Tess

I'd rather take it from my own hand.

The best thing about this movie is it's flawless direction. Roman Polanski shoots some scenes with such a beauty that it can take your breath away. It's a simple direction, but it's just perfect. It akes you feel what the characters feel, even if not all the time. This movie needed a lot more of editing. It has a running time of almost 3 hours, and some scenes seem to last forever, others are to quick, and some aren't useful at all. It became boring after a while.

The beginning is great: the dancing shots, so full of life and hapiness, the suggestion of the very red strawberry, the beauty of Nastassa Kinki filling all the screen, and the humour of the dialogues were terrific. Then, when Peter Firth's character appears, the story takes the shape of a typical 19th century romance, and it never explores well enough the consequences of Tess's relationship with Alec. It moves forward too quickly, and then it drags forever, until its abrupt, yet poetic, ending. I think all the implications of the story could have been explored better.

The cting by Nastassa Kinski is amazing; you can feel her emotions, even if her character almost never mentions them, and her beauty is totally apropriate for the charater. She has a magnetic screen presence and great body language. I hated Peter Firth's performance. He overplayed his character and made him incredibly unlikely and coward. He was miscast and annoying. Leigh Lawson is good, creating a character at the same time funny, posh, charming and that you hate.

The technicals are good, with a gorgeous cinematography, and the music is beautiful, as are the background sounds. An incredible direction and two very good performances aren't enough to make me recommend this to everyone. Watch it if you like Roman Polanski or Nastassa Linski.