癲狂院 Vixen Owl Cigar..。o○

Michael Winterbottom's Jude...


Sad Jude....
I read the novel before watching the movie and have to say that the movie captures the spirit of the novel.
My only complaint was that the movie didn't show Jude's death scene at the end of the novel...
Jude laying dead on his floor on a university graduation day.. very symbolic of Jude'd unfufilled dreams.
Of course, Winslet is both beautiful and an intelligent actress that lights up any screen.. and Eccelston is also very good.. both make a fine match ....

This film is brilliant - that's undeniable.
This is another of the independent films my lover and just happened upon.
When I saw that Kate Winslet was in it, I knew it would be good.
It's accomplished in every aspect: acting, direction, script, story line.... everything.
It's also one of the greatest tragedies ever to be filmed and is by no means an "enjoyment " to watch.

Nonetheless I watching drama and emotional disembowelment and I loved this film.
The title character, Jude, is played by Christopher Eccleston, but it really is Kate Winslet (in her pre-Titanic days - when she made her best films ) who is the star of this film.
While both actors are brilliant she brings such life to her character you find yourself being constantly drawn to her: and for this reason alone it's worthy of watching.
It's about a poor man (Eccleston ) who's academic aspirations are crushed by a stringent society, but on another, more memorable, level, it's about the he feels for his cousin (Winslet ), and the ultimate hopelessness of their relationship.

It's a period film but expect no flashy costume and setting aesthetics here: this is hard, grey, bleak England of centuries ago, and the settings reflect the dismal nature of the lives of the leads.. Much of the film is set in Christminster, where the grey buildings and stone predominate and contribute to the general aura of lifelessness.. There is, however, brief reprieves.. The earlier part of the film is set on the farm upon which Jude lives, and the scenery is infused with the lightness and hope Jude feels before fate grasps and has vicious fun with his life.....

Though even in this relatively carefree setting the signposts of his harsh and vicious life begin to rear their wretched head: the skinning of a pig earlier on in the film is particularly disturbing (not so much for the act, but Jude's adverse reaction to it. )
The only other scene not set in gloomy England is one in the middle of the film, featured at a beach.
It's a beautiful albeit brief scene and is one of the few parts of the film where the viewer feels hope without anguish for the characters.

【Kate Winslet】Jude【Christopher Eccleston】
Do not Expect a Happy End...
This scenery is focal in the movie in creating atmosphere though was not as predominant in the book, which I feel was not as good as the film.
I read the book before I saw the movie and was shocked to find the turn it took about three-quarters of the way through.
I felt emotionally as though, without warning, someone had punched me in the gut, and then repeatedly kicked me until I died.
The feeling was repeated when I saw the film and wasn't helped by the fact that I knew what was coming.
It's a twist of the worst kind: I can't imagine fate dishing out anything worse to a person.
From this point onwards the book remains quite dismal, though the movie ends with more hope than the book, and that's really saying something.
But the acting is brilliant, the pain is real, and it's compelling.
This is a story in the vein of epic tragedy of Anna Karenina and Tess of the d'Urbervilles (another Hardy story which is actually a better book than Jude ).

This is a dark movie that is really quite sad.
The story presents two people who were soul-mates, but who were otherwise completely different.
Jude Fawley was, like all idealists, well-meaning but weak.
Sue Bridehead was a woman ahead of her time - brilliant, independent, perverse.
Their tragedy was that the world of 1890 would not allow two people to live life by their own rules.
This movie could not be more different from the genteel, decorous Merchant-Ivory productions.
The images are stark, nothing is prettied up (there's a particularly graphic and gory childbirth scene ), but the film benefits from that.
Hardy's world is perfectly recreated - from the coarse village of Marygreen, to Oxonian Christminster, to middle-class Shaston.
You believe you are in 1890s England.

It was some time ago that I watched it, so I'm not sure if I remember all of the details.
I think it is basically about a girl who chooses to live a "life of sin " with her cousin.
He has one child from another woman and they have two together, I believe.
The movie follows their lives as a result of their decision to be together and the impact that decision has on both themselves and their children.
It is a story, but it is very sad.

The actors are perfectly cast, and acting is excellent throughout.
Screenwriter Hossein Amini is to be commended for updating the speech rhythms and wiping the script clean of sentimentality.
Warning: This is not a cheerful movie.
But for the intelligent viewer, it's well worth it.

If you Kate Winslet in this movie you should also watch Heavenly Creatures and Titanic.
If you the disturbing quality of this movie, you should also check out Breaking The Waves (this was too disturbing, in my opinion ), Funny Games, Kids and The City of Lost Children.