Works of Thomas Hardy discussion

Having just read Tess of the D'Urbevilles, I was inspired to watch some of the film/TV adaptions of the story. I have found 5 (maybe there are others?) and wondered what anyone else thought of them.
1. 1913 film - which apparently is a lost film.
2. 1924 film - which looks very of its time, I haven't watched this one
3. Award-winning Roman Polanski film (1979) starring Natassja Kinski.
4. 1998 mini series with Justine Waddell as Tess
5. 2009 mini series with Gemma Arterton

Thanks for listing them.

I was really looking forward to the Kinski film back in the day, as a then-recent graduate, where Hardy had been one of my final year specialisms, under the tutelage of Ron Draper, a renowned Hardy scholar.

I was disappointed, and thought that some plot changes (memory serves me poorly in recalling what they were) detracted from the story. It was beautifully shot, though, and with hindsight, that may have been the director’s major intention.

I also saw the Gemma Arterton version and enjoyed it well enough. It too had a fine sense of the bucolic, and I think it would have engaged casual watchers not familiar with the novel.

Now we're a fair way through, I thought it might be a good time to share Pankie's thread again.

Bridget has just said that she has a visual image of Tess, which differs from Gertrude Bugler (whom Thomas Hardy based her on). I think the first photo of Gertrude Bugler (at the top of the thread for Phase 4) pretty much fits my idea, but my mental idea is never that clear! Sometimes I do visualise an actor I've seen in the part though.

I've seen the Natassja Kinski film, and like David think I prefer Gemma Arterton's rendering. But I don't know the Justine Waddell dramatisation, and think she might be excellent! She played Molly in Elizabeth Gaskell's Wives and Daughters, and gave a fine, nuanced performance. Those DVDs are going on my Christmas list :)

By the way, film and DVD jackets are notorious for spoilers :( so please take care what you look at, if this is your first read of the story!

I'm looking forward to watching the Natassja Kinski version again once we finish this reading of Tess. And I will check out the other movie Pankies mentioned. Thank you for the list!

The picture of Gertrude Bulger is very very close to how I visualize Tess. I'm not sure any person would be exactly how I picture her. There is something ethereal or luminescent about Tess that I think can only exist in my imagination - if that makes sense.

I watched the Nastassja Kinski version a long time ago, before I read the book, and didn´t like it very much then. Will look to get different versions from my library after the read. I also have a picture of her, but it´s rather different from the 1979 version (I hadn´t remembered Peter Firth was Angel Clare in this).

I was given a version of Tess of the D’Urbervilles I've never seen, for Christmas. It's the DVD set from 1998: a mini series starring Justine Waddell. She was excellent as Molly in Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell, so I have high hopes 😊

I know the other two Pankies listed (though not the really early ones) so has anyone else see this one?