Customer Reviews

Jude the Obscure [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I don't usually review DVDs and CDs but after reading Claire Tomalin's excellent new biography of Thomas Hardy I decided to rent a couple of films based on his novels. "Jude the Obscure", a mini-series delivered in 1971, was my first choice and what a choice it was! Set on two DVDs (six episodes of forty-five minutes each) I came away dazzled not only with a greater appreciation of Hardy but of this particular group of actors.

Jude is a character of great sympathy who is in constant conflict between his marriage to one woman and his passions for another. Leading this strong group is Robert Powell (the entire cast is British, of course) and he delivers a tour de force in the title role of Jude. The supporting women, (Fiona Walker as Jude's cousin and real love and Alex Marshall as his wife) express a range of emotions that plays true to Hardy's work. This mini-series became so engrossing as I got into it that I watched the entire series in one sitting. It's a drama-packed production, wonderfully directed and photographed and not for one minute seeming to be outdated. I highly recommend it.

Like the other reviewer, I finished this two-DVD mini-series in one sitting. I was also clueless what I was getting, but my passion lasted 'til the very end.

It was very difficult to understand at first because of the regional British accent characters were speaking. It's to provide authenticity of the language spoken by people from that setting. However, I wished the DVD production company could have provided close captioning for easier watching.

Do not let the language issue deter you though, because the story is very rewarding and very timeless, not only for the production value like the other reviewer pointed out, but the story itself transcends the time period it is set (which is Victorian England, early Victorian, I presume).

The other reviewer already mentioned something about Jude's marriage life. I must mention there is another tragedy (a counterpoint) in Jude's life some of us may relate well. The early focus of the story was on Jude's impotence to fulfill his personal goal. He wanted to be a scholar at a university. However, his financial status as well as social status prevented him from achieving it (this was Victorian era where people must know their places).

To solve the financial obstacle, he learned a trade and worked as a mason. However, he still had to meet the obstacle to be admitted to a university. He was ridiculed as being too educated for his trade. He felt betrayed by the society. The upward mobility in Victorian England wasn't very good. A self-made man was not rewarded.

He later wandered through series of vocational changes (I think this is very relatable, given the time we're in). However, after each new dream shattered before him, he was back as a mason.

While he was wading through the river of vocational identity, he also had an emotional journey. He was a man of tradition value. His acquaintance to his cousin Sue soon turned into a taboo love affair. The problem was not they were close kins, but a legal problem. He was a married man.

She also couldn't make up her mind between her own cousin and her betrothed. Instead, she masked her non-commitment as a break of trivial social convention. Her free-spiritedness disgusted him at first but at the end of the story, we would see a reversal of values.

Sue, on the other hand, after their wedlock children had hung themselves, she believed it was a punishment for her sin. It led her to re-marry her original husband. The tragic ending fit the brand of being Thomas Hardy's most controversial work.

The story is very melodramatic, which succumbs me once a while as a guilty pleasure (*nervous laughter*). It also reminds me of Scarlett Letter, except with a male lead. Jude must face the world's slight opinion of him, both his trade and his value, and bitter end of his own family.

It's a very modern story.

Of all the films based on a Hardy novel, this one is absolutely the most dramatic. The camera shots are very good and the music makes this production even more sad. I really liked this film very much, because I'm a Hardy fan and this film is very close to the book, nevertheless the book is still better, but that is always the case with films based on a book.

I read the novel "Jude the Obscure" before I got the movie. My favorite actor, Robert Powell, was in it as well, so I decided to get the movie. The acting is very good, and the movie is very dramatic- however, I was dissapointed with the cinematography. The story is about a man named Jude, a stonemason who wants to become a priest. He meets his long-lost cousin, Sue, and the two fall in love. It causes lots of controversy in their town, and they suffer a lot of hardships because of their position. If you're one who enjoys the drama of a movie and doesn't focus on technical points, then I think this is a movie for you.

My students HATED this film. I showed it in an upper division college seminar on Victoian literature when I was out of town at a conference. I returned to highly vocal complaints--many students called it "the most depressing film I have ever seen!"

Well, that's Thomas Hardy for you.

Beautifully made and acted, but certainly not a laugh a minute riot.

This movie, as well as the book, was a real "downer". No matter what this man did, he could not win. The women in the movie were most unattractive, and what man would have fallen so hard for either of them? I was very dissapointed in the actresses who were his wives - as one looked like a tramp, and the other like an old maid schoolteacher. The casting was awful! When he died, it was a relief - because now he was finally out of his misery. In several ways, it reminded me of Theodore Dreiser's "An American Tragedy" only, he didn't kill his first "love."
Of all the Hardy books I've read, this one was the most depressing, so the movie could have at least made realistic casting of beautiful women. Ugh. I purchased this item from Amazon, which never disappoints in packaging, timely shipping, etc.

A CLASSIC VINTAGE FILM BASED ON THE GREAT THOMAS HARDY NOVEL.
THIS IS A MUST-SEE FOR LITERARY MAJORS, FICTION LOVERS, ANGLOPHILES,FILM AFICIONADOS, AND LOVERS OF ENGLISH
FILMAKERS' ABILITY TO CREATE PERIOD AUTHENTICITY.

THANKS A BUNCH AMAZON FOR STOCKING THIS RARE FILM FOR ME.
ED

This is a BBC adaptation from 1971. The most important thing you need to know is that it was filmed on video, so it's hard to escape the feeling of cheapness when you watch it. I am told that despite the public's prejudices towards film, video actually renders a superior picture. That may be true, but the fact is that as you watch this you'll be hard pressed to take it seriously, on account of our mental association of video and cheap soap operas. The problem is especially acute with this production on account of the gravity of the ending.

Further, the filmmakers don't appear to have had a lot of money, so most of the scenes are staged indoors. Outdoor shots are brief and cramped.

The three leads are superior, though, and very convincing. The direction, while occasionally imaginative, is mostly stiff and forgettable. (I'm guessing the director was much more comfortable with the stage than film, since it's almost like you're watching rigid adaptation fit better fit for the stage than the screen.)

From its intimidating running time (over 4 hours), you might be tempted to think that is adaptation follows the book excruciatingly faithfully (unlike, say, the recent Jude), but no, not especially. Several liberties are taken, much is changed, and countless scenes or subtleties from the book are dropped entirely.

I consider this movie an excellent example of the cause and effect of life. Perhaps some of us dont have the same degree of emotions as others and problems arise where "love" is contemplated on both sides of the divide
Is Love enough? or is there some other emotion that can span the two emotional divides. Jude the obscure does not answer the question but it has certainly moved from cause to effect.

This movie is an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's "Jude the Obscure". The story tells of two cousins, Jude Fawley and Sue Bridehead, who fall in love. Lots of controversy rises because of their love for each other, and throws them into a whirl of events that leads into a tragic ending. The acting is very good, but the cinematography is not that good. Watch this movie if you have nothing better to do.