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Tess

1979

Roman Polanski

Nastassja Kinski, Peter Firth, Leigh Lawson, John Collins ...

7.1

4,012

Drama. Romance A rural clergyman in 19th century England tells Durbeyfield, a simple farmer, that he is descended from the illustrious d'Urberville family -- now extinct. Or maybe not. Durbeyfield sends his daughter Tess to check on a family named d'Uberville living in a manor house less than a day's carriage ride away. Alec d'Urberville is delighted to meet his beautiful cousin... and seduces her. Tess takes up the game of illusion when she finds, ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"A wonderful film; the kind of exploration of doomed young sexuality that, like 'Elvira Madigan,' makes us agree that the lovers should never grow old (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Janet Maslin The New York Times	"Without Mr. Polanski's name in the credits, this lush and scenic Tess could even be mistaken for the work of David Lean"	POS
United Kingdom	Philip French The Guardian	"An outstanding piece of work (...) Sensitively staged on well-chosen locations in Normandy and Brittany, it revolves around a deeply moving performance by [Nastassja Kinski]"	POS
United States	Frances Dickinson Time Out	"Having all the strengths and excesses of a middlebrow film (visual beauty, lush soundtrack, arty direction), this adaptation's appeal to the senses leaves them cloyed."	NEU
United States	Variety Staff Variety	"'Tess' is a sensitive, intelligent screen treatment of a literary masterwork"	POS
United States	Ben Kenigsberg AV Club	"The movie’s smooth rhythms are subtly offset by its sound design"	POS

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