Tess

I watched Tess for the first time soon after its first release. I was rather looking forward to it but after sitting through 172 minutes I was bored and disappointed. Sure the highly praised cinematography is impressive but the film as a whole is lacking in the gripping power I had anticipated from a director who had directed some of my favourites such as Knife in the Water, Repulsion, Cul-de-Sac, Rosemary's Baby and Chinatown. It is probably not the 'fault' of the story per se. An recent adaptation of The Woodlanders deals with similar tragedy owed to steep social gaps and conflicts and yet it is most touching with great performance from Rufus Sewell, who plays the wronged lover.

I suspect that its meritocracy has a lot to do with the performance from the leading lady Nastassja Kinski who though pretty does not carry the weight of a great tragedy. Rather her beauty seems to be too dominating an element and more than often been turned into a clothes rack of the costumes department. The same goes with a number of scenes where the art directors were getting an upper hand of the film. The scene where Tess and her family were evicted from the family home and had to resort to camping in the rough outside 'our church' is a case in point. It was such a showpiece of art design and great photography that it feels more like a bohemian family camping in style rather than a fatal tragedy that would force Tess to return in disgrace to her raper.

That said, my disappointment might well be rooted in other things, such as the hype surrounding it at its first release.