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Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302150933
Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
ISBN: 6302150930
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Release Date: June 02, 1998
Running Time: 172 minutes
Sales Rank: 5105
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: December 12, 1980
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Editorial Review:
Amazon.com essential video:
Roman Polanski adapted Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles and came up with this moody, haunting film starring Nastassia Kinski as the farm girl who is misused by the aristocrat for whom she works and who is then caught in a marriage where her initial happiness soon turns to grief. Fans of the novel may feel unpersuaded by Polanski's effort to marry Hardy's Dorset vision with his own fascination with psychosexual impulses toward survival, but the film is an often stunning thing to see, and Kinski's sensitive, intelligent performance lingers in the memory. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented
Roman Polanski's film Tess, (1979) adaptation of Thomas Hardy famous novel of the 19th century "Tess of the D'Urbervilles", won many prestigious awards, including three Oscars of six nominations and every award for Best Cinematography it was nominated for. If any film deserves recognition for its beautiful, lyrical, sensual yet melancholic and poetic visual presentation, "Tess" is it. The movie might be Roman Polanski's finest achievement, and this statement comes from a viewer who is in love with ... Read More
Rating: - Not Masterpiece Theater- but well done
While taking artistic liberties from the novel , Polanski's Tess is a very entertaining and beautifully filmed movie. The settings and costuming recreate the feeling of Hardy's Wessex as well as any filmed version of his works ever has.
Nastassja Kinski was beautiful in the role and although her acting can be somewhat wooden at times she does make a memorable Tess. The rest of the cast make up for her shortcoming by providing outstanding performances.
The pace tends to slow in certain ... Read More
Rating: - Achingly sadly beautiful
I didn't read the novel so I have no comments about the accuracy of the adaptation. I had no problem understanding it. (Some reviewers said that it was necessary to read the book in order to follow the film.) I had no problem, either with the length. In fact I was glad it was so long; I wanted to get "the whole story" not a compressed version.
The photography, as others have mentioned is exquisite. It's worth seeing again, with the sound off, just to see the gorgeous country shots. ... Read More
Rating: - Genealogy gone berserk
I like to think of the novel's premise as genealogy really going to someone's head. When John Durbeyfield is informed by the town historian that his family used to be a noble one (and the original name was "D'Urberville"), he sends his daughter Tess (Teresa) to rich relatives in the English countryside for financial help. It's there that she meets with Alec D'Urberville, effectively beginning a downward spiral for everyone concerned.
As always, one can trust a book adaptation in Roman Polanski's ... Read More
Rating:  - Not such a special edition
Columbia's DVD of Tess is doubly disappointing - not only is it a disappointing transfer but it's also the cut version of the film, which tends to lose a little heart and more than a little irony. There's still much to admire, from the beautiful Scope cinematography and Phillipe Sarde's superb score to Polanski's feel for time and place (even if it is shot in France rather than Wessex) and, ironically, sexual prejudice, although Nastassja Kinski never really convinces in the lead and Leigh Lawson's despoiling cad ... Read More
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Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302150933
Format: Box set, Color, NTSC
ISBN: 6302150930
Label: Sony Pictures
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Sony Pictures
Release Date: June 02, 1998
Running Time: 172 minutes
Sales Rank: 5105
Studio: Sony Pictures
Theatrical Release Date: December 12, 1980