1979 / 186m - UK
Romance
1.0*/5.0*
Tess poster

Plot: A young farmer's girl becomes the object of desire of a faraway cousin when her father discovers that he has aristocratic ancestry. The girl goes to work for her cousin's family, but she is raped and left with a child. The child dies young and the girl gets a second chance at love, but her past will continue to haunt her.

Watches

November 20, 2024

1.0*/5.0*

A pretty tepid (and lengthy) costume drama about a headstrong girl from a poor family who faces a lot of hardship. It's an extremely classic and old-fashioned affair. It's not something I like very much, and it certainly didn't help that Polanski stretched it to a full 180 minutes. I could've done with half of that.

Kinski is decent, the rest of the cast is pretty generic (or extremely stereotypical). The setting is dire, the presentation is dull and the drama didn't do much for me. This is a film for people who love classic tales with all their heart, which is pretty much the opposite of what I'm hoping to find. Not great.