Tess

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Tess

PG

1979

2h 50m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

81%

Tomatometer

77 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

In Roman Polanski's take on "Tess of the D'Urbervilles," impressionable young Tess is sent by her alcoholic father to visit her rich relatives and apply for a job. She's taken in and immediately seduced by her cousin, Alec, who leaves her pregnant. She keeps it to herself and, after the child dies, begins a relationship with a respectable farmer, Angel. They marry, but when Angel learns of her checkered past, he's not sure if he can live with it.

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Critics Consensus

A reverent adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel, Tess marries painterly cinematography and unhurried pacing to create an epic ode to perseverance.

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Judith Martin

Washington Post

06/17/2022

This is cinematography at its best -- film used to present a view, in motion, of a reality that has been artistically ordered to reveal a greater-that-literal essence.

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Gary Arnold

Washington Post

06/17/2022

Watching this long, placid maddeningly subdued movie, you can't help wondering what became of Hardy's stark chronicle of crimes of passion.

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Richard Schickel

TIME Magazine

06/17/2022

One emerges from [Roman Polanski's] endless version of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles with a sense that one could have read the book in a shorter span and had more fun too.

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Richard Freedman

Newark Star-Ledger

Jan 12

A haunting, richly rewarding recreation of one of the towering masterpieces of English fiction.

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Lorien Haynes

Radio Times

Nov 11

4/5

Not as good as the novel, but still has much to recommend it, not least the evocative Oscar-winning photography.

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Scott Sublett

Washington Blade

06/17/2022

It does not shout and it does not speed; it rolls along effortlessly, at an even rate, like a country brook, and when it ends one wishes for more.

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Muzaffar N

@Muzaffar01 Mar 13

The Gold Standard of Visual Storytelling: A Review of Tess (1979)

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Matthew D

@OceanSage Mar 3

Nastassja Kinski is incredibly moving and subtle in her expressive depiction of poor Tess. Polish director Roman Polanski’s English romance drama epic Tess (1979) is a heartbreaking tale. I do appreciate that his Tess feels like a feminist film capturing the empathy for women’s hardships, struggles, dangers, hopes, and love that English author Thomas Hardy wrote. Tess is a hard watch, but a rewarding one. Nastassja Kinski is outstanding as the sadly abused Tess Durbeyfield. Kinski is so genuine as the depressed, poor, and lonely Tess. She is so sweet and innocent, then dejected after she experiences how awful the world can be to young girls. This is one of the most touching performances I’ve ever seen by any actress. I keep thinking about her devastating line, "Once victim, always victim." Tess did not deserve all her pain. She did nothing wrong. Only men were cruel to her in a vicious world. A standout lead actress role from Nastassja Kinski that is dearly depressing.

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Vincent S.

@Vin_E_At_The_Movies Sep 23

Nastassja Kinski is outstanding in this beautifully filmed, emotional, tragic story. One of the best adaptations!

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Marit Risto F

@RT66247982 Aug 16

Same old story. Beautiful, innocent girl, being raped, tortured, and killed, by a heap of Christian, and other, assholes

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thiago s

@Thiagostone 06/16/2025

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom

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Leaburn O

@RT35452347 02/15/2025

Whilst Kinski is always essential viewing, the trouble isn’t the acting which is excellent, it’s just the turgid script that makes this a real Steve to get through. It is interminably tragic and slow paced. I’ve never read the book but this show has confirmed to me that I really don’t want to as a lot of the so called classics are just plain dull. Watched on DVD.

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Roman Polanski

Director

Nastassja Kinski

Tess

Peter Firth

Angel Clare

Leigh Lawson

Alec d'Urberville

John Collin

John Durbeyfield

David Markham

Reverend Mr. Clare

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Synopsis

In Roman Polanski's take on "Tess of the D'Urbervilles," impressionable young Tess is sent by her alcoholic father to visit her rich relatives and apply for a job. She's taken in and immediately seduced by her cousin, Alec, who leaves her pregnant. She keeps it to herself and, after the child dies, begins a relationship with a respectable farmer, Angel. They marry, but when Angel learns of her checkered past, he's not sure if he can live with it.

Director: Roman Polanski
Producer: Claude Berri
Screenwriter: Gérard Brach, Roman Polanski, John Brownjohn
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Burrill Productions
Rating: PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 25, 1979, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 19, 2017
Runtime: 2h 50m
Sound Mix: Surround