Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302150933
Format: Box set
ISBN: 6302150930
Label: Sony Pictures
Languages: Array
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Release Date: 1998-06-02
Running Time: 172
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: 1980-12-12

Roman Polanski adapted Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles and came up with this moody, haunting film starring Nastassia Kinski as the farm girl who is misused by the aristocrat for whom she works and who is then caught in a marriage where her initial happiness soon turns to grief. Fans of the novel may feel unpersuaded by Polanski's effort to marry Hardy's Dorset vision with his own fascination with psychosexual impulses toward survival, but the film is an often stunning thing to see, and Kinski's sensitive, intelligent performance lingers in the memory. --Tom Keogh

Customer Rating:
Summary: Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented
Comment: Roman Polanski's film Tess, (1979) adaptation of Thomas Hardy famous novel of the 19th century "Tess of the D'Urbervilles", won many prestigious awards, including three Oscars of six nominations and every award for Best Cinematography it was nominated for. If any film deserves recognition for its beautiful, lyrical, sensual yet melancholic and poetic visual presentation, "Tess" is it. The movie might be Roman Polanski's finest achievement, and this statement comes from a viewer who is in love with all Polanski's films starting with his debut "Knife in the Water". "Tess" is one of the best adaptations of the classic novel I've seen and it lives, breathes and moves freely. It never rushes to tell its long story but tells it with rare finesse, compassion, and love for the heroine, a gentle creature who had been insulted, humiliated, and ultimately destroyed.

The success of the movie starts with the choice of the actress for the title role. Tess as played by 20 years old Nasstassia Kisnki is beautiful, sensual, shy and full of life and hope for love. The life of Tess unfolds in front of us from her teenage years as an innocent country girl until the powerfully tragic final scene at the magnificent Stonehenge. The film is almost three hours long but I never was bored, on the contrary, I felt compassion for the girl and anger toward the men that used and corrupted her, ruined her hopes for love and happiness, and toward the society that mercifully discarded of her. Tess is one of the best movies I've seen. It is stunning, subtle, emotional, tragic, and unforgettable.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not Masterpiece Theater- but well done
Comment: While taking artistic liberties from the novel , Polanski's Tess is a very entertaining and beautifully filmed movie. The settings and costuming recreate the feeling of Hardy's Wessex as well as any filmed version of his works ever has.
Nastassja Kinski was beautiful in the role and although her acting can be somewhat wooden at times she does make a memorable Tess. The rest of the cast make up for her shortcoming by providing outstanding performances.
The pace tends to slow in certain parts of the film but if you are a fan of period films loosely based on classics you can do worse than spending some time watching this.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Achingly sadly beautiful
Comment: I didn't read the novel so I have no comments about the accuracy of the adaptation. I had no problem understanding it. (Some reviewers said that it was necessary to read the book in order to follow the film.) I had no problem, either with the length. In fact I was glad it was so long; I wanted to get "the whole story" not a compressed version.

The photography, as others have mentioned is exquisite. It's worth seeing again, with the sound off, just to see the gorgeous country shots.
The music was perfect too--just right for the mood of the film--not too intrusive.

Nastassja Kinski was perfect as Tess. I can't imagine anyone else playing the role. All of the other principle actors were just right and gave excellent performances. How we loved the divine Angel until his rejection of Tess on their wedding night!

The whole film is gorgeously earnest and deeply felt. The only reason I subtracted one star is that the story is just so damned depressing! Knowing what we do of Polanski's life, one can see how he'd be attracted to such material, but for me...I would have preferred some happiness and joy for poor Tess.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Genealogy gone berserk
Comment: I like to think of the novel's premise as genealogy really going to someone's head. When John Durbeyfield is informed by the town historian that his family used to be a noble one (and the original name was "D'Urberville"), he sends his daughter Tess (Teresa) to rich relatives in the English countryside for financial help. It's there that she meets with Alec D'Urberville, effectively beginning a downward spiral for everyone concerned.

As always, one can trust a book adaptation in Roman Polanski's more than capable hands. He faithfully adapted Ira Levin's "Rosemary's Baby" in 1968 and Roland Topor's "The Tenant" in 1976 before tackling Thomas Hardy's 1891 novel "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" in 1979.

It's common knowledge that Roman adapted the book to honor Sharon Tate's memory (it was reportedly the last book she read. She put a copy on his night-table with a note suggesting that it would make a good movie). The continuous personal attacks on him are really unnecessary (and, f.y.i., they make the attacker look really dumb ... especially when their missive is a grammatical masterpiece).

For having just learned English during preparation for her role in the title part, Natassja Kinski managed very well. She conveyed the vulnerable and melancholy Tess appropriately. At times during the course of the movie, one can almost feel themselves being sucked into Tess's depressing vortex, snapping out of it with her ... only to fall right back in again.

Leigh Lawson played a right-on Alec D'Urberville. He was the monster I envisioned Alec to be while reading Hardy's novel. Peter Firth as Angel was also excellent in his role. Roman nailed the English countryside dialect and he always does a fantastic job with Victorian England scenery (he repeated that success with 2005's "Oliver Twist").

Roman did an excellent job, as always, with "Tess of the D'Urbervilles." The book could be adapted a thousand times after his version and they still couldn't match up to his vision. Roman took Thomas Hardy's always depressing vision and turned it into a beautiful movie (for further proof of Hardy's depressive novels, check out his final book, "Jude the Obscure").

The DVD and Book collection series was a great idea to try to get people to read the classics alongside the movie.

"Tess" is a must-have for the DVD collection. - Donna Di Giacomo

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not such a special edition
Comment: Columbia's DVD of Tess is doubly disappointing - not only is it a disappointing transfer but it's also the cut version of the film, which tends to lose a little heart and more than a little irony. There's still much to admire, from the beautiful Scope cinematography and Phillipe Sarde's superb score to Polanski's feel for time and place (even if it is shot in France rather than Wessex) and, ironically, sexual prejudice, although Nastassja Kinski never really convinces in the lead and Leigh Lawson's despoiling cad seems constantly on the verge of twirling his moustache. The murder still seems a plot contrivance, although it does throw in one great moment of vintage Polanski with a spot of blood on the ceiling.

Still, at least the 72-minute documentary is very good.

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