Tess (1979)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Tess (1979) – R. Polanski

A young Natassja Kinski, aged 17, takes centre stage as Thomas Hardy’s tragic heroine in Roman Polanski’s version of the 1892 novel.  When Tess’s alcoholic peasant father discovers that he may be descended from a more noble lineage, he sets into motion events that will lead to her downfall.  Indeed, he is the first of many men who seek to exert their will over Tess.  First, she is sent by her father to seek out the real D’Urbervilles and to represent herself as a poor relation; as a result, she is given a job (tending poultry) but soon her richer “cousin” (Leigh Lawson) attempts to seduce her.  Eventually, despite her resistance, he bends her to his will – but she escapes to bear a child out of wedlock (which dies).  Tess moves to another job at a dairy farm and soon finds true love with Angel Clare (Peter Firth), son of a family of religious puritans. However, she fears what he will think if he finds out her past, as he eventually does.  The plot goes further (for 2 hours and 40 minutes) and I won’t spoil it here.  Suffice it to say that the screenplay emphasises the mistreatment of Tess but also her ability to endure every hardship, even choosing them in lieu of giving in to the desires of men which might nevertheless provide freedom from poverty.  In Polanski’s hands, the film has the gauzy feel of many period pieces set in rural England (but actually filmed in France); it’s marked by the occasional stunning shot, but is generally subdued in tone. Kinski holds her own but has relatively few lines – we observe her struggles from the outside. As the plot unfolds, it eventually achieves a certain emotional weight but it is difficult to know (without having read the source) whether this is an effect of the book or the film or a synergistic combination of the two.