MovieChat Forums > Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1998) Discussion > New adaptation

New adaptation

posted 16 years ago by gillfaery
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Hia I just wondered what anyone thought about the new adaptation which has just started.

So far (it has only been one week) I am not that keen. Justine Waddell is stunning and cam portray innocence and purity quite convincingly, whilst Gemma Arterton doesn't quite hit the spot.

Also whilst I didn't think that Jason Flemming was that good looking, his character was so confident, I would have fallen for him (he could feed me strawberries anyday!). Hans Matheson is better looking but hasn't got the x factor for me.

What does anyone else think?

[–] LittleSwallow 16 years ago

Generally I agree with you. But I like the new adaptation so far. It's interesting to see this new interpretation of Tess, though Justine Waddell's performance was incredible and I don't see how any other Tess would be able to beat that. However, I look forward to seeing scenes from the book that didn't make it in the 1998 version interpreted on screen in this version. The new version is far from bad, and looks to be a very faithful adaptation.

Who I'm not too keen on is the Alec in the new version. He had nothing going for him from the beginning besides his looks. Sleazy right from the beginning (though I guess 1998's Alec was like that too). But Jason Flemming was able to play both sleazy AND sincere, which makes a huge difference in how sympathetic Alec is as a character.

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