John Schlesinger's extraordinary 1967 Thomas Hardy adaptation Far From the Madding Crowd is finally set to hit Region 1 DVD on January 27th in a Widescreen, uncut version. No word yet on any extras but the welcome arrival of this gorgeous Nicolas Roeg photographed film starring Julie Christie and Terence Stamp in their prime is cause for celebration.
Speaking of the wonderful Thomas Hardy, it's terrific that several of his finest books have been given such fine screen adaptations. Schlesinger's film stands along with Polanski's Tess (1980) and Michael Winterbottom's Jude (1996) as bona-fide masterpieces in my book. I wish someone would tackle a big screen version of Hardy's haunting short story "The Withered Arm", as apparently there has only been a small screen BBC go at it so far.
