[hardy-l] BBC film as cognitive comfort

[Niemeyer, Paul J.]

If "ambiloquence" is derived from "ambivalent eloquence," then I'm afraid it would apply less to Hardy than to the words of some politicians!
 
But to return to Art's original posting, I think one could argue that the two screams Tess lets out in the adaptation aren't proof positive that it's rape--from what I've always heard, the "first time" often hurts.  Far more conclusive was the 1998 TV version of TESS, where Tess clearly says "No!"  That said, I actually believe the Chase scene to be one of the weaker elements in the 2008 TESS.  The director tries to use Polanski's trick of having fog obscure much of the action, but he handles it in an extremely clumsy way--it appears and disappears with all the subtlety of Barbra Eden vanishing into her bottle.  This obvious camera trickery really robbed the scene of much of its impact--in my opinion, of course.
 
I wonder if it might have been better to have simply discreetly cut away from the scene--to have Alec approach the sleeping Tess and then fade to the next day, or to a shot of a deer staring at something off-camera.  A simple fade-out could have been a way of reproducing the way Hardy's narrator "looks away" from the scene and contemplates the sad fact that whatever the event is, it was meant to be.  Then again, there's a reason I teach and don't make films.
 
These are just some thoughts on my mind this evening.
 
Best,
 
Paul
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