In 1998, Thomas Vinterberg came on the scene with the widely acclaimed The Celebration, a tale of a family ripped apart by allegations of the father sexually abusing his children, brought forth at his 60th birthday party. The film won the Cannes Jury Prize, but Vinterburg struggled to match that success, following it up with a string of forgetful films like Dear Wendy and It’s All About Love.
That is, of course, until 2012’s The Hunt, his engrossing film starring Mads Mikkelsen, which centers on a man who becomes the target of persecution in his small community after being wrongly accused of sexually assaulting a child. The film earned Mikkelsen a Cannes Best Actor award and Vinterberg the Ecumenical Jury Prize. His next project, which began production last month, is an adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s Far From The Madding Crowd, starring Carey Mulligan and Matthias Schoenaerts among the star-studded cast.
Madding, set in 19th century England, is the story of Bathsheba Everdene (Mulligan), a fiercely independent and beautiful woman courted by three enticing bachelors: a shepherd named Gabriel Oak (Schoenaerts), a farmer named William Bolden (Michael Sheen) and Sergeant Troy (Tom Sturridge), a soldier. Though all very different, the three men have one thing in common: they’re desperately in love with Everdene’s charms.
The folks at Empire have released the first look at the film via three stills, which offer everything one might hope (or expect) from a period drama: gorgeous costumes, soft, foggy lighting and rolling fields in the English countryside. It looks like a fairytale, but while Mulligan is very beautiful, it’s clear that she’s no average princess.
Check out the photos below. Far From The Madding Crowd does not have a release date at this time, but given Vinterberg’s track record, it’s likely this will make it to Cannes in the spring.
Photo Credit, Featured Image: CinemaBlend
