This is a beautifully realized adaptation. Producers took a risk in using the rural dialect, and it works. That's just another touch that makes the story and the characters more real than the Hollywood version. Baeza is a treat, and Parker has never been better. Writing, directing and performance wring out every heartbreaking and humorous emotion of the Hardy novel. My one quibble is that often the rural scenery seemed "too" green for the harvest time of year, but that's a wee mark.
Review of Far from the Madding Crowd
Far from the Madding Crowd
(1998 TV Movie)
A real treat - even if you don't know Hardy
30 October 1998