Director: Roman Polanski
Novel: Thomas Hardy “Tess of the D’Urbervilles”
Script: Gérard Brach, Roman Polanski, John Brownjohn
Photography: Ghislain Cloquet, Geoffrey Unsworth
Editors: Alastair McIntyre, Tom Priestley, Production Design: Pierre Guffroy
Music: Philippe Sarde
Sound Editors: Hervé de Luze, Peter Horrocks
Principal Cast: Nastassja Kinski, Peter Firth, John Collin, Rosemary Martin, Tony Church, David Markham, Pascale de Boysson, John Bett, Tom Chadbon
Producer: Claude Berri
Co-Producer: Timothy Burrill
Executive Producer: Pierre Grunstein, Associate Producer: Jean-Pierre Rassam
Distribution:
Pathé International
Tel: +33 (0)1 71 7233 05
www.patheinternational.com
In the beginning, there is a careless statement. In the end, a life destroyed. When a pompous priest addresses drunkard Durbeyfield as "Sir John," he sets in motion a chain of unfortunate events that turn the life of the latter's daughter Tess into martyrdom. "A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented" is the subtitle to Thomas Hardy's novel upon which the screenplay was based. And "pure" is how Tess remains, in the book as well as in Polanski's adaptation, even though she bears a child out of wedlock, and is ultimately driven to commit a murder. The film was Nastassja Kinski's international breakthrough, following the waves she had made in Germany with her appearance in "Reifezeugnis" ("For Your Love Only"), an installment in the long-running "Tatort" series of made-for-television films.