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Fresh off his 2012 indie hit “The Hunt“, Denmark’s Thomas Vinterberg returns to the director’s chair for this tale set in Dorset, England circa 1870, amidst the country’s Victorian Age. Based on the novel by Thomas Hardy, everything is focused on a strong-willed and very independently-minded woman, Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan), whose no stranger to putting in a full day’s work farming, as well as attracting the unneeded romantic attention of her family’s neighbor, sheep herder Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts). When Gabriel suffers an unexpected blow to his livelihood which causes him to leave his farm behind, she receives news of an uncle’s passing that grants her ownership of his vast farm estate via his will. Leaving to take up her place as the farm’s new Mistress, fate would have that Gabriel and her path would once again intersect and the friendship between them continues to be cultivated. But with Bathsheba’s newfound wealth and success comes even more attention from potential suitors in the form of wealthy bachelor William Boldwood (Michael Sheen) and self-assured solider Sergeant Francis Troy (Tom Sturridge). Suddenly finding herself torn between her absolute insistence on not needing a husband and the desire to be loved, a choice is made that radically changes the dynamics in the relationships between all of them. When deeper circumstances intervene that threaten to completely tear apart everything she’s worked toward, Bathsheba is forced to take a new, hard look at what she truly needs and so painfully longs for.
Unlike many of the Jane Austen-inspired period films that, despite being well acted and written, can still tend to come across a tad too strong in the pomp and circumstance associated with the royals and nobles portrayed, “Crowd” chooses to present a much more real world and grounded approach to the concepts involved with the entitled vs. commoner dichotomy. Mulligan is a complete treasure as Bathsheba, providing her with an elemental sense of who she is as a woman, able to take care of herself, confident, and convinced of not needing a man, yet showing heartfelt moments of the deeper longing hiding beneath her exterior tenacity to be wooed and cherished. Likewise, Schoenaerts’ Gabriel is the quintessential, hard-working, loyal, and persistent male presence in Bathsheba’s life, always there as an anchor to the reality of what she faces when other events have stolen her mind away from thinking situations through. Sheen and Sturridge’s Boldwood and Troy provide two examples of the society’s elite, though again, the differences between their approaches to Bathsheba and their overall demeanors mark them as decidedly different men. A hauntingly beautiful soundtrack coupled with the often spectacular vistas displayed through the cinematography give additional depth to the story, helping to engage and draw the viewer more and more into both the simple and privileged worlds these characters inhabit. In total, the film is a study about the human need to love and be loved, the perseverance to navigate life’s storms, and the fortitude to strive for what we really want.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
