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Like a vast 19th-century landscape painting of farmers toiling under the sun, with hundreds of details evoking a world of strife, sorrow and occasional jubilation, director Huo Meng’s Living the Land (Sheng Xi Zhi Di) immerses the viewer in a remote Chinese agricultural community with all the precision and beauty of an accomplished artist.

Skillfully woven and shot over several seasons, this sweeping family chronicle is set in 1991, a time when major reforms were transforming China from a nation of rural laborers into the industrial powerhouse it still is today. Caught amid the changing tides is a young boy named Xu Chuang (Wang Shang), who’s been sent to live with relatives in the countryside while his parents make ends meet elsewhere. He becomes our entry point to a place where centuries of tradition are being slowly overhauled by the modern age, forcing people to adapt as they try...

Mexico’s has selected “Sujo” as the country’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards. The movie written and directed by Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez won the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and will hit theaters November 29.

After a cartel gunman from a small Mexican town is murdered, Sujo (Kevin Uriel Aguilar Luna/Juan Jesús Varel), his beloved four-year-old son, is left an orphan and in danger. Sujo narrowly escapes death with the help of his aunt who raises him in the isolated countryside amidst hardship, poverty, and the constant peril associated with his identity.When he enters his teens a rebelliousness awakens in him, and like a rite of passage, he joins the local cartel. As a young man, Sujo attempts to make his life anew, away from the violence of his hometown. However, when his father...

Though his personal tragedies and demons have sometimes overshadowed his work, there’s no denying the impact Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski has had on cinema.

Born in 1933 in Paris and raised in Poland, Polanski’s childhood was marked by tragedy when he was separated from his parents during the Holocaust. As a child, he escaped the Krakow ghetto after his mother was killed in an Auschwitz gas chamber. When the war ended, he was reunited with his father and returned home.

He turned to filmmaking as a student, making his directorial debut with the international hit “Knife in the Water” (1962), which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. His followup, the psychological thriller “Repulsion” (1965), was an even bigger hit, and he was soon drafted by Hollywood to direct the occult horror film “Rosemary’s Baby” (1968), which earned him a Best Adapted Screenplay bid.

It was during this time that he married Sharon Tate,...

Plot: Two young women, fleeing heartbreak, embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee. Unfortunately for them, the drive-away car they sign for happens to have some precious cargo being sought by deadly parties.

Review: As a lifelong fan of the Coen Bros, it’s a drag for me to say that Drive Away Dolls is a bit of a dud. Granted, it’s apparently “trying” to be bad, with it a gay-themed take on B-movies, but it’s so winking and self-aware that it feels more like an extended episode of Showtime’s cheesy Rebel Highway series from the nineties than a real movie. Running just a hair over eighty minutes, it feels like little more than a lark for one-half of one of the greatest directing duos ever. For some, that’s reason enough to make it worth seeing, but despite some inspired moments, it largely falls flat.

Warning: contains finale spoilers for Netflix’s One Day.

A year before One Day author David Nicholls published the novel that made his name, his adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s 19th century novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles aired on BBC One. Years later, Nicholls described Tess to The Guardian as the book that changed his life:

“It was the first book I adapted for the screen and gave me the confidence to write something other than comedy. Adaptation does that sometimes – gives you a hand-up into new territory. Also Chapter 15 contains the germ of the idea for One Day, for which I will always be grateful.”

That germ of an idea was a quote from Tess, which is included among One Day’s many epigraphs, and it also finds its way into the final episode of Nicole Taylor’s new 14-episode Netflix adaptation starring Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall.

The...

Exclusive: British award-winning writer and director Robert Icke has signed with CAA.

Icke, who has worked in theater, television, and film, won the Olivier Award in 2016 for his production and adaptation of Oresteia, making him the youngest person to ever win the award. He also won the Evening Standard Best Director Award for the production, and three years later again won that award for his productions of The Wild Duck and his adaptation of The Doctor.

Icke directed Hamlet, starring client Andrew Scott, at the Almeida and on the West End in 2017 and at New York’s Park Avenue Armory in 2022.

He is set to direct Sir Ian McKellen this spring in the West End’s Player Kings, Icke’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2. McKellen will play Falstaff.

Icke also is set to direct a production of Oedipus, starring Mark Strong and Lesley Manville, in...

Does the possession of free will guarantee an escape from inscrutable, omnipotent destiny? Or, like Thomas Hardy’s characters, are we forever doomed to end up in a never-ending cycle of misery and tragedy? As the fourth episode of the second season of the MCU series Loki reminds us of the inevitability of destiny, mimicking the famous quote of the mad titan Thanos, the ever-present conflict of the series between free will and fatalism pops up in a catastrophic manner.

In the previous episode, Loki and Mobius traveled to the late Victorian era to find out about Miss Minutes, as she shared the temporal aura of He Who Remains, which was needed to open the Tva blast door and retrofit the Temporal Loom. However, Miss Minutes and Ravonna Renslayer teamed up to turn Victor Timely, one of the variants of He Who Remains, into his successor and usurp control of...

It’s been five years since idiosyncratic filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos had his big Oscars breakthrough with “The Favourite,” which earned 10 nominations, and pulled off an upset in a Best Actress with Olivia Colman prevailing over Glenn Close. Success hasn’t tempered his adventurous spirit, though, as evidenced by his follow-up, “Poor Things,” which premiered to rave reviews at the Venice Film Festival on September 1. “Poor Things” could well reap double digit Oscar bids too (more on that below).

SEEExperts slugfest: Our updated 2024 Oscar predictions as festivals kick off

“Poor Things” tells the story of a young woman (Emma Stone) brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist (Willem Dafoe) who is then pursued by a millionaire (Mark Ruffalo). As of this writing it has a MetaCritic score of 94 based on 17 reviews — all classified as positive, with seven of those rating the film a perfect 100. The film also rates 100% fresh on...

Roman Polanski has made films spanning continents and generations. But Jody Hill prefers the filmmaker’s first feature, a story as simple as two men, a woman, and a sailboat.

Read More: Watch: ‘Jackie’ Director Pablo Larraín Discusses ‘Movies That Inspire Me’ in New IndieWire Video Series Presented by FilmStruck

“Knife in the Water” follows a couple who, on their way to the lake for a day of sailing, pick up a hitchhiker and invite him to join them. What transpires between the three of them out on the water is a carefully choreographed dance of attraction, recklessness, and isolation.

Hill spoke with us about the danger and tension that drew him to the film at a young age.

This is our second conversation with Hill as part of our “Movies That Inspire Me” series, presented in partnership with FilmStruck. (If you missed him talking about the classic rock doc “Gimme Shelter,...

On this day in history as it relates to the movies...

Dr Duran Duran and the Orgasmatron

1835 P.T. Barnum and his circus begin their first tour of the Us. Wasn't Hugh Jackman supposed to play him in an original movie musical? Is that still on or did the endless Wolverine show derail it? (sigh)

1840 Novelist Thomas Hardy is born. Movies adapted from his work include multiple versions of Jude, Tess,  and Far From the Madding Crowd

1904 Johnny Weissmuller is born. We just wrote about Tarzan and His Mate (1934) which you should definitely see

1926 Character actor Milo O'Shea, aka Dr Duran Duran who tried to kill Jane Fonda by excessive pleasure in Barbarella, is born.

1937 Sally Kellerman, the original " 'Hot Lips' O'Houlihan" is born

1944 Egot composing legend Marvin Hamlisch (of "A Chorus Line") fame is born...or as Cher calls him "Marvin Hamilsmisch". Classic songs include the Oscar winning "The Way We Were...

Read More: Jeff Nichols' 'Midnight Special' Leads 2016 Berlin International Film Festival Competition Lineup The 66th Berlin International Film Festival has announced nine more titles that will bow in the Competition program, bringing the total number of films in the category up to 15. To date, the Competition selection includes productions from 15 different countries, including Denmark, France, Iran, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, United Kingdom and the U.S. The festival takes place February 11-20. Leading the latest batch of titles is Thomas Vinterberg's "The Commune," which represents a change of pace from his lush adaptation of Thomas Hardy's "Far From the Madding Crowd" last year. Based on his own experiences growing up in a commune, the drama centers around a couple as they start a close-knit society in their Copenhagen home. Ulrich Thomsen, Trine Dyrholm, Helene Reingaard Neumann and Lars Ranthe star. Below are all of the recent.

The Commune

Director: Thomas Vinterberg

Writers: Tobias Lindholm, Thomas Vinterberg

With a career resurgence following his 2012 The Hunt (earning Mads Mikkelsen a Best Actor Award at Cannes as well as snagging an Oscar nod for Best Foreign Language Film), Dogme Godfather Thomas Vinterberg mounted a handsome adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd, which enjoyed decent critical reception following a release from Fox Searchlight. His latest, The Commune, co-written by director Tobias Lindholm (whose excellent new feature, A War was Denmark’s official Oscar entry this year), follows a 1970s academic couple who join a commune in Hellrup with their daughter. But things get interesting when the patriarch’s girlfriend also moves in. Though this sounds an awful lot like Swedish auteur Lukas Moodysson’s 2000 feature Together, we’re excited to see Vinterberg’s return with Lindholm (who also scripted Submarino and The Hunt) in a film...

“A cinematographer is a visual psychiatrist — moving an audience through a movie […] making them think the way you want them to think, painting pictures in the dark,” said the late, great Gordon Willis. As we continue our year-end coverage, one aspect we must highlight is indeed cinematography, among the most vital to the medium. From talented newcomers to seasoned professionals, we’ve rounded up the 22 examples that have most impressed us this year. Check out our rundown below and, in the comments, let us know your favorite work.

Amour Fou (Martin Gschlacht)

As if Dreyer had been sprung into the 21st century, Amour Fou stands with feet in formally classical and aesthetically modern doors — as rigid in composition as it is lucid in palette. Writer-director Jessica Hausner and cinematographer Martin Gschlacht have created a world in which it seems nothing will escape, making those moments of visual discord — an object...

Want to star in a music video with a popular indie band? Or maybe you’d like to put your science skills to work in a promotional video for an engineering company? Maybe it’s your chance to star in a new short film? Check out these four exciting opportunities to get cast! “This Vampire”Here’s your chance to be cast as one of two leads in a short film! “This Vampire” is a drama that follows Chloe, a recovering addict who will lose custody of her daughter if she relapses. This gig pays $100/day, and travel and meals are provided. Filming will take place in January in Rockaway, N.J., and submissions are being sought from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Music Videoa popular indie artist is looking for three actors to be featured in their upcoming music video, which will shoot this December in Brooklyn,...

Let me just get one thing out of the way — one of the most underrated and perhaps overlooked movies of the year is Thomas Vinterberg's "Far From The Madding Crowd," so now that it's on home video and digital, don't sleep on it. And the filmmaker, who seems to be busier than ever these days, already has his next movie in the can, and the first international trailer is here, which means sorry, no subtitles. Read More: Review: Thomas Vinterberg's 'Far From The Madding Crowd' Vinterberg's latest is "The Commune," and it finds him in a different mode from the provocative "The Hunt," and his Thomas Hardy adaptation, with the story following a couple who set up a commune in Copenhagen. "The most particular difference is that I’ve been writing it myself. It’s in more of a sort of auteur kind of tradition," Vinterberg told us earlier this spring.

To mark the release of Far From The Madding Crowd on 31st August, we’ve been given 3 copies to give away on Blu-ray. Carey Mulligan (Pride & Prejudice, An Education) stars as a headstrong Victorian beauty in this sweeping romantic drama, based on the literary classic by Thomas Hardy. Mulligan plays Bathsheba Everdene, an independent

The post Win Far From The Madding Crowd on Blu-ray appeared first on HeyUGuys.

★★★★☆ Thomas Hardy gets a hearty update in the newest adaptation of Far from the Madding Crowd (2015). A faithful adaptation of Hardy's most notable work, this is a film built on realism, bringing the farmlands and estates of Dorset to life in the richest of Victorian palettes. Director Thomas Vinterberg, fresh from the success of quiet Danish thriller The Hunt (2012), and screenwriter David Nicholls have created a period drama centred, appropriately, on a cast of endearing but fallible characters that bring freshness to a classic story. Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) has grown up on her own. Despite being in the care of relatives, she has formed her own opinions of the world, choosing independence over tradition.

20th Century Fox

To celebrate the release of Far From The Madding Crowd, available now on Blu-Ray and DVD, we have 3 Blu-Rays to give away.

Carey Mulligan (Pride & Prejudice, An Education) stars as a headstrong Victorian beauty in this sweeping romantic drama, based on the literary classic by Thomas Hardy. Mulligan plays Bathsheba Everdene, an independent woman who attracts three different suitors: a sheep farmer; a dashing soldier; and a prosperous, older bachelor. This timeless story of Bathsheba’s passions explores the nature of relationships, love and resilience.

Breath-taking Dorset scenery sets the scene for a tale of wild passion and broken hearts. As the seasons change from the golden glow of summer to the desolation of bitter winter, twists of fate and fortune appear at every turn, when Far From the Madding Crowd arrives on Digital HD, Blu-ray and DVD this August.

Competition Entry

To be in with a chance of winning,...

Carey Mulligan’s Bathsheba Everdene is hardly Hardy’s in Thomas Vinterberg’s handsome adaptation, but Nina Hoss is immaculate in a postwar psychodrama

Months ago, I celebrated the rerelease of John Schlesinger’s fervidly epic 1967 version; now, Thomas Vinterberg’s take on Far from the Madding Crowd (Fox, 12) doesn’t quite weather the immediate comparison. To be fair, not many respectable corset dramas would. Vinterberg’s comparatively compressed adaptation is a restrained, russet, handsome thing; it honours the circumspect romanticism of Thomas Hardy’s novel, if not all the storied complications thereof.

What it lacks is any wildness in its turns of heart, or that of its independently reckless heroine: Carey Mulligan offers an attentive, serious-minded reading of Bathsheba Everdene, but hardly projects the aura of a woman animated by desire. As for Bathsheba’s men, Matthias Schoenaerts soulfully captures the sturdy, of-the-earth demeanour of Gabriel Oak, while Michael Sheen...

At a loss for what to watch this week? From new DVDs and Blu-rays, to what's streaming on Netflix, we've got you covered.

New Video on Demand, Rental Streaming, and Digital Only

"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies"

The final chapter of Bilbo Baggins' "Hobbit" adventure is airing August 8 on HBO as part of its Saturday Night Movies. It'll be on HBO Now, the network's standalone streaming service, on the same day. So if you don't already have HBO as part of your cable package but want to watch the TV shows ("Game of Thrones," "True Detective," etc.) and movies, you can just order HBO Now to stream the content.

"Difficult People"

Julie Klausner and Billy Eichner star in this new Hulu Original series, which premieres August 5. Julie and Billy play more annoying and less successful versions of themselves -- aspiring comics living, working and struggling in NYC...

At a loss for what to watch this week? From new DVDs and Blu-rays, to what's streaming on Netflix, we've got you covered.

New on DVD and Blu-ray

"Ex Machina"

Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac and Alicia Vikander star in this inventive sci-fi thriller from Alex Garland, the genius writer of "28 Days Later." Critics and audiences both gave this one the thumbs-up with "Ex Machina" currently boasting a 91 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. DVD/Blu-ray extras include a "Through the Looking Glass: Creating Ex Machina" 5-part featurette, SXSW Q&A with cast and crew, and eight behind-the-scenes vignettes.

"The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"

This sequel to the 2012 charmer "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" stars the always engaging Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, and Dev Patel with the welcome addition of Richard Gere. Blu-ray extras include featurettes on "Returning to the Marigold Hotel," "Blossoming Relationships," "The Marigold Wedding," and "Filming in India.

Aussie co-stars Jason Clarke and Jai Courtney alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger helped propel the Terminator franchise reboot to the top spot in Australian cinemas last weekend.

Terminator: Genisys raked in $4.7 million from Thursday-Sunday and nearly $5.8 million including previews last Monday night and the opening day Wednesday.

Pro-rata, that.s way ahead of the Us three-day debut of $29.2 million and $42.5 million for five days, where the Paramount release was beaten by the third weekend of Inside Out and the fourth of Jurassic World.

Directed by Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones, Thor: The Dark World), the sci-fi action/adventure stars Clarke as John Connor, leader of the human resistance. He sends Seargeant Kyle Reese (Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and safeguard the future. Schwarzenegger plays an unlikely ally, the Guardian.

Arnie and Courtney.s visit to Sydney was part of the publicity blitz. True, the reboot did not...

★★★☆☆ Thomas Hardy's tale of pastoral passions in the heart of South-west England, adapted carefully but beautifully by director John Schlesinger, Far from the Madding Crowd (1967) stands the tests of time. Does it still manage to captivate? Does it draw on its thematic through-lines and manage to feel relevant to current audiences? Do the performances still feel fresh, revelatory? All answers ring out with a resounding 'yes'. The headstrong and enticing Bathsheba Everdene (Julie Christie) inherits her uncle's farm and is consequently tasked with maintaining its prosperity. She's a modern woman in a man's world, and nobody faults her for this.

In Far From the Madding Crowd, a new film adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s novel, every eligible man wants Carey Mulligan’s winsome Bathsheba. But she cannot be tamed! (Funny how commitment phobia reads as strength in a female protagonist and weakness in a male protagonist). Or at least she won’t “settle” for less than what she’s already planned for herself. Nevertheless the wanting continues and the camera, observes her, often at a distance as with a memorable shot of Bathsheba laying back from her saddle, as if enjoying the tactile and visual sensations of the powerful creature beneath her and the vibrant foliage and sky above her.

(This review contains a general trajectory ending spoiler but it is based on a 151 year-old classic novel.)

Three bachelors and Bathsheba's issues after the jump...

Adapted from Thomas Hardy's 1874 novel, Thomas Vinterberg's Far from the Madding Crowd follows Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) as she attempts to dissuade three cliched male suitors who seem to be ripped from the pages of trashy romance novels. Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts) is a monstrously rugged yet broodingly sensitive sheep farmer; William Boldwood (Michael Sheen) is a wealthy yet socially awkward, 40-year-old bachelor; and Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge) is a sexually confident and arrogant sergeant.

Now, here’s a great example of counter-programming. As of last Friday, with the return of Marvel’s superstar super-team, the onslaught of the big blockbuster, “check your mind at the door”, movie season officially began. But what about those cultured folks needing an oasis at the multiplex, a quiet escape from the movie mayhem. The colder temps generally welcome those more serious, somber films, often adapted from literary classics. However, a few of these often seep through the Summer season (Lee Daniels’ The Butler, The Help). That’s the case with this literary adaptation, but it’s also a reboot since there was a celebrated film version starring Julie Christie way back in 1967. Now, once again, from the classic tome written by Thomas Hardy (no, not next week’s “Mad Max”), here’s Far From The Madding Crowd.

With the first fade-in, we meet the story’s heroine, Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) on horseback,...

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Rating: ★★★★

Far From The Madding Crowd is a story driven by the emotions of characters who repress their emotions. The heroine is a fiercely independent woman unexpectedly thrust into a position of power by inheritance, who sees advances from three potential suitors with various, complex (if not always moral) reasons for interest. But being set in late 19th Century Britain means this is all delivered with a stiff upper-lip.

Getting all that across in an accessible movie without holding the audience’s hand is no easy task and one this latest adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s breakout novel seems to fail at with the very first scene, in which Carey Mulligan’s Bathsheba Everdene muses over her odd given name in voice-over. Narration is a fine enough trait, but, in a story built on stifled thoughts, having everything explained as you go along cuts out a fair share of emotional involvement.

Just the most recent adaptation of Thomas Hardy's romance novel, director Thomas Vinterberg's Far from the Madding Crowd is a painterly film, every image of it captured and displayed on screen is so rich and neatly framed, colors vibrant, landscapes captivatingly photographed. I don't know much about the technical craft of shooting a film but this new take on the story results in a very appealing picture to look at from its first frame to its last. Unfortunately, the film's beauty is too often found on the surface and not beneath it, a polished veneer without the underlying heart to fully sustain it. Based on Hardy's Brit-lit classic, Far from the Madding Crowd is set during the late 1800s, a time when men ran everything. Err, almost everything. Enter Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan), a successful, headstrong woman and the sole heir to one of the largest farms in the region,...

Furious 7‘s month-long reign at the box office came to an end this weekend at the hands of another franchise entry, as Joss Whedon’s Avengers: Age of Ultron entered the Us release market with a vengeance, earning $187.6 million to rise to the top of the box office. The total, in addition to displacing the aforementioned James Wan film as the biggest opening weekend gross of 2015, already puts the newest entry in the McU in the top three highest grossing films of the year, ahead of the total gross of Fifty Shades of Grey, and just $6 million behind that of Cinderella.

The box office total of the first place winner caused a noticeable drop in the rest of the charts, as Age of Adaline finished in a distant second with $6.3 million. Furious 7 rounded out the top three with a $6.1 million gross, while Dreamworks’ Home completed its sixth straight...

As summer studio releases take center stage and compete with specialized fare by stealing away seats in shared theaters, the art-house world is hopeful that the recent specialized surge will continue. Both Fox Searchlight bodice-ripper "Far from the Madding Crowd" and Magnolia doc "Iris" are likely to boast long legs, while Alchemy's Kristen Wiig vehicle "Welcome to Me," which boasted the best PSA by playing in only two theaters, heads to VOD this Friday along with its theatrical expansion. Opening "Far from the Madding Crowd" (Fox Searchlight) - Criticwire: B+; Metacritic: 70; Festivals include: Istanbul 2014 $172,000 in 10 theaters; PSA (per screen average): $17,200 Thomas Vinterberg's high-end adaptation of Thomas Hardy's classic English romance opened in five markets, skewing the PSA a bit lower than a typical two-city launch. (Fox Searchlight often is more aggressive in its initial release, so this isn't...

Listing the Coen Brothers, Spike Jonze, and Paul Thomas Anderson as her Bucket List of directors with whom to work, Juno Temple’s film choices are best described as eclectic. The daughter of rock and roll filmmaker Julien Temple, Juno had a creative, rebellious spirit instilled in her at an early age, and her career has reflected that greatly.

Starring opposite Matthew McConaughey in Killer Joe and Daniel Radcliffe in Horns, she’s never been one to back away from darker roles. On the other hand, she’s also completely willing to play dress-up every once and a while. You may remember her as a fairy in Maleficent or as Queen Anne, dripping in pearls and lace, in Paul W. S. Anderson’s The Three Musketeers.

Juno’s next film is Far From the Madding Crowd, which was directed by Thomas Vinterberg (The Hunt) and also stars Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust and Bone...

It’s difficult to imagine what a person who has never read Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd will make of the new adaptation directed by Thomas Vinterberg. Imagine someone reading a page of the novel to you, skipping two, reading two lines on a third, then jumping four chapters ahead. The connecting material is missing, which means, for example, that the rich, middle-aged bachelor Boldwood (Michael Sheen) proposes marriage to the headstrong Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) when you’re not even sure that they’ve been properly introduced. Were the lapses in the script (by David Nicholls), or was the finished film hacked by a couple of hours? Either way, a short movie can feel longer than a long one if nothing you see is prepared for, if you’re constantly saying, “Huh? What? Where did that come from?”The novel is a masterpiece, but not an...

Carey Mulligan proves that she can carry a movie as the incandescent and powerful Bathsheba in "The Hunt" director Thomas Vinterberg's gorgeous realization of the Thomas Hardy classic "Far from the Madding Crowd," now in theaters. We also discuss Robert Downey Jr.'s recent take down of indie film. Read More: How They Did It: Bringing the Hardy Atmosphere to "Far From the Madding Crowd"...

When it came to capturing the warm, soft, English countryside of Dorset  -- Thomas Hardy country -- for Thomas Vinterberg's latest version of "Far from the Madding Crowd," cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen insisted on 35mm film shot with the Panaflex Millenium. There was simply no other way to get the purity of Hardy. "It was a dream and a wish for Thomas and me, knowing that it would be a battle, but we wrote a letter to the producers explaining why 35mm would be important for this film," the Danish Christensen explained. "It was obviously the texture and with Thomas Hardy it's all about texture. And maybe an audience can't see the different but they can feel the difference. We didn't do a lot grading for the film because we didn't want to force a digital look by adding grain and then layers and layers and layers of things.

Showtime

How do you make a name for yourself when the general public keep mistaking you for other people? That’s been a challenge for Michael Sheen his whole career. To this day, there are those that mistake him as part of the Estevez line, perhaps a distant cousin of Two And A Half Men namesake Charlie Sheen. There are even more who, thanks to his predilection for biopics, recognise him for a dozen different faces other than his own.

Many of Sheen’s biggest roles have seen him playing real-life figures – from Tony Blair to Carry On star Kenneth Williams – which means that, whilst people have seen him loads of films and TV dramas, they don’t actually recognise his face. He’s been busy hiding behind other, far more famous identities.

Which is a shame, because Sheen is an actor with far more to offer than simple mimicry...

Watch: Carey Mulligan Smolders On and Off-Screen in 'Far from the Madding Crowd' Trailer Published in 1874, Thomas Hardy's Victorian-era novel "Far From the Madding Crowd" is hardly unique material for the screen. It was first adapted in 1915, revisited in John Schleinger's 1967 version, uprooted to modern times in Stephen Frears' "Tamara Drewe," and transformed into a "Masterpiece Theater" miniseries in 1998. Thomas Vinterberg's gorgeous treatment of the story, which tracks individualistic farm owner Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) as she runs her property and evades the advances of various suitors, arrives in theaters this week treading no fresh ground. At the same time, the movie rejuvenates the material with a restrained eye for the details of the story — the relationships between a small cast of passionate characters — that frees it from the constraints of its era. With its gorgeously photographed backdrop of the British countryside's rolling...

Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron has maintained its lead in the social media buzz chart after a week on release.

The superhero sequel generated just under 65,000 comments across social media, forums, news and blogs in the UK between April 23-29, according to Way To Blue.

One in three of these comments expressed an intent to view, meaning those who posted about Avengers were looking to converts tweets into tickets – up from one in four last week.

In second place, maintaining last week’s position was Carol Morley drama The Falling, which generated nearly 2,000 online comment (ItV 30%).

Trailing closely in third place with 1,863 online comments is this weekend’s biggest opening, the social media horror Unfriended, which had a high ItV of nearly 50%.

It was followed by Thomas Hardy adaptation Far From The Madding Crowd, also opening this weekend, which generated nearly 850 comments (21% ItV).

With Thomas Vinterberg’s retelling of Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd hitting theaters today, I thought it was a good excuse to look back at an earlier adaptation that spawned some memorable poster art.Made in 1967, John Schlesinger’s corseted rural love quadrangle was a far cry from the biting contemporary urban dramas like Billy Liar and Darling that had made his name. Schlesinger defended his decision to direct a big budget Victorian costume drama by saying “I wanted to get away from a contemporary subject. People are tiring of the flip side. Contemporary is dated,” but in ’67—the year so beautifully chronicled in Mark Harris’s Pictures at a Revolution as the year Old Hollywood ceded to the New—Far from the Madding Crowd, shot in 70mm and nearly 3 hours long, was inevitably overshadowed by the nowness of the likes of The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde.

If you are despairing this week at the end of Poldark, you need worry not as Far From The Madding Crowd gallops romantically into cinemas this weekend, proving a worthy replacement. This sumptuous costume drama directed by Danish director and Dogme 95 founder Thomas Vinterberg will aptly fill the void. A re-telling of Thomas Hardy’s classic novel first published in 1874, the film follows the adventures of Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) as she inherits her Uncle’s farm in Dorset. Previously a woman of no means, her inheritance elevates her to mistress of the manor and its surrounding lands, a highly unusual position for a woman. An independent free spirit, love comes calling in the shape of three very different suitors, a shepherd and farm hand Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), young soldier Sergeant Troy (Tom Sturridge) and wealthy middle-aged bachelor William Boldwood (Michael Sheen). When we first meet Bathsheba she is...

New York - You may not believe it, but Carey Mulligan isn't a fan of singing in public.  Somehow though the soon to be 30-year-old actress and wife of "Mumford & Sons" lead singer Marcus Mumford keeps find herself stretching her vocal chords in one movie after another.  It started with Steve McQueen's "Shame" and continued with the Coen Bros.' "Inside Llewyn Davis." Mulligan avoided it in Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby," but now find herself singing acappella in Thomas Vinterberg's "Far From The Madding Crowd."  Speaking to Mulligan earlier this month, HitFix asked how she was handling being pigeonholed as a - gasp - songstress! "Persecuted is more the question? I know it's so strange," Mulligan says. "It keeps happening to be int he script and I'm constantly fighting with it. I did fight it a little bit with this one, but I was quickly put...

Matthias Schoenaerts doesn’t carry quite the air of intensity that you might expect of him after watching some of his heavier dramas. In reality, the “Rust and Bone” star is the laid back, all-smiles, and a surprisingly chatty sort, as happy to delve into the tenets of his dramatic education as he is to celebrate the comic force that is Will Ferrell. Schoenaerts’ latest film, Thomas Vinterberg’s adaptation of 19th century author Thomas Hardy’s novel “Far from the Madding Crowd,” allows the actor to show off a degree of sensitivity of which audiences might never have known him to be capable. Schoenaerts plays a strong and stoic farmhand deeply in love with his boss (Carey Mulligan), whose character is likewise the romantic pursuit of a timid landowner (Michael Sheen) and a rogue soldier (Tom Sturridge). Although we kicked off with a conversation about his work on “Far from the Madding Crowd,...

In this excerpt from this week's Guardian film show our critics chase Carey Mulligan and Matthias Schoenaerts all over the Dorset hills in Thomas Vinterberg's adaptation of the Thomas Hardy romantic classic. Far From the Madding Crowd, which also stars Michael Sheen as the lovelorn William Boldwood and Tom Sturridge as the cocksure Sergeant Francis Troy, is released worldwide on Friday 1 May Continue reading...

Read More: Interview: Thomas Vinterberg Talks ‘Far From The Madding Crowd,’ Working With Carey Mulligan, 'The Commune' & More It's been two years since Oscar-nominee Carey Mulligan has appeared on the big screen. But as the actress revealed to Indiewire this week, it's not for lack of trying. After reportedly beating out some of the most in-demand young actresses working today to embody Daisy Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann's 2013 3D extravaganza "The Great Gatsby" and appearing that same year in Joel and Ethan Coen's beloved musical drama "Inside Llewyn Davis," Mulligan found herself struggling. Strong female roles, like the ones she's been known for playing since "An Education" made her a star, weren't coming her way. Over a year later, one finally came in the form Bathsheba Everdene, the fiercely independent heroine at the center of a new film adaptation of Thomas Hardy's classic novel "Far From the Madding Crowd.

There is a distinct and undeniable throb of social expectation to get settled, get married, and have children as one approaches middle age. It may not be explicitly stated, but as friends find companions for life, and become parents, those who are still independent seem to become outliers to their social circle. And it’s these ideas that power Thomas Vinterberg's adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s "Far From The Madding Crowd," and that when coated with the overlapping emotions of desperation and passion, create a stirring film that delivers tragedy and triumph in equal measure. Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) is a woman ahead of her time in 1870. Orphaned when she was quite young, a generous inheritance from her late uncle has bestowed upon her his sizable estate and farm. “Too independent” she has been called, but it’s a status Bathsheba embraces. Undeniably beautiful, the virginal woman — who hasn...

Far From The Madding Crowd may be set in late 1860s “Wessex” but one of the fascinations of Thomas Vinterberg’s new adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel is the light it casts on our own preoccupations. The publicity hasn’t been slow to remind us that the story’s protagonist, Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan), inspired the Hunger Games’ author Suzanne Collins to make her heroine Katniss into an ‘Everdeen' as well.

Carey Mulligan has previously admitted to wanting a certain scene cut from Far from the Madding Crowd - and now you can watch it below.

The actress filmed a duet with Michael Sheen on the folk tune 'Let No Man Steal Your Thyme' for the romantic film.

Far from the Madding Crowd review: Carey Mulligan in corset mode

Speaking to Digital Spy about the scene, she said: "I always get nervous about singing, so there was a singing scene that I campaigned to get cut out of the film.

"I was rejected!"

Mulligan has shown off her singing voice in previous films Shame and Inside Llewyn Davis.

Mulligan plays Thomas Hardy's heroine Bathsheba Everdene, with Sheen, Matthias Schoenaerts and Tom Sturridge as her love interests.

Far from the Madding Crowd opens in cinemas on May 1. Watch a trailer below:...

It’s hard to believe that a 2015 screen adaptation of an 1874 Thomas Hardy novel could be even stodgier than the 1967 movie version, but director Thomas Vinterberg‘s take on “Far From the Madding Crowd” accomplishes just that. It’s not just that Vinterberg’s work here pales next to the admittedly flawed John Schlesinger film; anyone watching this prosaic, “Masterpiece Classic”-friendly movie would be hard-pressed to connect it to the firebrand filmmaker behind the revolutionary 1998 drama “The Celebration.” Alternating between character close-ups and pastoral shots of the British countryside (courtesy of cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen, “The Hunt”) and scored to.

Upon meeting director Thomas Vinterberg, you’d see exactly where his new film adaptation of the Thomas Hardy novel “Far from the Madding Crowd” gets its temperament. Soft-spoken, patient, vividly intelligent, and funny when you least expect it, filmmaker Vinterberg exudes all the same characteristics that make his period romance such an interesting reinvention of the 1874 classic. If you're unfamiliar with novel or story, it takes place in Victorian England and follows the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan), who finds three very different suitors vying for her hand: the shepherd, Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), wealthy landowner, William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), and soldier, Sergeant Troy (Tom Sturridge). As the characters overlap and pursue their own methods of courtship, heartbreak and romance aren't too far behind. We met Vinterberg in a sun-basted hotel room across from Central Park. Though jet-lagged from a flight in from Denmark just...

Carey Mulligan leads Thomas Vinterberg’s adaptation of the classic Thomas Hardy novel Far from the Madding Crowd as Bathsheba Everdene. She’s a headstrong, independent woman who’s determined to defy the odds and run a successful farm, but she becomes a bit distracted by the three men vying for her heart. There’s the noble farmer Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), the cocky soldier Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge), and the more mature and especially wealthy William Boldwood (Michael Sheen). Boldwood can’t compete with Mr. Oak’s farming knowhow or Sgt. Troy’s swordsmanship, but Sheen has no trouble selling Boldwood as a kind man who genuinely wants to make Bathsheba happy, putting him in the running just as much as anyone. While in New York City ahead of the Far from the Madding Crowd May 1st limited release, I got the opportunity to talk to Sheen about his experience working on the film.

Ridiculously romantic in all the best ways, and more modern, more progressive, and even just plain more grownup that half the movies thrown at us today. I’m “biast” (pro): love the cast; desperate for stories about women

I’m “biast” (con): nothing

I have read the source material (but not since high school and have no strong memory of it)

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

The novel it’s based on is a century and a half old, and it opens with a mad-sheepdog accident, of all the crazy rural old-fashioned things, but this new cinematic adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd is more modern, more progressive, and even just plain more grownup that half the movies thrown at us in our stodgy convention-bound movie landscape. And it’s not always modern in positive ways! The challenges faced by...