Tess

Director: Roman Polanski

1979 / 186min / DCP

Shot by Ghislain Cloquet and Geoffrey Unsworth, with the landscapes of Normandy and Brittany standing in for the 1880s “Wessex,” England of Thomas Hardy’s tragic 1881 novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Polanski’s sprawling Tess, starring 18-year-old Nastassja Kinski in the title role of the titular would-be social climber, is an overwhelmingly sumptuous cinematic experience, winner of the Academy Award for its painterly widescreen vistas that recall Corot landscapes. The total tonal consistency of Tess is all the more remarkable in light of the fact that Unsworth died during the film’s shooting, after which Cloquet stepped into the cinematographer’s chair.

Introduction by cinematographer Fred Elmes Saturday, April 13, 8:30pm