When I saw the 2015 version of Far from the Madding Crowd with Carrie Mulligan and Matthias Schoenarts, I was taken with Tom Hardy's story, the characters, the landscape, the incredible color and spectacle of the surroundings. It is so breathtakingly gorgeous, with cinematography befitting of a Merchant Ivory production. The acting was accomplished Although Oak was not very verbal, he projected a simple and stalwart shepard. What he did deliver was fluid and uncontrived. Schoenarts made a rugged and loyal Gabriel Oak. Carrie, a smart, sassy, and clever tongued Bathsheba. Much more striking and heady than the giddy, and far too matronly Julie Christie in the earlier production. But despite the verdant forest breathing with life at night and the harvest scenes reminiscent of a John Singer Sergeant oil painting, somehow, when I saw the 1998 BBC version, I realized 2015 fell short and that in the 1998 version a richer story was revealed. Nathaniel Parker's impeccable acting so beautifully crafted Gabriel Oak's character. He made Oak fully rounded, repleat with insecurities, jokiness and physical and emotional strength. He nailed not just every phrase, but every innuendo, pause, glance, gaze and motion. He seemed equally comfortable as a common Sheppard and later as the bailiff, in who he was. Nigel Terry was beautifully cast as Boldwood. As was Michael Sheen in the 2015 version. Both are exceptional actors. Paloma Baeza was great as Bathsheba, but Carrie Mulligan was better in that you had a clearer understanding of her thought process. With Paloma it just seemed that she spoke in absurdities to be arrogant, overly vain, or just odd or something... The industrial revolution and the change from country servitude to a Master to more independent city life (as it turned out,servitude to a more formidable master -- feeding a factory machine) is addressed on in the 1998 version,but these changing times are not addressed in the 2015 film. Likewise, the 1998 version does not dwell on Bathsheba's education and higher status on the social ladder as a reason for initially rejecting Oak. And in the 2015 version, he is a shepard still and not her Bailiff, when they unite. Implausible in that day, but no doubt lost on today's audiences. This 1998 BBC version is a find -- truly excellent.
