A faithful, straightforward and tame adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel "Tess of the D'Urbevilles." An uninspired literary adaptation is no great crime (if it were, Merchant and Ivory would have been imprisoned long ago). But one can't help but be somewhat disappointed in this particular adaptation, because the director is Roman Polanski. As a director, Polanski may here and there be guilty of many things, but making boring movies isn't one of them. He puts some lovely images on the screen with "Tess," but nothing that would tell you this film was made by one of cinema's great stylists. It feels like it could have been directed by anyone.
Nastassja Kinski is lovely as our heroine, but I don't know that she's much of an actress. Tess is kind of a dull, boring character, but there's a huge difference between a gifted, interesting actress playing a dull character and a somewhat dull actress playing one, and that difference is felt throughout this entire movie.
Grade: B
Nastassja Kinski is lovely as our heroine, but I don't know that she's much of an actress. Tess is kind of a dull, boring character, but there's a huge difference between a gifted, interesting actress playing a dull character and a somewhat dull actress playing one, and that difference is felt throughout this entire movie.
Grade: B