Tess

Tess (1979)

Genres - Drama, Romance  |   Sub-Genres - Melodrama, Period Film, Romantic Drama  |   Release Date - Dec 12, 1979 (USA)  |   Run Time - 175 min.  |   Countries - France, United Kingdom  |   MPAA Rating - PG
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

In Roman Polanski's adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Nastassja Kinski plays Tess, a poor British peasant girl sent to live with her distant and wealthy relatives, the D'Urbervilles. Though Tess' father had hoped that the girl would be permitted a portion of the D'Urberville riches, he is in for a major disappointment: Tess' new housemates are not D'Urbervilles at all, but a social-climbing family that has bought the name. Tess won three Oscars, including a "Best Cinematography" statuette for the late Geoffrey Unsworth and his successor Ghislain Cloquet. The film also served to catapult Nastassja Kinski to stardom.

Characteristics

Keywords

English [nationality], girl, peasant, faith, relative, Victorian, aristocracy, upward-mobility

Attributes

High Artistic Quality