Tess

(Roman Polanski, France/UK 1979, 170 min., 35mm)

Period Dramas. In a lush and scenic film, adapted for the screen from Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles, a lone peasant girl (Nastassja Kinski) travels to the Victorian home of the d’Urbervilles to whom she may be distantly related. What she uncovers there starts her down a tragic road paved with lies, seduction, betrayal, and murder. Directed by Roman Polanski, this lush, lyrical, delicate romance garnered even more critical success when it received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Musical Score, and won three for Best Cinematography, Costume Design, and Art Direction.