Hardy and Film

Nicole D Johns Class of 1997
Gettysburg College

David Lodge has noted that Thomas Hardy is a cinematic writer. Hardy is a cinematic writer in two respects: he writes as if viewing the scene with a lens, and his fiction has been adapted into films and television programs. Lodge defines a cinematic writer as one "who imagines and presents his materials in primarily visual terms, and whose visualizations correspond in some significant respect to the visual effects characteristic of film" (80). Hardy's writing style utilizes such film techniques as: long shot, close up, wide-angle, telephoto, zoom, etc. (Lodge, 80). These techniques allow Hardy to focus on characters, scenery, and situations to manipulate the reader's response to the subject matter. The fact that Hardy's narrative style parallels cinematic technique creates problems for directors who attempt to reproduce his fiction on film; however, many have still tried, some even while Hardy was alive.

Hardy fits Lodge's definition in the way he shifts focus in a matter of sentences from the omniscient observer to the personal perspective of a character. The narrator of Hardy's fiction often introduces an observer onto the scene. This observer personalizes the description of the scenery, such as in The Return of the Native when he introduces a furze cutter in the second chapter to describe the appearance of dusk. These observers often act as voyeurs, as camera lenses also do. The use of the character or observer as voyeur places even more emphasis on the visual appearance and reality of things.

Hardy also introduces characters in a cinematic style. Many times the reader meets a character off in the distance, walking down a road or off on the horizon. In The Return of the Native, Hardy introduces Eustacia and Captain Vye and Diggory Venn the reddleman as figures off in the distance. The reader learns Eustacia is the solitary figure on the horizon chapters later. Captain Vye is just an old man walking along the road who meets this reddleman. Captain Vye acts as the camera in this scene because the reader learns everything about Venn through Captain Vye's eyes. This narrative technique adds to the sense of suspense and creates interest in the characters for the reader.

Early film adaptations of Hardy's work occurred while Hardy was still alive. Hardy wanted to have his hand in the re-creations, but soon found this to be next to impossible. Sir Macmillan acted on Hardy's behalf in the film negotiations and helped Hardy secure his rights for the cinematic version of Tess with the Warwick Trading Company in 1912. Hardy held no objections to Tess being reproduced, "if the producers are clearly given to understand that it must be done seriously, and that the story must not be vulgarized or treated lightly, so that all possibility of a farcical view of the tragedy is prevented," as he wrote in a letter to Mr. Dureka on April 8, 1913 (Collected Letters). Hardy did see the American version of Tess, done by the Famous Players, in 1913. He was not very impressed with the representation, and he later expressed his concerns about Americans reproducing other works. In 1924 the Metro-Goldwyn film of Tess was released, and the Famous Players rights were terminated. MGM still holds the rights for Tess and Far from the Madding Crowd.

Early American versions of Hardy's works include MGM's Tess (1913, 1924), Henry Lachman's Under the Greenwood Tree (1929), and Sidney Morgan's The Mayor of Casterbridge (1921). More recently, John Schlesinger directed a version of Far from the Madding Crowd in 1967, with Julie Christie starring as Bathsheba. This film has been criticized for the 1960s feel and look of the characters and acting. In 1978 the BBC made a version of The Mayor of Casterbridge which was widely praised, but this is no longer publicly available. Roman Polanski's version of Tess was released in 1979, and generated much critical acclaim.

Directors have been interested in making films of Hardy's works for almost the entire twentieth century. Film studios recognize the inherent cinematic quality of Hardy's style, and the fact that Hardy's stories make good films. Interestingly, a version of Jude the Obscure will be released at the end of 1996.

Bibliography

Grundy, Joan. "Cinematic Arts." Hardy and the Sister Arts. London: The MacMillan Press LTD, 1979.

Lodge, David. "Thomas Hardy as a Cinematic Novelist." Thomas Hardy After. 50 Years. ed. Lance St. John Butler. New Jersey: Rowman & Littlefield, 1977.

Widdowson, Peter. "Tragedies of modern life? Thomas Hardy on radio, TV, and film." Hardy in History: A Study in Literary Sociology. New York: Routledge, 1989.