Product Description
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As an adaptation of a classic, this BBC dramatization of Thomas
Hardy's heart-wrenching novel is remarkably loyal to the
original. The incomparable Alan Bates (Gosford Park) manages to
make the mature Michael Henchard, the flawed protagonist,
sympathetic, despite his galling youthful misdeeds. Anna Massey
(The Importance of Being Earnest) is his poignant co-star. This
literate series captures the melancholy alism that
distinguishes Hardy's work from that of his fellow Victorians. 5
hours 50 min. on 3 DVDs.
.com
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Alan Bates gives a fierce, uncompromising performance in The
Mayor of Casterbridge, a skillful miniseries adapted from Thomas
Hardy's classic novel ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/0141439785/${0} ). The
arrogant Michael Henchard (Bates), in a foul drunken mood, sells
his long-suffering wife Susan (Anne Stallybrass) and infant
daughter Elizabeth-Jane to a sailor at a country fair. Henchard
awakens the next morning stricken with remorse; he vows not to
drink again for 21 years. Eighteen years later, Susan returns to
find him, with Elizabeth-Jane (Janet Maw) in tow; Henchard
receives her joyously, eager to lay the acts of his youth
behind him, but just as eager to avoid the shame that his past
might bring to his current life as mayor of the town of
Casterbridge. Thus begins a complex and compelling tragedy of
secrets, betrayals, and unexpected turns. In the hands of
Dickens, this melodramatic story would have been a romp. Hardy
has a sadder but also more intensely emotional bent; he takes his
characters' feelings--both their loss and their desire--deeply
seriously, and the result is as passionate as it is woeful. The
Mayor of Casterbridge starts sluggishly, but becomes increasingly
gripping over the course of seven episodes, as the excellent cast
makes the characters vivid and sympathetic. Bates and Anna
Massey, as a former love of Henchard's who seeks to renew their
relationship, are particularly superb. Some critics view
Henchard's fall from grace as the result of pride; but this
production, written with nuance and care by Dennis Potter (The
Singing Detective ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B00007HGIJ/${0} ), Pennies
from Heaven ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005JLUL/${0} )), makes clear
his emotional clumsiness and how it sabotages his fumbling after
happiness. --Bret Fetzer
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From the Back Cover
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This BBC adaptation of the classic novel by Thomas Hardy stars
Alan Bates (Gosford Park) as Michael Henchard. On a drunken
impulse, Henchard sells his wife and daughter at a country fair,
an outrageous act for which he suffers agonizing remorse. Years
later, when he has become a respected and prosperous man, his
wife returns to find him. Henchard's attempt to right the
long-ago wrong sets in motion a series of events that spell his
destruction. Dramatized by Dennis Potter, creator of The Singing
Detective, the six-hour miniseries also stars Anna Massey (The
Pallisers), Anne Stallybrass (The Six Wives of Henry VIII), Janet
Maw (The Barchester Chronicles) and Jack Galloway (Inspector
Maigret). DVD BONUS FEATURES include F22cast filmographies and
Thomas Hardy materials
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