Far From the Madding Crowd has been adapted for screen at least five times, including a silent film, a television series, a Japanese-language film and a videotaped staged production for young people.

The one you are most likely to find and enjoy though is the 1967 movie directed by John Schlesinger (Midnight Cowboy), starring Julie Christie as Bathsheba Everdene, Alan Bates as her lowly would-be lover Gabriel Oak, Peter Finch as the stolid landowner Boldwood and Terence Stamp as the dashing Sergeant Troy. (Bates and Christie would reunite three years later as the similarly mismatched lovers in The Go-Between.) It's a very British production, moving in stately fashion through beautifully photographed rural scenery and in sensitive fashion through all the ins and outs of the complex relationships. This makes for a slower-moving film than many modern audiences like but it's a perfect rendition of Hardy's novel. Sit back, enjoy the fine performances and get caught up in the characters, especially in the heart-breaking quandary of Bates's shepherd in love with a women above his station. This movie is available only on videotape, not DVD, so far.

As good as the 1967 film is, many say the even slower 1998 British TV series is better. I am not familiar with it, but the nearly four-hour series is said to feature wonderful performances by a lesser-known cast including Paloma Baeza, Nigel Terry, Nathaniel Parker (as Gabriel) and Jonathan Firth.

— Eric

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