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Far from the Madding Crowd (1967)

Rate: 5
Viewed: 9/21

FarMad
9/21: Here they go again: a bloated lavish British production starring Julie Christie.

Form the get-go, I knew how long Far from the Madding Crowd would be which is almost three hours, making it tough for me to be motivated. Halfway through, the length didn't seem to be a problem, but the story wasn't getting anywhere. After it's all over, I came away feeling empty as if nothing happened. Of course, the answer was obvious the whole time which occurred in the first fifteen minutes: Gabriel was the guy to marry.

Yes, Nicolas Roeg's photography of England's south countryside is beautiful, but it's not enough to overcome the flaws. For three hours, Bathsheba looks positively stupid despite her so-called stern administration and instead loses control over who to have for a husband. Bafflingly, she chose the professional soldier after spending time with him for a day or two.

By far the most ridiculous scene is Frank Troy showing off his swordsmanship to impress Bathsheba. Like a nine-year-old schoolgirl, she seems taken by this display. During the filming, Terence Stamp had a tough time with it but was prodded heavily by director John Schlesigner to get on with it and stop acting gay.

I admit Alan Bates gives the strongest performance, but after a while, he ceases to be significant only to serve predictably as a plot device to make the ending to work. Peter Finch's character is the least developed while Terence Stamp is fairly okay but plays a total loser in every sense. The most overrated actress of the 60's, Julie Christie still fails to evince depth when thinking looks will do. Like the secondary cast, the male suitors have a strong start and then go away for a while before showing up again under some weak pretext which is to fill in the time.

Sometimes, there are situations not explained well. One instance is the sheep lying down on the grass. What happened is they suffered from "pasture bloat" which is excessive gas as a result of eating too much immature legumes. To save them, Gabriel has to puncture their bellies to let the gas out. Boldwood mentions "corn" although none can be obviously found anywhere in the film. Because of the cultural difference, it's a British word for grain of any cereal crop such as wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc. The Valentine's Day card looks modern when the setting is supposed to take place during the latter half of the 19th century.

Meanwhile, why isn't Troy in the service after being married? Earlier, he decided not to take vows with Fanny just because she showed up at the wrong church. Yet it's her, not Bathsheba, whom Troy really loved the whole time. Well, consider me unconvinced. What the heck was Fanny doing during her disappearance?

All in all, like how the border collie did with the sheep, Far from the Madding Crowd should have been pushed off the cliff.