Tess

Roman Polanski's 1979 adaptation of Thomas Hardy's 19th-century classic (which picked up well-deserved Oscars for Cinematography, Art Direction, and Costume Design) stars Nastassja Kinski as the titular English peasant girl, who is sent to the haughty d'Urberville's because of a suspected family connection, only to be raped by the arrogant young master Alec (Leigh Lawson). Returning home, pregnant and disgraced (and eventually losing the baby), Tess finds work on a dairy farm, where she meets and falls in love with the morally upstanding Angel Clare (Peter Firth), who knows nothing of Tess's past until their wedding night. Anyone familiar with Hardy's grimly deterministic moral universe already knows that Tess does not have the proverbial happy Hollywood ending. Debuting on DVD in its original Panavision aspect ratio (2:35:1) with a beautiful new digital transfer and Dolby Digital surround sound, Tess: Special Edition features three new bonus featurettes (“Tess: From Novel to Screen,” “Filming Tess,” and “Tess: The Experience”--all made with the participation of Polanski--and featuring the director, Kinski, and Lawson, among others, but not Firth, unfortunately). Interestingly, Tess is available in two versions: the DVD by itself, or the DVD bundled with a paperback copy of the novel, with both versions priced at $24.95. Talk about a no-brainer! Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)[Blu-ray/DVD Combo Review—Feb. 25, 2014—Criterion, 171 min., PG, Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $39.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1979's Tess features a gorgeous transfer and a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray version. Extras include the 2006 documentary “Once Upon a Time…Tess” (53 min.), a 1979 interview with director Roman Polanski from an episode of The South Bank Show (51 min.), a 1979 French TV location segment with behind-the-scenes footage (49 min.), the production featurettes “From Novel to Screen” (29 min.), “Filming Tess” (27 min.), and “The Experience” (20 min.), a trailer, and a booklet featuring an essay by critic Colin MacCabe. Bottom line: one of Polanski's best films makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]