Roman Polanski visited this domain in his 1979 film with Nastassja Kinski, but why not redo it again for cable? The Thomas Hardy novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles has enough drama and tragedy for at least three Hollywood movies, but since Hollywood has little aptitude for costume pictures, the remake was best left to other hands. Tess of the d'Urbervilles was filmed in 1998 for the A&E Channel with production standards to match anything on “Masterpiece Theatre.” Director Ian Sharp bathed the verdant English countryside in a pre-Raphaelite glow and showed a keen eye for colorful period details. The cast, led by Justine Waddell in the title role, appeared entirely comfortable enacting Hardy's vivid depiction of 19th century rural life and its class divisions with all the dry irony the author mustered.
A&E's Tess of the d'Urbervilles has been packaged in a DVD set along with the channel's production of Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge.
