Film Review: Far From the Madding Crowd

Carey Mulligan and Matthias Schoenaerts in Far From the Madding Crowd. Alex Bailey / Twentieth Century Fox via AP Photo

Far From the Madding Crowd

Director: Thomas Vinterberg

Starring: Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen

Four stars

Carey Mulligan’s face could easily be a liability to an actress. From her delicately dimpled cheeks, sad almond eyes and doughy expressiveness, her innocent beauty is one that might have condemned her to silly high-school roles – even at 29.

But whether she's jumping into Daisy Buchanan's gowns in The Great Gatsby or performing a haunting rendition of New York, New York in Shame, she always manages to use that rare combination of youth and world-liness to make roles her own.

The story is no different in Thomas Vinterberg's adaptation of the 1874 Thomas Hardy novel Far From the Madding Crowd, in which she plays Bathsheba Everdene.

Julie Christie gave her own spirit to the vivacious farm girl-turned-landowner in the 1967 film adaptation, but after watching Mulligan transform once again, it seems unlikely that any other modern actress would have been so uniquely up to the task of breathing fresh life into Bathsheba.

When her character — head held high – tells her inherited workers calmly and assertively that it is “her intention to astonish you all”, it is impossible not to feel tremors of excitement. You believe her.

Indeed, the most astonishing aspect of the story is that Hardy's depiction of a free-willed woman attempting to establish herself professionally is not at all dated, even more than 140 years after it was written. While Danish director Vinterberg (The Hunt) took pains to recreate Hardy's imagined setting – filming in the timeless English countryside – the themes and emotions are resonant and alarmingly modern. Vinterberg and his actors don't let the antiquated mores upstage the truth and humanity behind every interaction.

The heart of the story is Bathsheba’s relationships with three suitors: loyal sheep farmer Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), timid William Boldwood (Michael Sheen) and rakish, petulant Sergeant Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge).

After a youth spent in near poverty, Bathsheba inherits a farm that she chooses to manage without the help of a man. Proposals come along with alarming frequency but, knowing her good fortune in having financial independence, she takes her time in considering her prospects. But she does not toy with the men – every decision, and every mistake, is made with complete honesty.

While Sheen is appealing as Boldwood and Sturridge gets the most showy moments – including the famous swordplay flirtation – it is Belgian actor Schoenaerts who upstages the others. In part, this is because the filmmakers decided that Bathsheba and Gabriel’s friendship would be the driving narrative force – but Schoenaerts also has that rare combination of charisma and understated grace that makes even a half- realised accent forgivable.

Touted as a romance, Far From the Madding Crowd succeeds thematically because it isn't entirely about finding love, at least not as we have come to understand it in the movies. It acknowledges and embraces the complications of living a life, and is more interested in Bathsheba's evolution as a person.

Also, Vinterberg’s classical, pastoral aesthetic recalls the heyday of Merchant Ivory films, without the corny sentimentality of their lesser imitators.

If costume dramas aren't your cup of tea, Far From the Madding Crowd is unlikely to convert you. But, perhaps a generation of girls who adore The Hunger Games' Katniss Everdeen might find themselves interested enough to dive into the world of a heroine who inspired their modern idol.

• Far From the Madding Crowd is in cinemas now