Jude [DVD] [1996]

This is the story of a young man who seeks to better himself and achieve what is not expected from a man of his background. The journey seems promising, but after a series of events he is left to salvage dignity and hang on to his pride. The film successfully captures the spirit of inner-torment over unrequited love, and the carefree joy that comes when finally able to express that love.

"Jude" moves from happy optimism to being unbearably painful in a scene which is chilling to watch. Two lovers pay the ultimate price for being a modern couple in an age of conservatism. The actual moment I refer to is underplayed, but by this point we are absolutely convinced by the characters, we know how they think and feel. The intensity of the situation is magnified by the sterling performances of Kate Winslet, and the fabulous Christopher Eccleston.

The back of this DVD proudly announces a digital remastering, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Unless that pudding's a DVD, in which case it's in the on screen visuals, and this case, it's disappointing. There seems to be a lot of `floating detail' - maybe a product of over-rigourous noise reduction which removes artefacts from the video to give a smoother picture. If over-done though it can remove details from things such as faces and anything well textured. In well lit scenes this isn't too bad - but in darker scenes the details seem to float around and there's a lot of smearing. Unless you're watching this on a massive screen it won't ruin the experience for you though, but it is a bit annoying. Many scenes are quite blurry too - but I think this is from the initial filming rather than anything to do with the transfer to DVD. It is noticeable though and you find yourself squinting at the screen trying to sharpen the focus.

In a nutshell: A great on-screen portrayal of a classic story. It's all been done before but here it feels fresh and the characters come alive. It is let down though by a less than impressive DVD release. This deserves better treatment, and is a perfect candidate for bonus features - which unfortunately you don't get. A four star film in a two star DVD package.

This film really is a feast for manic depressives! On the one hand, you have the spirited banter between the two leads and the effusive giggliness of Arabella's character and on the other hand, starkly grim scenes of death and birth. For the squeamish, these could be stomach-churning: a pig is gruesomely killed and unceremoniously gutted; bodies are found ashen with death; and, most extraordinarily of all, when Sue (Kate Winslet) is shown giving birth, the bloody head of her baby is visible between her spread-eagled legs. It is fitting that Michael Winterbottom's adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel should shock and horror to this degree: when Jude the Obscure was first published in 1895, it prompted widespread outcry from Victorian readers who denounced it as "coarse beyond belief" and mockingly referred to it as "Jude the Obscene". Aghast at the novel's apparent "insolence and indecency", the Bishop of Wakefield rather hysterically threw it into the fire after reading it. It was to become Hardy's last novel: he subsequently abandoned narrative-writing for poetry.

For its outspoken critique of class inequalities (in particular with regard to university admissions), the institution of marriage, Christianity, and the narrowness of women's social role, Jude the Obscure is today regarded as radical and a classic. Played with panache by a 20-year old Winslet, Sue Brideshead is a paradigmatic New Woman of the 1880s and 1890s - her very surname reflects the conflict between her headstrong nature and the social expectation that she should marry. Christopher Eccleston makes for a sterling Jude: a Dorset countryman and stonemason, angrily frustrated about his rejection from Christminster, who is tolerant of his authoritarian Aunt (June Wakefield), steadfastly honourable in marrying the supposedly pregnant Arabella (Rachel Griffiths), a pigfarmer's daughter, and warmly supportive towards his true love and nemesis, Sue (especially in the scene when they first make love). Ross Colvin Turnball also deserves a mention as the touching and melancholy son as do Eduardo Serra's beautiful cinematography and Adrian Johnston's musical score.

This film is not, however, flawless. There are quite a few implausibilities: Arabella's exit from Jude's life is inexplicably abrupt; when the young Jude is discovered feeding black crows which he is meant to scare away, the farmer pounces on him in a huge field that was empty a few seconds before; and Arabella, too, is a considerable way off, washing pig innards in a stream, when she is supposed to have been able to correctly aim a pig's heart at Jude, who is seen reading Latin in woodland. Hossein Amini's script is sometimes too modern in its vocabulary as well ("Well, you're confrontational!" says Sue at one point and at another "I'm intellectualising, aren't I?").

Jude is nevertheless a brilliantly unsanitized, emotionally intense film that is sombre and tragic - but not without light.

For fans of: Breaking The Waves (DVD), The Cement Garden (DVD), The Piano (DVD) and Dancer In The Dark (DVD)

Having read the synopsis on the back of the video case, I wasn't too enthusiastic about watching this film. However, it was highly recommended to me, and not without good reason.

Since this site already provides a description of the plot, I won't go into detail, save to say that it is well written and carefully considered. On that note, although the film borrows only the core story from the novel on which it is based, this does not in the least detract from the finished product. Fans of the novel may initially be disapointed, but if you can disconnect the two (as they are really separate creations) then this is a highly enjoyable piece of cinema.

The acting here is of a very high standard, and the two leads are so convincing in their portrayal of their respective characters that you can not help but be drawn into the complex relationship between the two. Their relationship is really the focal point of the film, with its constant twists and turns. It faces oposition almost from the start, and it is heartbreaking to watch as it blossoms into something wonderful, only to come crashing down again.

Despite dealing with dreams and ambitions, and portraying society at that time, this film is, at heart, a love story. As such, its market will be sadly divided and, at the risk of sounding stereotypical, I can't help but feel that many males will miss out on a fantastic portrayal of forbidden love. I shall certainly treasure this film for a long time to come.