

She was born into a world where they called it seduction, not rape. What she did would shatter that world forever.
A strong-willed peasant girl is sent by her father to the estate of some local aristocrats to capitalize on a rumour that their families are from the same line. This fateful visit commences an epic narrative of sex, class, betrayal, and revenge.
- Sexual violence
- Bleak ending
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Character
Grave, earnest, prestige and classical in form.
- gravecomic
- earnestironic
- unpretentiousprestige
- classical in formformally daring
- cooloverwhelming
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- Wuchakon TMDB · Sep 20208/10
_**Bringing in the sheaves stuck between a demon and an angel**_ During the Long Depression of the 1870-80s in Blackmore Vale, southern England, a peasant family discovers that they are nobility and thus their oldest daughter, an extraordinarily beautiful woman (Nastassja Kinski), is sent to meet the well-to-do family. She is eventually pitted between the interest of two very different men (Leigh Lawson and Peter Firth). Roman Polanski's "Tess" (1979) is based on Thomas Hardy's 1891 novel "Tess of the d'Urbervilles." Polanski was inspired to make the film because his late wife, Sharon Tate, gave him the book suggesting it would make a great film and she was interested in playing the title role. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the last time Roman saw his pregnant wife alive as she was heading back to the USA while he stayed in Europe to complete a picture. She was murdered by the Manson psychos on August 9th, 1969. This movie is dedicated to her during the opening credits. The two male characters are basically two sides of the same bad coin: one is amoral while the other is excessively moral. There is a scene in the book where Alec shows up to talk to the workers at harvest time
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Cast
- Nastassja KinskiTess Durbeyfield
- Peter FirthAngel Clare
- Leigh LawsonAlec d'Urberville
- John CollinJohn Durbeyfield
- Rosemary MartinMrs. Durbeyfield
- Carolyn PicklesMarian
- Richard PearsonVicar of Marlott
- David MarkhamReverend Mr. Clare
- Pascale de BoyssonMrs. Clare
- Suzanna HamiltonIzz Huett
Crew
- Roman PolanskiDirector
- Gérard BrachScreenplay
- Roman PolanskiScreenplay
- John BrownjohnScreenplay
- Thomas HardyNovel
- Geoffrey UnsworthDirector of Photography
- Ghislain CloquetDirector of Photography
- Philippe SardeOriginal Music Composer
- Alastair McIntyreEditor
- Tom PriestleyEditor
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