I have always liked Thomas Hardy, and over a two day period saw television versions of ' The Mayor of Casterbridge ' ruined by Alan Bates overacting and lasting seven hours ( I lost counting it was so slow ) and the 1994 Hallmark version with bad acting of ' The Return of the Native. ' The latter and shorter version had pretty scenery, thumpingly atmospheric music by Carl Davis ( he did ' The Mayor of Casterbridge ' as well but years earlier in 1978 ) and performances that would have made an amateur dramatic society wince. No spoilers but the ending was not the one Hardy preferred and the director clearly chose the ' nice ' one. The only actor who convinced was Joan Plowright but then it was not a hard role for her to succeed in doing. Catherine Zeta-Jones walked through it but in my opinion without any depth, and all of the men in her life were bland. Despite the blandness it was Operatic and too rushed and I suppose the actors involved did not have the space and time in the drama to see these characters in the round. Zeta-Jones did not seem tormented but tiresome in her need to escape the rural life of Egdon Heath for Paris. I would advise viewers to avoid most filmed versions of Hardy as quite frankly most of them have not taken well to the screen. Polanski got near, but even then pretty images got in the way. Hardy's world is rough and fatalistic and should again in my opinion be read and not seen. A 2 for Plowright and the inimitable sound of her voice.
Review of The Return of the Native
