Tess

Roman Polanski directed this 1979 adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel about a poor country family in nineteenth-century England. When the Durbeyfields learn they may be descended from an old noble line, they send their daughter Tess to the wealthy d'Urberville household to press the connection. The visit sets off a story of class, desire and betrayal that follows Tess through work, marriage and hardship over several years. Nastassja Kinski plays Tess, with Peter Firth as Angel Clare, Leigh Lawson as Alec d'Urberville, and John Collin and Rosemary Martin as her parents.

The film was a British-French co-production, produced by Claude Berri and written by Gérard Brach, Polanski and John Brownjohn. It was Polanski's ninth feature as director, following The Tenant and preceding Pirates. Made for about 12 million dollars, it returned roughly 20 million worldwide, a solid result for a period drama of its length.

Audience response has been favorable: on IMDb it holds 7.3 out of 10 from around 20,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.1 from just under 400. Critics rated it slightly higher at 7.7 from 78 reviews, so the professional reception sits a little above the audience scores without a wide gap. The running time of 172 minutes reflects the film's deliberate, novelistic scale.