A visually ravishing adaptation of Hardy's novel, set at the close of 19th Century during the painful transition from rural to industrial society. A youthful Kinski plays Tess with a gentle awkwardness that fully realises Hardy's intention of showing how easily the innocent perish under the yoke of the male ego. Tess is always on the brink of the happiness she deserves and Polanski teases us with the possibility of a happy ending.