The 2015 version of Hardy's enduring rural tale is a nice film. It's pretty to look at and if you havn't read the book or seen the definitive 1967 film version, it's enjoyable with (mostly) good performances, score and cinematography. But if you have read Hardy's original or watched the John Schlesinger-directed epic, it will seem rather on the 'lite' side. The book and that 1967 film are not just pretty, they are truly beautiful.

The 2015 version simply does not have the stature. For one thing it's far too short. Clearly it doesn't have the budget, but that does not excuse it. So much is missed, so many key moments pass without sufficient fanare, too much enjoyable detail is diminished, the score is less rousing the cinematography less arresting and the casting... well the task of matching Christie, Stamp, Bates and Finch was practically impossible to begin with!. When the 1967 film was in production these were four of the hottest actors on screen. All genuine stars. When you watch that version you cannot fail to appreciate why. Julie Christie gives Bathsheba a to-die-for quality that Carey Mulligan simply cannot emulate. No criticism of Mulligan, who's a great actress and very watchable, but Julie Christie at that moment in time had something that was simply magical on screen. Similarly the new incarnation of the villainous Sergeant Troy is a very pale shadow of Terence Stamp's swaggering seductive bad-boy. Neither actor makes any effort at giving this character the local accent he should have possessed, but little matter, Stamp strides into the film every inch the red-coated sword carrying officer and commands attention throughout. That his Troy captivates Christie's Bathsheba is entirely understandable. There is electricity between them in every scene. Frankly what Mulligan's Bathsheba sees in her weedy, grumpy, pouting Troy is unfathomable. The whole crux of the story is basically lost at this point and her actions cease to make sense. What the hell is she doing? Not that the casting is entirely to blame here, the role us badly underwritten in this version, much of Troy's character development is simply left out, his motivation entirely unexplored. The character and thus one vital third of the entire story is truncated and this unbalances the whole film.

Alan Bates' 1967 portrayal of the faithful and likeable Oak is perfectly in tune with the book , he is an instantly recognisable representation of a Hardy character and the on-off interaction with Christie's Bathsheba rings true throughout . She would play him along and he would wait for her. It almost works in the new version but like every other aspect it's simply a lesser rendition, lacking in spark and depth. The 2015 Oak is just rather bland. Would he wait for her? Well...he doesn't have much else to do ... Michael Sheen give's Peter Finch a fair run for his money as the tragic Mr Boldwood but again is hampered by the pared down adaptation. Finch's version has room to brood and evolve, his social status is more subtle, his feelings for Bathsheba more faithfully observed. Sheen, a great actor, does not have enough to work with. Neither do any of the lesser characters. Every one of them has far more input into the 1967 version, each is a nicely drawn cameo, a personality. Glorious little scenes like the drunken progress of the cart drawing Fanny Robbin's coffin add a comedy and a pathos lacking in the newer version. And it's not just these vignettes that we miss, there is a distinct underplaying of many significant scenes. Oak's dog driving the sheep over the cliff , which is brilliantly directed and photographed in Schlesinger's film looks hurried and rather cheaply made in the new one. The famously seductive demonstration of swordplay, dazzling and memorable , among the most famous scenes in 1960s cinema, becomes a brief, puzzling, yet forgettable and insignificant moment. It could easily have been written out for all the good it did.

I could go on. The wedding barn-dance, the storm, Bathsheba's song at the feast , the opening of the coffin and even the climactic shooting, all so wonderfully timed and staged by Schlesinger, are somehow flunked here. The moment lost. The point being made often rather hard to see.

I'm not intentionally ripping this newer version to shreds, and I know it sound like I am, it's simply a reflection on how damned good the 1967 version was in almost every respect. It's not prefect. No film is perfect and no literary adaptation avoids corner cutting but the 2015 cuts rather too many and just does not compare. These are two different films. One is pretty but the other is truly, ravishingly beautiful.

It is rags to riches for the beautiful young, Bathsheba Everdene. She's inherited her late Uncle's farm, and has gone from a life of manual labour to one of property and wealth. An impulsive, head strong young woman, she attracts a lot of male attention, before and after her wealth. She has a pick of three suitors (most of whom keep wanting to buy her a piano!!) There's William Boldwood, a handsome, charismatic mature man of wealth. There is the rugged Gabriel Oak, a handsome sheep farmer who's gone from a farm owner to an employee of Bathsheba, and finally there is the charismatic young officer Sergeant Francis Troy. She seems unaware of the effect she has on her potential suitors, causing deep passion in all three. She makes her choice and has to live with having a Master.

The film develops beautifully, the softer easy going beginning is at great contrast to the deeper more serious core. That end kiss, I believed the passion in every second of it, extremely powerful and emotional scene.

It must be not far off twenty years when I read Far from the madding crowd. There have been a few versions, the one I had enjoyed most up to this point being the one with Paloma Baeza in the lead.

I had high expectations for this version, and I was right to, it is a truly beautiful adaptation. It is a beautifully shot film, it literally looks gorgeous. If you appreciate attention to detail, sets, clothes, hair etc then there is plenty to feast your eyes on.

I've been a huge fan of Carey Mulligan since her dream performance as Sally Sparrow in Doctor Who's legendary episode Blink. She is perfect for the role, very attractive, in a way fitting to the time this was set in. She exudes an inner strength and confidence, very well cast.

Michael Sheen to is very well cast as Boldwood, a man awkward in matters of the heart, he put a sensitivity and a sense of sadness into his performance, Sheen scrubs up rather well too. The performance I enjoyed the most though came from Matthias Schoenaerts, he brought Gabriel Oak to life, he is a totally brilliant actor.

Fantastic film. 9/10