Good film, terrible accent

I was born and spent most of the first thirty years of my life in the southwest of England, and I didn't find her accent implausible for a 19th century rural girl - certainly no more so than many of the British supporting actors. Local accents are very varied now in Britain: they can only have been more so before radio and television, and when (as Hardy wrote) many villagers would never travel beyond the bounds of the valley in which they were born.

There *are* moments when one can almost hear a German intonation - when she says "luff" for "love", for example - but when the remainder of her performance (as you say) is so powerful, disbelief is easily suspended.

Not seen the film myself, but...

Angel's pretty self-obsessive, yeah. He gives his principles a place they don't really deserve. It's his psychological weakness which makes the tragedy work- that he seems flexible and liberal, causing Tess to tell him (after HE TELLS HER, let's remember), which causes the tragedy's conclusion. His realisation of this, leads to her "fulfilment" (the name of the final 'Phase' in the novel), but of course his re-appearance and the timing leads to her death...

Man, I've never said this about a book before- this nearly made me actually cry, tbh. And I never cry!

That's funny! My mom said the same thing. She didn't like Nastassja Kinski's performance at all. She said she's gorgeous but wooden as far as acting goes. My mom loves the book so I think Kinski's interpretation of Tess isn't what she was expecting.

I watch this movie from time to time, and it never ceases to amaze me - the acting, the scenery and the attention to detail are incredible. The development of each scene makes one feel as though you are there, watching the action unfold in real time. It is a work of art and I can't imagine anyone doing a better job than Roman Polanski in bringing "Tess" to life.

She sounded like she was from Dorset to me. Nastassja spent two months there with a dialect coach but the lady died before filming began so she was on her own throughout the filming (they couldn't find a replacement?) and I think she did a very good job.

"I say,open this door at once! We're British !"