Far From The Madding Crowd | Page to Screen Comparisons

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In this series I compare and contrast four adaptations of Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
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Twitter: / laurenwhitehead
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[@MissBethLouise1]

"The Oak was a bit wooden" BRILLIANT! :)

[@LaurenWade]

+MissBethLouise1 yack, yack, yack! ;-)

[@WriterResources]

*adds another book to my TBR list* Somehow this has never crossed my path which is weird because I read nothing but classics as a teenager. And this sounds like its right up my alley.

[@LadyofLetters]

I was surprised by this because I really liked the 2015 film, and I thought it was faithful to the spirit of the book -- thought tbf I haven't read the book since I was about 17 and I didn't enjoy it all that much because I just think Hardy needs to calm down. I liked the interpretation of Bathsheba because they still showed how she was silly and impulsive and didn't think things through, but you also saw that she was capable and hard-working (I liked how you saw that she was willing to muck in with Gabriel and clean the sheep, for example). I also really like Matthias Shoenaerts as Gabriel (but I do just find him incredibly sexy anyway so maybe I'm biased). I thought he had a strong presence and you really felt the depth of his love for Bathsheba. Though I kind of love how he didn't even attempt to do a country accent. I love Michael Sheen, and I do think he did a good job with what he was given, but I just found his descent into madness unconvincing and melodramatic (probably partly because of adaptation compression). I do totally agree with you about Fanny/Troy - such a waste of Juno Temple! It's a shame as well, because it's my favourite part of the book (of course, you know my horrible taste in men). I also didn't give a bundle on Tom Sturridge. Like, he was fine but he was a bit gruff/rugby player-esque rather than being really charismatic and smart. Looking forward to your review of "Great Expectations"! :) xoxo

[@booksandbabble6847]

I love Julie Christie so whatever she does is fine with me. It was the first adaptation I watched as a young girl so it will always hold a strong place in my heart. As much as I love Carey Mulligan I felt she lacked something in her portrayal. I didnt believe the ending, if I were Oak I would have thought Bathsheba was using me. I just did not see any fondness on her part. Loved this video and cannot wait for the next. 😆

[@LaurenWade]

+BOOKSandBabble Exactly, as much as I loved her as Bathsheba in general I didn't believe in their relationship at all. It was like she was just settling for him in the end.

[@A11yJuana]

fascinating! i haven't read the book but saw the 2015 film version with Cary Mulligan and really loved it. (BTW, thankYOUSOMUCH for CCing your videos; so glad to see you have started doing this! :) being a deaf person, i can only view YT vids with CCs so I really appreciate it!!!)

[@LaurenWade]

+JuanaF you're very welcome! I'm really glad that it's helpful! Xx

[@nuraitheodora]

I loved reading Far From The Madding Crowd, and I actually also really liked the latest adaptation, but I do agree with your thoughts about it. I think I'm so used to being disappointed by the film adaptation of a book I really loved, that I kind of try to seperate the book from the film and maybe that's why I was able to enjoy it.

[@LiteraryMultitudes]

Great overview, love this series! :) I've only watched the 1998 version, but I've loved that one for a long time. It's an interpretation, definitely. If asked I would have guessed that the discrepancy between her naivety and incapability in her love life and her running the farm was meant as such. She basically does a lot of the same stupid things in each area, but it just works out better in the business aspects than in her privat life. I must admit that when I finally read the book, I didn't love it as much as I expected. Especially Bathsheba seemed much less present in the book than in the movie, which I had known before the book.

[@bonniegirlster]

The 2015 movie is my absolute favorite movie right now, so I was really excited to see your video on the book/movies but that's really all I've seen. I have the book, but have yet to read it. Now I'm starting to think that I'm missing out on a lot of the story, so I plan on starting on the book and maybe watching the other adaptions. I really enjoy watching your view on the classics, can't wait for the next one!

[@nualafaolin7129]

Love love love these page to screen! I also studied FFtMC in school and saw the 1967 version then, and did quite like it (at the time I found the book somewhat tedious to get through, so the movie brought it more to life!). I also agree with your comments on the 2015 version, lacked depth overall really... But haven't watched the others, so might dig in to those soon!

[@GraemeBell9864]

Mulligan is also in 'The Great Gatsby'. Heavy hint there.

[@carlbalgaard6881]

Your right I was wondering more about fanny also.

[@NumptyParis]

I'm so surprised you didn't really enjoy the 2015 film! I absolutely loved it and studied FFTMC at school. To be fair, I liked the 'modernisations' and the feminism in it, even if they weren't in the book x

[@LuminousLibro]

I just read Madding Crowd as my first Hardy book, and I loved it so much! I have yet to watch any adaptations though, so this video was exactly what I needed to introduce me to the various movies. Bathsheba is definitely a complex character, but I loved her independence!

[@imitationoflife7]

I love your page to screen videos and appreciate how much time and work go into these!

[@headachebaby]

Have the book but haven't read; however, I love the 2015 version. Gabriel Oaks is just too charming and sexy.

[@heatherhattle4893]

I liked this video and I love the whole series you are doing. A suggestion for a future episode might be The secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett. I know there are a lot of adaptations for it out there.

[@LaurenWade]

+Heather Hattle That is ana amazing suggestion! Love the Secret Garden xx

[@brandyloutherback9288]

I liked Carey's Bathesheba! I thought she did a great job of giving Bathesheba charm, energy, and strength, with is why I thought it was weird when Bathesheba became kind of a doormat when she married Troy.

[@cynthiaespinoza4514]

WOW! what an eye opener, thank you! I have never read the book yet, but really wanted to because I saw the movie (the last adaptation on your video ), but after watching this video. It makes me want to read the book even more now! I really appreciated this :-)

[@joanvergnani8479]

Wonderful reviews! Thank you.

[@EmoBearRights]

I did like the most recent film I did enjoy it but it's Troy that let it down for me not knowing the book - he just seemed like a pretty boy Bathsheba wouldn't have gone for. At least Terence Stamp had charisma. I totally agree on Mulligan and Sheen - they are superb in both this and in general.

[@Muirmaiden]

Julie Christie and Alan Bates (life-long friends in real life) were great together and co-starred three more times after this. The 1967 film remains my favorite, the 1998 miniseries is the closest to the novel. The 2015 film is enjoyable but too condensed and over-romanticized.

[@ABlackbirdsBooks]

As I had to read the novel and watch the 2015 film for class recently, I really enjoyed watching this video and hearing you compare all these adaptations! I didn't enjoy the novel that much to begin with, although I do really appreciate Thomas Hardy's writing style. The film was better than the novel, in my opinion, but that was only because I thought Hardy's book can feel a bit narrowing of the portrayal of women and Bathsheba isn't a very likeable character in the book. While Carrey Mulligan's protrayal of Bathsheba is very different from the book, in that she is very strong-minded and kind, and very much an independent woman in a world where that just doesn't excist very much. I completely agreed with the casting of this film, I loved it. I also adored the scenery and the shots of the country side. I think I just loved how it was modernised, as I didn't love the novel that much.

[@LaurenWade]

+A Blackbird's Books Yeah it's difficult, as I always feel that Hardy doesn't really like Bathsheba, so I think Carey Mulligan does really well in making her feel very true to how she's written while also giving her some depth and pathos. I also normally enjoy more modernised adaptations stylistically, the costumes and the cinematography etc, but I did feel that this one went too far in changing the characters

[@ABlackbirdsBooks]

Reads and Daydreams Yes, I think if you enjoy the novel and its characters, it might be too freely adapted, but for me the story became more likeable! I personally really liked how Matthias Schoenaerts interpreted Gabriel Oak and actually thought so with all characters. :)

[@TheNovelNomad]

I have only seen the recent movie and felt it was snapshots of drama interspersed with sweeping country scenes, and I was very underwhelmed by the film. Thank you for the video, I know will check out the tv series.

[@hanaplaysandparasols5670]

Wonderful video as always in this series! I hated the 2015 film so I was really scared of what you were going to say about it =D I'm glad we don't disagree fundamentally, Michael Sheen really was AMAZING though!

[@LaurenWade]

+Plays and Parasols haha, glad we agree!

[@bninad1]

I guess what you said towards the end was perfect...I have not read the book and i loved this movie...i thought relationship between all these characters was quite complex...yes, this movie has quite a style but I don't know whether it has style over substance...here is the thing, after watching this video, I want to read the book...looks like book has more intriguing aspects...in general, loving your 'page to screen' series...keep sharing :)

[@katiejlumsden]

Oh that 1960s adaptation with very 60s hair and the very very odd sword scene... But I very much love the 1998 TV adaptation - it's one of my favourites of all time, and I really believe in Troy in that adaptation, much more than in the others. The recent film is quite good, and I really like Cary Mulligan, but it's just a bit too short and not fleshed out enough for me. Looking forward to your Great Expectations video :)

[@soniag8739]

I love the book and Hardy, enjoyed the vid :)

[@capilliformfish]

I did not particularly like the book. There were parts of it that I enjoyed, but overall I felt like I did not like the characters much, their choices, or even the construction of the characters and of the plot. But I thought the most recent adaptation of the book was really good and compelling (overall at least) compared to the book. I agree that they do not have as much in common as they should, but I liked the way the story was presented in the movie better and the way Bathsheba and Gabriel Oak's relationship and characters were portrayed. I think that if you really liked the book and expected a proper adaptation, then this movie would disappoint, but as I didn't care much about the book, I really enjoyed the movie. I also like the movie as a movie - the cinematography was great, the costumes, the editing, the sound, and so on. I think that both loose and strict adaptations work, since I see movies as a different way of presenting ideas. Some directors or screenwriters choose to restyle the story and sometimes it works, (sometimes it doesn't), others want to stick to it almost entirely, and that also works but it can also fail miserably. It is always great when you manage to convey the exact things the author tried to, but if the loose adaptations is well done, I can also be happy with it because I try to look at the movie on its own. :) But I guess it depends on how you prefer the adaptations to be done.

[@KevTheImpaler]

I quite liked the Sgt Troy in the latest film. Boldwood does twig that Oak love Bathsheba in the book.

[@morganp4249]

I'd love to see a page to screen on Rebecca!!

[@LaurenWade]

+Morgan P I'm doing one on Jamaica Inn later this year, but Rebecca will also go on the list! :D xx

[@brandyloutherback9288]

You could do Tess of the d'Urbervilles!

[@elizatolwinska9202]

I've only seen 2015 and 1998 versions and I must say the 1998 I really dislike: Boldwood is far too old, he was supposed to be 41 when the book starts and Oak seems so scruffy, like he'd never had a wash in his life. I watched this and kept thinking " given the options no wonder she went for Troy". Batsheba seemed ever so timid and gormless , no way she could successfully run a farm. 2015 version I liked better though I didn't feel any chemistry between Batsheba and Oak, it seemed to me she ended up with him because he was the last man standing of all of her suitors 😊

[@pumpkin22ro38]

Was really disappointed by the 2015 film too. I found Troy most frustrating in the film because he came across as a bit of a fool and it was hard to see why Bathsheba would be remotely attracted to him!

[@LaurenWade]

+The Adventures of Spyro he was so nothingy! I really wanted him to be charming and their relationship felt so flat in the end