Tess (1979 film)
| Tess | |
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Original theatrical release film poster
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| Directed by | Roman Polanski |
| Produced by | Claude Berri |
| Written by |
Gerard Brach John Brownjohn Roman Polanski |
| Based on |
Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy |
| Starring |
Nastassja Kinski Peter Firth Leigh Lawson |
| Music by | Philippe Sarde |
| Cinematography |
Ghislain Cloquet Geoffrey Unsworth |
| Edited by | Alastair McIntyre Tom Priestley |
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Production
company |
Renn Productions
Timothy Burrill Productions SFP |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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186 min |
| Country | France United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $12 million (est.) |
| Box office | $20.1 million |
Tess is a 1979 drama film directed by Roman Polanski, an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's 1891 novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles. The screenplay was written by Gérard Brach, John Brownjohn, and Roman Polanski. The film received positive critical reviews upon release and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, winning three for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.
The story takes place in Thomas Hardy's Wessex during the Victorian period.
The events of the story are set in motion when a clergyman, Parson Tringham, has a chance conversation with John Durbeyfield, a simple farmer. Tringham is a local historian, and in the course of his research he has discovered the "Durbeyfields" are descended from the d'Urbervilles, a noble family whose lineage extends to the time of William the Conqueror. The family lost its land and prestige when the male heirs died out. The parson thinks Durbeyfield might like to know his origins as a passing historical curiosity.
Durbeyfield soon becomes fixated upon the idea of using his noble lineage to better his family's fortunes. Finding a noble family named d'Urberville living nearby, he and his wife send their daughter Tess to call on his presumed relations, and seek employment at the manor house. At the manor house lives Alec d'Urberville and his mother. Tess is a beautiful girl, and Alec d'Urberville has an appetite for women. Alec and his mother know they are no relation to Tess, for their family name and coat of arms had been purchased. Finding her naive, penniless and attractive, he sets about taking advantage of the situation. He tries to get her alone, and attempts to seduce her with strawberries and roses, but these efforts are parried by Tess. In time he rapes her.
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