The Woodlanders

Giles (Rufus Sewell) is the right-hand man to a successful, rural logger. A handsome gent, he and the business owner's daughter, Grace (Emily Woof) grew up together and became very attached. But, the logger always had a chip on his shoulder that he was not refined so he sent his only child to a finishing school for some years. Now, Grace is coming home and Giles is eager to re-establish a relationship with her. But, alas, the beautiful young lady, although quite kind, is hoping to make a better match, having her head filled with bookish nonsense. This stuns Giles but, he keeps on keeping on. Even when he loses his home to a local woman's pettiness, the handsome man stays true to Gracie and his community. As bad luck would have it, there is a new doctor in town and once Gracie meets him, she sets her sights on him and the interest is mutual, resulting in marriage. How can this be, when clearly the doctor is a somewhat pompous and flawed individual and Giles is such a handsome, true-to-you kind of male? This is a complicated tale from the great writer, Thomas Hardy, of 19th century England. Hardy excelled in penning books about ordinary, country folks who sometimes had terrible exchanges with the wealthier, more powerful classes. Tragedy was often the result and the story here is much of the same. Admirably, this film is never melodramatic or forced but tells the complicated story very well. Also, the cast is quite wonderful, all of them, even though Sewell or Polly Walker are the only known actors. Then, too, the setting in the English countryside is very lovely and authentic, showing the beauty and the rustic nature of the existence in another time, another place. Costumes, too, are sensational, the productions values are very fine, and the script and direction are most competent. If you adore the classics, romance, or historical tales, you would do well to search for the Woodlanders. It is a powerful story that would spark a most animated discussion, even as it entertains.

I have really discovered Thomas Hardy through wonderful movies like Tess (Tess of the d'Urbervilles) (1979), Far from the Madding Crowd (1967 & 2015) and the 1978 TV mini-series of The Mayor of Casterbridge as well as the 1971 TV mini-series , Jude the Obscure (1971).

This is also a wonderful discovery for those of us who have come to love movie versions of Thomas Hardy novels (or stories). It tells the story of a young woman who has been sent off to finishing school by her father so that she can rise above the level she has grown up in: the lower- class timber workers of the deep woods in 19th-century rural England.

Though she and a local woodlander had had an agreement to marry when they came of age, her father wants something better for her and encourages her to marry a local doctor who lives and practices in the village. She agrees to marry the doctor, but soon learns that he cannot stand the crude rustic manners of the local people.

This sets up a series of conflicts between her and her father as well as the way she feels about the life she had been raised in and the life that her father wants for her. I love the way the story unfolds as well as the dark (and often wet) sylvan atmosphere that it so capably captures and inhabits.

I haven't the slightest idea what a spoiler is and I doubt whether many folks who are not film buffs will know either, so I'll just have to hope that my comments don't enter that category and request that you use a non-jargon word in order that us ordinary punters can understand.

I cannot agree with comments made concerning the scenes dragging or the film itself lacking cinematic scope. Some critics have taken this view but I believe this is rather an indication of how susceptible critics can be to saying what they think people will expect them to say (whilst conveying the distinct impression that they are the most bravely objective critics in the world).

No, this is a film which refuses to go at the pace expected of it but, rather, courageously moves at the precise pace demanded of it by the overall direction and approach. I am glad I haven't read the book because it might have tempted me to try to make a like-for-like comparison and thereby go on to make erroneous deductions.

The two mediums, film and literature, demand different approaches and, to me anyway, this thoughtfully filmed tale is at ease with itself and that is all we can ask of it. It is not trying to be Gone With The Wind or even Pride and Pejudice, nor should it make the attempt.

Like Bleak House, it will completely glide past the attention span of the viewer who is anxious for untimely progression or who is not mentally prepared for its purposely ponderous and understated theme. What I would suggest, most humbly, is that anyone with doubts set aside a whole evening with nothing else planned and no interruptions possible. Then forget anything you have previously experienced concerning this tale and view it afresh. Put away any cynical prejudgement and consciously assume that the film's understated acting is fully intended as such. Then I believe your experience and enjoyment of this film will improve no end.

The director was no doubt under immense pressure to make this tale more paced and juicy. I, for one, fully commend him for resisting this and producing a magnificently restrained U film, a truly English shared countryside, domestic and subtly romantic experience - at least for anyone allowing it the space to embrace them. VNP.

'The Woodlanders' was one of Thomas Hardy's most involving novels, a key novel in his Wessex series concerning the land and the people who struggle with conscience and passion within it. This movie by Phil Agland takes the pace of the book but doesn't necessarily serve it well as a film.

Performance-wise the cast is well-chosen, with gorgeous Rufus Sewell in the lead role as the brooding woodman Giles, who keeps his feelings for the now-better-than-he Grace (Emily Woof) to himself; as Fitzpiers, Cal Macaninch makes the character just as unsympathetic as he was in print (a close cousin to the Brontes' Edgar Linton is this starchy doctor). Jodhi May completes the mix as Marty, the village girl who remains doggedly devoted to Giles.

The countryside is photographed well but the momentum lacks the cinematic scope which would have made this a truly interesting film.

Thomas Hardy wrote such classics as Tess of the D'Urbervilles and The Mayor of Casterbridge, yet he always maintained that his best work was the often overlooked The Woodlanders. This film version is first-rate. I saw it a week after I saw the mega-budget Titanic, and I actually found this film more moving and more engaging that the costly James Cameron epic.

The story is faithful to the book, but omits some of the peripheral details. It's about a young woman who returns to a close knit woodland community after several years away. In that time, she has become an educated lady, and she finds it quite difficult to relate to the people she once grew up with, having experienced wider and more varied cultures. Her childhood sweetheart is a simple woodcutter, and she feels that she is now too "good" for him, so she forsakes her fondness for him and marries a wealthy and educated doctor, with tragic consequences.

The film was filmed in the New Forest (a gorgeous area of England) and it is a visual treat from first frame to last. The scenery is simply ravishing. Furthermore, the performances are very thoughtful and persuasive, complementing the sharp and carefully worked out script. This is definitely one of the best adaptations of a Thomas Hardy novel, and it can stand alongside Polanski's Tess and Schlesinger's Far From the Madding Crowd with its head held high.