Far From The Madding Crowd is set to hit the big screen tomorrow and is the latest period novel to be adapted for the big screen. The movie is based on the book by Thomas Hardy and sees Carey Mulligan take on the iconic heroine Bathsheba Everdene.
Far From The Madding Crowd
We have been treated to some wonderful period movies over the years - many of which have been adaptations of works by some of literature's biggest names.
We take a look at some of our favourite period novels that have been adapted beautifully to make truly wonderful films - some of these works have been adapted more than one and for the big and small screen.
- Sense & Sensibility
Sense and Sensibility is one of Jane Austen's greatest novels and in 1996 British actress, Emma Thompson adapted it for the big screen with Ang Lee in the director's chair.
Sense & Sensibility saw Lee made the switch from Taiwanese to British films for the first time and it was to be the movie that opened up doors for him in Hollywood. However, it is the Sense & Sensibility script that must be applauded.
Not only is it a funny and witty movie, but Thompson has also allowed for great depth of character as well as interesting relationships. Thompson stayed true to the tone of Austen's novel with her adaptation and yet, it seemed like she breathed new life into a story that we know so well.
Thompson herself gives an excellent central performance as Elinor Dashwood, while Kate Winslet is always terrific as her younger sister Marianne. The pair is surrounded by a great supporting cast, as Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Gemma Jones, and Greg Wise are just some of the great names that are on board.
Sense & Sensibility is one of my favourite period dramas of the last twenty years, and it remains as fresh and as lush a movie now as it did when it hit the big screen back in 1996.
Thompson went on to scoop the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar, while the movie was nominated for six other Oscars - including Best Picture. This film helped launch the careers of Lee and Winslet as well as cementing Thompson as a writing force to be reckoned with.
- Atonement
Ian McEwan is one of this country's most prolific novelists, who began his writing career back in the late seventies. In 2001, he released Atonement and six years later, it was adapted for the big screen.
Joe Wright was in the director's chair for Atonement, in what was only his second movie of his career and came hot off the heels of the success of Pride & Prejudice in 2005.
Of all the period movies that we have been treated to in recent years, Atonement stands head and shoulders above all of them as it is an epic love story and war drama that remains incredibly faithful to the source material.
The look of the movie is just stunning as cinematographer Seamus McGarvey captures the scale and horror of Dunkirk in scenes that stay with you long after the credits have rolled.
However, it is the relationship between Cecilia and Robbie that really pushes this movie forward and creates all of the sexual tension - played wonderfully by Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. It is this tragic love story that gives the movie its heartbreaking power with Knightley and McAvoy playing that emotion just perfectly.
Wright really does capture the passion and the epic nature of the book with this movie and it was the film that really cemented himself as one of the UK's leading filmmakers.
- Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre is one of my favourite books of all time and it has been adapted for big and small screen many times. Jane Eye is Charlotte Bronte's best-known novel and saw her create one of literature's greatest heroines.
In 2011, Jane Eyre was adapted for the big screen again with Cary Fukunaga, Moira Buffini on writing duties, and Mia Wasikowska & Michael Fassbender cast as Jane Eyre, and Edward Rochester.
First and foremost, it was just perfect casting - Wasikowska is closer to the age of Jane in the book and was able to capture the strength, innocence, and vulnerability of this character perfectly. Fassbender is my favourite depiction of Rochester so far - an intense and flawed man who dominates every scene that he is in.
While Jane Eyre is a story that has been told more times than I care to count, there is something bold, fresh and modern about this adaptation. The fast-paced script and the sweeping cinematography breaths new live into this great tale.
Fukunaga has also told this story in a non-linear manner, which not only makes this feel like a new story, but it also allows the director to put his own stamp on Jane Eyre and the characters. It is one of the best adaptations of this terrific novel that I have seen and is a must for all fans of the book.
- Pride & Prejudice
We have already heaped praise on the adaptation of one Jane Austen novel, and now we are going to do the same with pride & Prejudice. Pride & Prejudice is another of Austen's novels that has been adapted many times over the years - which the TV series holds a special place in the hearts of many; it is the 2005 movie that is the best.
Pride & Prejudice marked the feature film directorial debut of Joe Wright back in 2005 - and boy, did he make a splash with this and make everyone sit up and take note of him as a filmmaker.
Much like the recent adaptation of Jane Eyre, there is something youthful and fresh about this adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. The sprawling scope of the film makes it seem less stuffy and yet, Wright never loses sight of the original story.
The movie saw him team up with Keira Knightley for the first time, the headstrong Bennett girl who knows exactly what she wants - and doesn't want from her life. Knightley really does get under the skin of this character and make her feel incredibly modern and someone we can all relate to.
Knightley went on to pick up her first Best Actress Oscar nomination for her great performance in the film - sadly, she lost out to Reese Witherspoon for Walk The Line.
- The Remains Of The Day
The Remains Of The Day is the third book from Kazuo Ishiguro and was released back in 1989 - in 1993, it was brought to the big screen by director James Ivory.
The Remains of the Day is possibly the best film from the Merchant-Ivory and is driven forward by towering performances from Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.
The movie may be set in the 1930s but it is not the period that takes centre stage in the film, that job has fallen to Hopkins and Thompson and the relationship between these two great actors.
This central relationship pushes the movie forward and keeps you totally and utterly gripped. It is an emotionally rich movie from start to finish and it is the work of Hopkins and Thompson that make it so - they are fantastic and the chemistry between the pair elevates this film to so much more.
The Remains of the Day would go on to be nominated for eight Oscars - including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress - but walked away empty handed on the night.
Other great period movies include The Duchess, Emma, and A Room with a View.
Far From The Madding Crowd is released 1st May.