Roman Polanski directs a fairly conventional film with TESS, based off the novel which tells the story of Tess d'Ubervilles. The film is a handsome and evocative one, and it's beautifully shot and contains great period detail. The performances are quite good, and in center playing the title-character is off course Nastassja Kinski in the role that made her a star. Sadly, the film never captured me emotionally, and this comes much down to Kinski's flat performance, and her character's seemingly inability to become interesting. She has a certain flair of naturalism that reaches the surface occasionally, but ironically those scenes are somewhat dull. Nothing catches fire, and though it may be the purpose that it's got such a deliberate tone, it doesn't help such a less dramatic film that it's numbingly long. That said, I do think it's a film with a rewarding experience if one may see it again.
Review of Tess
