Cinematic aspects and film adaptations of selected works of Thomas Hardy

Abstract

Thomas Hardy's works are eminently adaptable to film because they are dramatic in nature and cinematic in technique. His love for the theatre is reflected in his plots involving "actors," his view of life as a theatrum mundi, and his use of voyeurs, theatrical terminology, and melodramatic plots and character types. Hardy's tragic vision and his use of the chorus, the soliloquy, tableau, and the dumb show derived from his reading of Greek and Elizabethan tragedy. His plays reflect this vision. At least five silent films were based on Hardy's novels. His powers of visualization reflect nineteenth-century trends in fiction and his knowledge of pictorial art. Hardy's "cinematic" techniques include the use of subjective camera, cross-cutting, parallel editing, static and moving cameras, and manipulation of time. The Dynasts has been called a "shooting script" because of its technically unique treatment of its subject. Hardy's short story "On the Western Circuit" contains theatrical and cinematic elements. Frank Harvey's stage adaptation, The Day After the Fair, maintains unity of time and place, introduces an important new character, shifts the emphasis among characters, and alters other characters from their originals. The BBC television adaptation of Harvey's play, Day After the Fair, retains the range, depth, and shift of emphasis of the play's characters while retaining some of the story's cinematic potential. John Schlesinger's Far From the Madding Crowd was a popular and critical failure. A visually stunning film, it has some problems with casting and character motivation. New Wave techniques both detract from and add to its effectiveness. Schlesinger adopts Hardy's techniques of placing characters in landscapes, which occasionally suggests the novel's cosmic sense, and using framing, light, subjective camera, repetition, and songs. Roman Polanski's Teas, a popular and critical success, is beautifully photographed and uses authentic detail and dialogue. The casting is effective. Polanski's reading of the novel is reductive, focusing on social injustice and eliminating the tragic, mythic dimensions of the novel. Polanski adopts Hardy's use of framing, voyeurism, painting, symbolic colors, repetition, and songs. Despite ignoring many of the novel's themes, Polanski's Tess is an affecting, beautiful film.