Watch: Carey Mulligan and Michael Sheen in Trailer for ‘Far From the Madding Crowd'

Lush setting, posh costumes, longing emotions - must be a Thomas Hardy adaptation! (Photo: Fox Searchlight)
Lush setting, posh costumes, longing emotions - must be a Thomas Hardy adaptation! (Photo: Fox Searchlight)
Who’s up for a little Thomas Hardy at your local multiplex? A big screen adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd is headed our way next year, offering those of us who like our period drama with a bit of classical literary flavoring an option beyond Jane Austen.  Also, this just looks pretty awesome in general, if you ask me.

The film’s cast is top notch, as is really to be expected in dramas such as this, featuring The Great Gatsby’s (or Doctor Who’s if you’re really fond of the episode “Blink”) Carey Mulligan as our heroine, opposite Masters of Sex’s Michael Sheen, The Hollow Crown’s Tom Sturridge and dishy Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts. 

Based on the classic novel of the same name, Far From the Madding Crowd follows the story of the headstrong Bathsheba Everdene (no relation to The Hunger Games’ Katniss, we assume), who arrives in a small 19th century English village to live with her aunt.

Her arrival attracts three very different suitors: sheep farmer Gabriel Oak (Schoenaerts), military sergeant Frank Troy (Sturridge) and prosperous bachelor William Boldwood (Sheen). Drama, naturally, ensues. (And, since Hardy originally published this work as a monthly serial, well, there’s rather a lot of drama.)

But, this trailer is pretty much everything anyone who loves posh period drama films could possibly want: posh outfits, swoony glances, rolling landscapes and a plucky heroine - all set to a sweeping vocal backing track.  

this is one of the fun bits of Hardy, that features a lot of drama for everyone and bursts of misery for some characters, but ultimately the ending can still be described as a happy one. (So Tess of d’Urbervilles this is not.)

How about you? Are you intrigued by the thought of this Hardy classic on the big screen? Does it sound like something you’d see? 


Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

More to Love from Telly Visions