Jude The Obscure is Thomas Hardy's final novel, and his bleakest. It doesn't seem an obvious choice for cinema, hence why it failed at the box office.
An air of gloom hangs over the whole proceedings. The story is a little like Tess- a man's chance at love is destroyed by a woman from his past. Jude (Christopher Eccleston) is the man in question- an ambitious country boy whose desire is to become a student at Christminster (Hardy's made-up name for Oxford). He moves to Christminster and falls in love with his clever cousin Sue Brideshead (Kate Winslet). Unfortunately he is already married- to loose country girl Arabella (Rachel Griffiths), who keeps popping up and ruining Jude's chance at happiness. The climax of the film is one of the most tragic and horrific things you will see in a long time.
The film is quite well done. It is a bit graphic (this is Michael Winterbottom after all) and anachronistic in places, but there are enough tinges of Hardy to make it a costume drama. He certainly hasn't butchered it as he butchered Tess in his film Trishna.
The problem of the film is that Jude is a bit of a ninny, who doesn't seem to have the ruthlessness or the cleverness needed to get into the academic elite and constantly runs back to Arabella. The incestuous aspect is also very off-putting. One feels sorry for Jude and Sue but one can never feel entirely comfortable with their relationship.
Another problem, at least adaptation-wise, is that Arabella, who is a horrible sadist in the book from what I've heard, is merely a nuisance here. Perhaps Winterbottom thought that might be too much misery for people but it does mean that the film ends abruptly.
Acting-wise, everything is fine. Eccleston convinces as a country boy, although his Northern accent does come out at times. Winslet does well as spirited Sue Brideshead, similar to Rose in Titanic so not much of a stretch for her.
EDIT: Having now read the novel- not my favourite Hardy novel but a powerful novel nonetheless- the film gets the sexuality right. Everything that Hardy couldn't show, this film shows, so for those who complain that the film has too much nudity, this is actually quite true to the novel- particularly as none of it is very erotic. Jude's weakness for the flesh is almost animalistic.
Leaving aside the hot and steamy, we have that whole spiritual dimension. That part of the novel is quite hard to translate and it doesn't really come through in this film. Jude is meant to be too noble for this world, hindered by his fleshy desires.
And the film really does let Arabella off too lightly. In this, she's a typical country wench- a tart with not much of a heart. However in the book, she's not only a tart with no heart, she's a proper butcher, cruel to the point of sadism.
An air of gloom hangs over the whole proceedings. The story is a little like Tess- a man's chance at love is destroyed by a woman from his past. Jude (Christopher Eccleston) is the man in question- an ambitious country boy whose desire is to become a student at Christminster (Hardy's made-up name for Oxford). He moves to Christminster and falls in love with his clever cousin Sue Brideshead (Kate Winslet). Unfortunately he is already married- to loose country girl Arabella (Rachel Griffiths), who keeps popping up and ruining Jude's chance at happiness. The climax of the film is one of the most tragic and horrific things you will see in a long time.
The film is quite well done. It is a bit graphic (this is Michael Winterbottom after all) and anachronistic in places, but there are enough tinges of Hardy to make it a costume drama. He certainly hasn't butchered it as he butchered Tess in his film Trishna.
The problem of the film is that Jude is a bit of a ninny, who doesn't seem to have the ruthlessness or the cleverness needed to get into the academic elite and constantly runs back to Arabella. The incestuous aspect is also very off-putting. One feels sorry for Jude and Sue but one can never feel entirely comfortable with their relationship.
Another problem, at least adaptation-wise, is that Arabella, who is a horrible sadist in the book from what I've heard, is merely a nuisance here. Perhaps Winterbottom thought that might be too much misery for people but it does mean that the film ends abruptly.
Acting-wise, everything is fine. Eccleston convinces as a country boy, although his Northern accent does come out at times. Winslet does well as spirited Sue Brideshead, similar to Rose in Titanic so not much of a stretch for her.
EDIT: Having now read the novel- not my favourite Hardy novel but a powerful novel nonetheless- the film gets the sexuality right. Everything that Hardy couldn't show, this film shows, so for those who complain that the film has too much nudity, this is actually quite true to the novel- particularly as none of it is very erotic. Jude's weakness for the flesh is almost animalistic.
Leaving aside the hot and steamy, we have that whole spiritual dimension. That part of the novel is quite hard to translate and it doesn't really come through in this film. Jude is meant to be too noble for this world, hindered by his fleshy desires.
And the film really does let Arabella off too lightly. In this, she's a typical country wench- a tart with not much of a heart. However in the book, she's not only a tart with no heart, she's a proper butcher, cruel to the point of sadism.