Under the Greenwood Tree
by Nicholas Laughland
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DVD details
Actor: James Murray (XIII), Keeley Hawes, Richard Leaf, Terry Mortimer, Tony HaygarthDirector: Nicholas Laughland
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 93 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-04-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Warner
DVD Reviews of Under the Greenwood Tree
DVD Review: A mediocre period romance
Summary: 3 Stars
I purchased this DVD without previewing it, and I regret that choice. Though there is nothing offensive in the film, there is also not enough to keep one engrossed in it. Truly a light romance with no great depth. Rent it, don't bother buying it.DVD Review: Love it, love it, love it!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been watching a lot of BBC period dramas lately - probably way to many - and this is one of my favorites. The story is great, the actors are great, the scenery is great, James Murray is great. You can read other reviews to get a synopsis of the story. I found the chemistry between Keely Hawes and James Murray really nice and believable. I just really enjoy watching this again, and again, and again. I finally had to lend it to a neighbor so that I could take a break from it (but alas, it is on youtube...) It is really worth at least one watch....DVD Review: Simple story
Summary: 4 Stars
Hard to believe this work was by Hardy. Normally his work is too depressing for my taste. This is much, much lighter...almost too light! Although it ends happily, it's so idyll it is totally unrealistic. Fancy Day (her name alone should tell you this is a fairy tale) turns down a wealthy tradesman who can give her comfort and the parson who can show her the grand cities of Europe to marry a man who can't even afford to give her a place of her own. Yes that's right, she chooses to live in a dirt floor cottage with his parents and siblings. Ridiculous. And we're supposed to believe that these poor uneducated folk are the happiest and best of people. Hmmm. I suppose that would be like choosing to marry someone from Harlem and moving into his parents cramped space in the projects. There are similar ridiculous elements.
But, if you can suspend all intelligent thought, and provided you don't mind the lack of fancy gowns and grand rooms, this is a pretty little romance.
DVD Review: An upbeat Hardy
Summary: 4 Stars
Under the Greenwood Tree
Thomas Hardy, master of the nineteenth-century rural English gloom and doom novel, penned a sweet, uplifting romance in Under the Greenwood Tree. Skillfully adapted to the screen, this tale that originally centered around local young man Dick Dewy, is now recast with Fancy Day (Keeley Hawes) as the central figure and with the three men who love her secondary. It works very well and creates a bit of charm in an otherwise simplistic tale of rustic romance in a small Dorset village (though the film was entirely shot on the Isle of Jersey) amid the changes hinted at by the impending Industrial Revolution.
It is the story of Fancy, a schoolmistress who returns to the village of Mellstock. She is young, beautiful and educated, and the villagers don't know what to make of her. Handsome Dick Dewy (James Murray), a workingclass lad, is instantly smitten as are nouveau riche farmer Mr. Shiner (Steve Pemberton) and the local vicar, Parson Maybold (Ben Miles).
Fancy feels a need to honor her father and marry well, but in the course of events she falls in love and must choose between following her father's wish or following her heart.
Beautiful photography and authentic scenes and costuming add to the charm of this lighthearted adventure.
Recommended.
DVD Review: Favorite Story of All Time
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased these items on DVD to replace items taped off PBS years previously. They were excellent then and are equally interesting now.
Description of Under the Greenwood Tree
In a small village in the south of England Dick Dewy a handsome working man falls in love with Fancy Day a newly arrived schoolteacher from a wealthy family who happens to be the village beauty. But other richer men also want to win the hand of Fancy. There's Farmer Shiner a wealthy landowner and Reverend Maybold the decent young vicar. Who will win Fancy's hand? And even if she agrees to marry Dick will her father consent to the marriage? This charming timeless story of rural life gave Thomas Hardy his first real taste of success and with its rustic setting and moving tale of young love it weaves a spell that still entrances today.Running Time: 100 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:?COMEDY Rating:?NR UPC:?794051249326 Manufacturer No:?E2493The radiant glow of Keeley Hawes--an English rose if ever there was one--anchors Under the Greenwood Tree, a light romance from the normally gloomy pen of Thomas Hardy (The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the d'Urbervilles). When a young educated woman with the preposterous name of Fancy Day (Hawes, Tipping the Velvet) returns to a small village to care for her father, she finds herself pursued by three very different men: The poor but handsome Dick Dewy (James Murray, Sons and Lovers), the crude but wealthy Mr. Shiner (Steve Pemberton, The League of Gentlemen), and the erudite but pompous Parson Maybold (Ben Miles, Coupling). The story is slender but enjoyable, with hints of class conflict and the changes due to come from the impending Industrial Revolution. Hawes lends her considerable intelligence and charm to the put-upon Miss Day; she makes you feel the eroticism of washing your hands in the same basin with an attractive man. The accompanying "making of" documentary is also pleasant, though it goes on a bit too long about artificial snow. --Bret Fetzer
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