Tess

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Tess

PG

Released Oct 25, 1979

2h 50m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

81%

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77 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

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.

Jun 17, 2022

Full Review

Gary Arnold

Washington Post

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

Jun 17, 2022

Full Review

Richard Schickel

TIME Magazine

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.

Jun 17, 2022

Full Review

Scott Sublett

Washington Blade

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.

Jun 17, 2022

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Jasper Rees

The Arts Desk

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).

Rated: 5/5

Jun 17, 2022

Full Review

Stephen Schiff

Boston Phoenix

It's not art at all. It's art-like. Tess feeds on a sort of romanticized self-pity. If indeed Polanski sees himself mirrored in Tess's story, it's not as the resilient, sensual, quietly outraged character that Hardy imagined, but as a victim.

Jun 17, 2022

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Marit Risto F

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

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/16/25

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thiago s

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

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

06/16/25

Full Review

Leaburn O

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.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/15/25

Full Review

Robert W

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.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

04/09/24

Full Review

Frances H

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

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/24

Full Review

Alec B

This could easily have become a repetitive series of depressing events (which it almost does), but Polanski finds interesting themes among the misery and visual beauty in almost every scene (I think this film is tied with "Days of Heaven" for best use of the Golden Hour). Nastassja Kinski's performance has just the right blend of naivety and mystery for this role.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/10/23

Full Review

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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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