Jude
First
time through this, I admit I was a little stunned. I haven't read the book,
though I have read a number of others by Hardy. True, he addresses strong
issues, but frankly, he doesn't major on nekkidness and nookie. The film
however does.
I have since been assured by
regular fans that Mr Eccleston's buttocks are more or less his trade mark, and
if I'm going to review his works, I will need to get used to them. I guess I
can handle that. Though I admit to wondering if their regular appearance isn't
something of a compensation for a man who seems to have rather low self-esteem
about his face. At least he's proud of some bit - as he well should be. Very
nice buttocks they are too.
What struck me about this film is
how much of it takes place in bed. Not just the nookie scenes: a lot of the
other significant events occur in bed. And you can derive a huge amount by
looking at the positions people take - how they sleep etc. This film is
described as having the emotion played 'behind the eyes'. I'd argue that
there's huge emotional weight in the body language, too.
Jude sleeps curled up, in a near
foetal position, with his hands between his thighs in a self-soothe posture for
much of it. When he's feeling relaxed, positive and err... satisfied... he sleeps
on his back. In standing , you can gauge the degree of his self-esteem from his
shoulders. Crying, he returns to bed and curls over again. Note that after his
return to Arabella he remains curled up: he's looking for something to assuage
his pain, and doesn't find it. Indeed, even their lovemaking is conducted with
his knees curled almost under him (compare with the long stretched out pose
with Sue). Arabella, on the other hand, is the one who lies in a confident,
maternal pose, comforting him and stroking his hair. Sue sleeps curled up.
Always. For all her open confidence when standing or walking, she curls up when
at rest: except in her first scene with Richard, when she looks almost
uncomfortably laid back. One wonders if he has deliberately put her in a seat
that forces her to lean back: hints of what is to come in their relationship.
When delivering her 'I'm not afraid of any man' speech (content of which is a
load of twaddle and serve her right if Jude had raped here there and then)
she's curled up in a chair. She only uncurls under ... duress. And is clearly
uncomfortable about it. Take a look at the droop of her shoulders at the end,
and compare with the arrogamce of her pose earlier in the film. The speech that
drives Juie to infanticide/suicide is conducted from bed, and he kills the
children while they sleep. Note they are not curled up. There's an implicit
'rightness' to their deaths in that: the hand of 'God' in the hand of the
director.
What strikes me is that, while I
haven't read the novel, I'm aware that Hardy runs with huge themes. His driving
theme in all his books is Divine Retribution, and how human beings who make
just one mistake are totally destroyed by it, along with a destruction of all
human pride. This seems to have turned a epic about pride, remorse, fate and
retribution into an anguished love story about the restrictive morality of the
Victorian era. As such, it works rather well, but I suspect Thomas Hardy may
not have been impressed.
(I could get into the theology of
Hardy's works, and his horrible, unchristian view of a wrathful God punishing
human sinners - but this probably isn't the place. Suffice to say I agree with
Jude "We are man and wife if ever two people are on this earth!")
Ok, now the Screencaps. I got a
bit carried away here. They aren't very sharp (which is the filming quality, I
think) but there are rather a lot of them. For that reason, I've zipped the
whole lot together to a file if you want them all. They aren't quite numbered
right, and there is at least one duplicate. But here goes:
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A man happy at his work |
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But he loves his books too |
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The happy groom… or not |
The joy of the wedding night |
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Back to the books |
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Cold out there! |
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You meet the most interesting people… |
…on trains |
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The look of love… |
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Back to bed, then |
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Credo in Unum Deum… |
Actually, you missed a couple of clauses! |
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Real Dirt under the fingernails |
Awwww |
And home again |
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Can't beat your own bed |
Those hands again |
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A very silly conversation |
Sue hasn't seen ''28 days later" obviously |
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So she won't marry you! |
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She should be bitch slapped for that request! |
Another happy wedding! |
So back to the wife |
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Sometimes even this doesn't help |
See? |
Cue Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand |
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A man to man chat |
Yes please, I would like your wife |
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A rare smile |
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Well, it is a lot to ask of any man |
You thought I'd miss these shots out? |
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I don't like to disappoint my viewers |
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Like the cat that got the cream |
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Yeah… I'd be smirking too! |
Heck! It's the council tax bill! |
A father's face in the crowd |
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Happy at his work |
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Corrrr….. |
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…Nice bit of rough |
Not looking his best |
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NO man looks sexy in combis |
Not even with a cute kid |
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But those shoulders…. |
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Grief… |
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…At its depth |
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So when does he WASH the vest? |
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In church at last |
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Say it, Sue!! |
What church leaves candles burning all night? |
Back to bed again |
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