The Woodlanders

'The Woodlanders' was one of Thomas Hardy's most involving novels, a key novel in his Wessex series concerning the land and the people who struggle with conscience and passion within it. This movie by Phil Agland takes the pace of the book but doesn't necessarily serve it well as a film.

Performance-wise the cast is well-chosen, with gorgeous Rufus Sewell in the lead role as the brooding woodman Giles, who keeps his feelings for the now-better-than-he Grace (Emily Woof) to himself; as Fitzpiers, Cal Macaninch makes the character just as unsympathetic as he was in print (a close cousin to the Brontes' Edgar Linton is this starchy doctor). Jodhi May completes the mix as Marty, the village girl who remains doggedly devoted to Giles.

The countryside is photographed well but the momentum lacks the cinematic scope which would have made this a truly interesting film.

Don't go in expecting a great deal of fun, romance or a happy ever after, as this is quintessential Thomas Hardy: dour, gloomy and glum. One of the best elements of THE WOODLANDERS is the setting: it takes place in a wooded village in a rural little corner of England, sometime in the 19th century. Such locales are bound to have plenty of atmosphere, and THE WOODLANDERS possesses it in spades. It's just a shame the story is so unappealing and determined to be depressing.

Rufus Sewell, in an early role, brings warmth and life to the film as humble woodsman Giles. He's in love with Emily Woof, who ends up betrothed to another man entirely (local doctor Cal Macaninch). Fleshing out the cast are Tony Haygarth (extremely typecast as a gruff but lovable type, but so good at it) and ROME's Polly Walker, vamping it up as the sinister Mrs Charmond.

This adaptation is well shot and, dare I say it, authentic. The main problem is that the cold characters are so hard to like, and that even includes heroine Emily Woof, who doesn't seem to see what's right under her nose. The only appealing character of the bunch is Sewell and he gets only a little screen time. Yes, this production is moving in places and the themes are engaging, so it's not all bad, but I would have preferred something with a little more drama and oomph.

Typical British drama based on a novel by Thomas Hardy, the author of "Jude the Obscure", "Tess of the d'Urbevilles" and "Far from the Madding Crowd". As usual in Hardy's stories, it is set on British countryside and focuses on the ordinary lives of its local people. As usual in this kind of movie, it is really well-made and extremely well-acted, but also bureaucratically directed.

Hardy's characters are quite human, they are always looking for happiness in the wrong places, making bad choices, missing the best opportunities. Here is not different. Marty loves Giles who loves Grace who loves him no more. She is unsure about her feelings since she returned from a period of studies in the town. The small village where she grew up doesn't look much attractive now, neither Giles does. She dreams about going abroad with Mrs. Charmond, the rich landowner widow, while she flirts with the newcomer young doctor - he also came from the town. Soon all of them will be facing the unavoidable fate.

The woodworker Giles (Rufus Sewell) reminds me the shepherd Gabriel from "Far from the Madding Crowd": both are honest, hard-working, heartbroken men. Emily Woof is just perfect as Grace; she looks like Cate Blanchett and she can even play like her. Unfortunately Jodhi May has just a small role as Marty the poor girl who sells her beautiful long hair to survive, a very sympathetic character. Tony Haygarth is also excellent as Grace's father, a well-intentioned man who wishes only the best for his daughter, but practically manipulates her life. I usually see Haygarth playing weird roles, like Renfield in "Dracula" (1979) or the Mad Hatter from Alice's Wonderland in "Dreamchild", so it is refreshing to see him playing normal types. Good film, good story, but not recommended for people looking for something light.

I have really discovered Thomas Hardy through wonderful movies like Tess (Tess of the d'Urbervilles) (1979), Far from the Madding Crowd (1967 & 2015) and the 1978 TV mini-series of The Mayor of Casterbridge as well as the 1971 TV mini-series , Jude the Obscure (1971).

This is also a wonderful discovery for those of us who have come to love movie versions of Thomas Hardy novels (or stories). It tells the story of a young woman who has been sent off to finishing school by her father so that she can rise above the level she has grown up in: the lower- class timber workers of the deep woods in 19th-century rural England.

Though she and a local woodlander had had an agreement to marry when they came of age, her father wants something better for her and encourages her to marry a local doctor who lives and practices in the village. She agrees to marry the doctor, but soon learns that he cannot stand the crude rustic manners of the local people.

This sets up a series of conflicts between her and her father as well as the way she feels about the life she had been raised in and the life that her father wants for her. I love the way the story unfolds as well as the dark (and often wet) sylvan atmosphere that it so capably captures and inhabits.

There's something beautifully quaint about this film, based on a Thomas Hardy novel. It was made in 1997 but there's none of the sexing-up you'd expect in a modern film.

The Woodlanders are the inhabitants of a small village. Country folk Grace Melbury (Emily Woof) and Giles Winterborne (Rufus Sewell) were childhood sweethearts but when Grace comes back from boarding school, she finds herself unable to mix with Giles and the other villagers. Her father (Tony Haygarth) encourages her to marry new doctor Eldred Fitzpiers (Cal Macaninch) who is more befitting of her new educated self. However Fitzpiers cannot cope with mixing with the woodlanders, and Grace's heart pangs for Giles once more.

There are two things Thomas Hardy is famous for: gloomy fate and Wessex, a fictional version of South West England. The third thing that he should be famous for is romance. The film is achingly romantic as everybody pines for the person that they cannot have. There's a secondary character who is also in love with Giles- odd reclusive Marty South (Jodhi May), who shares Giles' passion for nature. I would like to have seen more of her character but maybe that would just add to the aching tragedy of it all.

Apart from the tragic finale, the gloomiest moment has to be when Giles' house gets demolished and Mrs Charmond (Polly Walker), a wealthy patient with her eye on Fitzpiers, complains that his house is blocking the road- cue a shot of a rotting pile of wood.

In a sense, the film is a bit like Marty South: odd, obscure, slow and innocent. The slow pace works in a sense as you soak up all the beautiful cinematography and the gorgeously tragic score. Characters never have massive rages of passion- in that sense, it's a little bit like Chekhov. Life, miserable as it is, goes on.

All of the characters are sympathetic, even Dr Fitzpiers. Macaninch's performance is enigmatic: on one hand, Fitzpiers is a cruel and adulterous snob; on the other, he's a man of science who just doesn't understand the old-fashioned ways of the country people. Grace's father does her the most harm, forcing her to better herself because of his own feelings of inferiority, and yet Haygarth gives a warm and touching performance.

As the leads, Woof is adorably childlike as Grace and Sewell makes for a nice simple countryman. The film- I don't know the novel- is all about simplicity and innocence. The world of sexual desire is not present here, making the intrusion of Mrs Charmond all the more unpleasant. Her garish red dress is completely out of place in the charming pastel attire of the villagers and one longs for her and Fitzpiers to leave so we can hang forever in that wonderful idyll.

My criticism would be that they could have fitted more in. The film seems to touch on the novel rather than portray it, and maybe a more conventional dramatic pace might have helped there. Maybe more probing of the social issues would have been good- really, just more of everything.

This is definitely a Sunday afternoon film- a slow languid weepy, just like the good old days, that you can watch with anyone of any age. But to be honest, it's the perfect film to watch on your own as you allow it to wash over you.