451. GREAT CINEMA ADAPTATIONS: FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD

Peter Josyph via Zoom

Set in rural Wessex, published in 1874, Thomas Hardy’s novel of enduring love and wounding

betrayal has been ranked as one of the greatest love stories. It has been adapted for the stage

seven times, also as a ballet, a musical, and an opera. It has been filmed five times, the earliest in

1915, the latest in 2015. John Schlesinger’s magnificent 1967 adaptation was shot on location in

Dorset and Wiltshire by master cinematographer Nicholas Roeg, and its stars—Julie Christie as

Bethsheba Everdene, and Alan Bates, Terence Stamp, and Peter Finch as her vastly different

suitors—play out this romantic drama against the stunning backdrop of the Wessex landscape.

Our discussions will include the question of drawing a line between loyalty to a beloved and self-

destructive fantasy.

1:00-2:00 p.m. / 1:00-2:30 p.m.                                                                                  2 Sessions Thursdays, Apr. 17 and Apr. 24                                                                          Fee:  $50

 [A Zoom link will be sent to you prior to each session, typically on the day before your class and the morning of your class.  If you have any questions or need help getting online, feel free to call us at 516-480-5733 and we’ll get right back to you with assistance.]

ABOUT THE LECTURER

Peter Josyph is an author, actor, director, and filmmaker whose films include: Liberty Street: Alive at Ground Zero; Acting Cormac McCarthy: The Making of Billy Bob Thorton’s All the Pretty Horses; Shakespeare In New York: The Sonnets; and A Few Things Basquiat Did in School. His books include: Adventures in Reading Cormac McCarthy; What One Man Said to Another, Talks with Richard Seltzer; and, The Wounded River, which was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book. He also excels in literary and film criticism.