classic novel, Far from the Madding Crowd is a turbulent tale of passion and destruction set in the 19th century.Bathsheba Everdene (Paloma Baeza), a beautiful and proud woman with a fiercely independent spirit, ensnares--and almost destroys--three men. She rejects the proposal of the loyal and dependable Gavriel Oak (Nathaniel Parker), who takes a job on her farm because of an unfortunate twist of fate. He can only stand by and watch as Bathsheba mischievously flirts with her neighbor, Mr. Boldwood (Nigel Terry), unleashing a passionate obsession that burns deep within the reserved Gabriel. However, both men are eclipsed by the arrival of the dashing, womanizing soldier, Frank Troy (Jonathan Firth). Despite being in love with another woman, he sees a challenge in Bathsheba and sets out to win her.Troy manages to tame the wild young woman, but their marriage is instantly doomed, and a dramatic chain of events are set in motion.

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