[Hardy-l] the surreal question

[carolyn mcgrath]

Thanks for the reply, Pauline. I have the series recorded so shall watch it all again over half-term and look out for all the points people have raised. A friend of mine was watching the series and reading the book for the first time alongside so I shall be interested to hear what she has to say.
 
I agree the series wasn't perfection by any means, but it was good to have Hardy on mainstream TV. I was disappointed too by various bits, and found certain actions a bit hammy. There was a moment you would have seen when Tess was walking from the stone, past Angel, to the police when it felt like 'Exit, slowly and majestically, stage left'. It felt very stage-directed at points and I think it needed something more 'filmy' - maybe something grander in the filming - at that point, for example, to take a wider, aerial shot of the police and the plains and a small figure amongst the stones. 

I think some of the 'surreality' of the book - don't know if that is the right word in the right place, but I'll go with it - is when the narrating voice takes on the timbre of a particular character, when it is their perspective of the world that comes to the fore and the images take on the hue of their sensibility or emotion at a particular time. I wanted the scene at the wedding night at the D'Urbeville mansion to be more gothic than it was and surreally grotesque at moments. Personally, I love the scene when Angel sleep-walking carries Tess - I would have liked it kept in. Is it too much? I think maybe it somehow complicate matters so was left out, to make things less ambiguous again as I think it raises the question of Tess' passivity, which is challenging. 

My criticism then would be it was too realistic or naturalistic - I hope I am using these terms correctly - and would have benefited from a less conventional filming approach. I need to read more film criticism to know how to use the language properly so apologies to those who already know! Oh dear, not more apologies - enough!

best wishes
Carolyn McGrath

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