Tess

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Tess

PG

1979

2h 50m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

81%

Tomatometer

78 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

In Roman Polanski's take on "Tess of the D'Urbervilles," impressionable young Tess (Nastassja Kinski) is sent by her alcoholic father to visit her rich relatives and apply for a job. She's taken in and immediately seduced by her cousin, Alec (Leigh Lawson), who leaves her pregnant. She keeps it to herself and, after the child dies, begins a relationship with a respectable farmer, Angel (Peter Firth). They marry, but when Angel learns of her speckled past, he's not sure he can live with it.

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Critics Consensus

A reverent adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel, Tess marries painterly cinematography and unhurried pacing to create an epic ode to perseverance.

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Judith Martin

Washington Post

06/17/2022

This is cinematography at its best -- film used to present a view, in motion, of a reality that has been artistically ordered to reveal a greater-that-literal essence.

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Gary Arnold

Washington Post

06/17/2022

Watching this long, placid maddeningly subdued movie, you can't help wondering what became of Hardy's stark chronicle of crimes of passion.

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Richard Schickel

TIME Magazine

06/17/2022

One emerges from [Roman Polanski's] endless version of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles with a sense that one could have read the book in a shorter span and had more fun too.

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Lorien Haynes

Radio Times

Nov 11

4/5

Not as good as the novel, but still has much to recommend it, not least the evocative Oscar-winning photography.

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Scott Sublett

Washington Blade

06/17/2022

It does not shout and it does not speed; it rolls along effortlessly, at an even rate, like a country brook, and when it ends one wishes for more.

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Jasper Rees

The Arts Desk

06/17/2022

5/5

The triumph of Tess is in the yoking of remorseless Hardian sadism to the natural photogenic allure of both Kinski and her surroundings (not to mention Anthony Powell’s gorgeous costumes).

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Vincent S.

@Vin_E_At_The_Movies Sep 23

Nastassja Kinski is outstanding in this beautifully filmed, emotional, tragic story. One of the best adaptations!

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Marit Risto F

Aug 16

Same old story. Beautiful, innocent girl, being raped, tortured, and killed, by a heap of Christian, and other, assholes

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thiago s

@Thiagostone Jun 16

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom

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Leaburn O

Feb 15

Whilst Kinski is always essential viewing, the trouble isn’t the acting which is excellent, it’s just the turgid script that makes this a real Steve to get through. It is interminably tragic and slow paced. I’ve never read the book but this show has confirmed to me that I really don’t want to as a lot of the so called classics are just plain dull. Watched on DVD.

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Robert W

04/09/2024

I was shocked to see this movie get an 81% rating. We found it tedious, the plot, ridiculous, and judging from what I've read about the book it veered away from the original Hardy version. I was sorry to have had to pay to rent it. We only finished it because we paid for it. We loved the Mayor of Casterbridge And watched this with the same expectation. The heroine's shy withdrawn personality, made her uninteresting and unsympathetic.

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Frances H

02/15/2024

Although the cinematography is excellent, Kinski's acting is far from being emotive. Watch the Masterpiece Theater version.

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Roman Polanski

Director

Nastassja Kinski

Tess

Peter Firth

Angel Clare

Leigh Lawson

Alec d'Urberville

John Collin

John Durbeyfield

David Markham

Reverend Mr. Clare

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Synopsis

In Roman Polanski's take on "Tess of the D'Urbervilles," impressionable young Tess (Nastassja Kinski) is sent by her alcoholic father to visit her rich relatives and apply for a job. She's taken in and immediately seduced by her cousin, Alec (Leigh Lawson), who leaves her pregnant. She keeps it to herself and, after the child dies, begins a relationship with a respectable farmer, Angel (Peter Firth). They marry, but when Angel learns of her speckled past, he's not sure he can live with it.

Director: Roman Polanski
Producer: Claude Berri
Screenwriter: Gérard Brach, Roman Polanski, John Brownjohn
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Burrill Productions
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 25, 1979, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 19, 2017
Runtime: 2h 50m
Sound Mix: Surround

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