Jude (1996)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Michael Winterbottom

Writers:

Hossein Amini (screenplay)
Thomas Hardy (novel)

Release Date:

18 October 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

His World Could Never Change... Until She Became His World.

Plot:

A stonemason steadfastly pursues a cousin he loves. However their love is troubled as he is married...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Cousin | Stonemason | Loss Of Child | Dead Children

Awards:

4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Christopher Eccleston	...	Jude Fawley
Kate Winslet	...	Sue Bridehead
Liam Cunningham	...	Phillotson
Rachel Griffiths	...	Arabella
June Whitfield	...	Aunt Drusilla
Ross Colvin Turnbull	...	Little Jude
James Daley	...	Jude as a Boy
Berwick Kaler	...	Farmer Troutham
Sean McKenzie	...	1st Stone Mason
Richard Albrecht	...	2nd Stone Mason
Caitlin Bossley	...	Anny
Emma Turner	...	Sarah
Lorraine Hilton	...	Shopkeeper
James Nesbitt	...	Uncle Joe
Mark Lambert	...	Tinker Taylor
Paul Bown	...	Uncle Jim
Amanda Ryan	...	Gypsy Saleswoman
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Curator
David Tennant	...	Drunk Undergraduate
Darren Tighe	...	Punter
Paul Copley	...	Mr. Willis
Ken Jones	...	Mr. Biles
Roger Ashton-Griffiths	...	Auctioneer
Raymond Ross	...	Old Man
Freda Dowie	...	Elderly Landlady
Dexter Fletcher	...	Priest
Moray Hunter	...	Politician
Adrian Bower	...	Blacksmith
Kerry Shale	...	Showman
Billie Dee Roberts	...	Little Sister
Chantel Neary	...	Baby
James Scanlon	...	Newborn Baby

Directed by
Michael Winterbottom

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Hossein Amini		screenplay
Thomas Hardy		novel "Jude the Obscure"

Produced by
Andrew Eaton	....	producer
Sheila Fraser Milne	....	associate producer
Mark Shivas	....	executive producer
Stewart Till	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Adrian Johnston

Cinematography by
Eduardo Serra		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Trevor Waite

Casting by
Simone Ireland
Vanessa Pereira

Production Design by
Joseph Bennett

Art Direction by
Andrew Rothschild

Set Decoration by
Judy Farr

Costume Design by
Janty Yates

Makeup Department
Mel Gibson	....	hair stylist
Mel Gibson	....	makeup artist
Amanda Warburton	....	hair stylist
Amanda Warburton	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Josh Dynevor	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Howard Arundel	....	first assistant director
Matthew Baker	....	assistant director
John Duthie	....	second assistant director
Piers Thompson	....	assistant director
Damian Wright	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Steve Bohan	....	construction manager
Peter James	....	technical adviser for stonemasonry
Thomas Martin	....	assistant construction manager
Sean McConville	....	art department crew
Andy Nicholson	....	set designer
Paul Purdy	....	property master

Sound Department
James Boyle	....	assistant sound editor
Jeremy Child	....	sound editor
Paul Conway	....	dialogue editor
Joe Gallagher	....	foley editor
Kate Morath	....	boom operator
Kant Pan	....	sound editor
Martin Trevis	....	sound mixer
Iain Eyre	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
John Markwell	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Mimi Abers	....	visual effects designer
Paddy Eason	....	visual effects designer
Pete Hanson	....	studio manager
Alison O'Brien	....	visual effects producer
Tim Wellspring	....	visual effects assistant: CFC
Dennis Michelson	....	visual effects: CFC (uncredited)
Mark Nelmes	....	visual effects (uncredited)
Kevin Phelan	....	scanning and recording producer: CFC (uncredited)

Stunts
Roy Alon	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Nick Beeks-Sanders	....	lighting camera operator: second unit
Matthew Butler	....	electrician
Barney Davis	....	clapper loader
Gifford Hooper	....	aerial camera operator
Simon Hume	....	focus puller
Roydon Johnson	....	camera operator: New Zealand
Paul Sharp	....	electrician
Philip Sindall	....	camera operator
Andrew Speller	....	director of photography: second unit
Pierre Vinet	....	still photographer
Gavin Walters	....	best boy
Lee Walters	....	gaffer
Vince McGahon	....	Steadicam operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Deb Brown	....	key costumer
Christian Motta	....	costumer: Mr. Eccleston
Amanda Trewin	....	costumer: Ms. Winslet

Other crew
Debbie Moore	....	assistant accountant
Roger Phillips	....	title designer
David Pinnington	....	location manager
Cindy Thomson	....	assistant location manager

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (as BBC Films)
• Polygram Filmed Entertainment
• Revolution Films

Distributors

• Gramercy Pictures (I) (1996) (USA) (theatrical)
• Ascot Elite Entertainment Group (1996) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Asmik Ace Entertainment (1997) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Eurocine (1998) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (1997) (Germany) (theatrical)
• REP Distribution (1996) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Sogepaq Distribución (1997) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Vitória Filmes (1997) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (Argentina) (video)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (Australia) (VHS)
• Emerald (2006) (Argentina) (DVD) (re-release)
• Warner Home Vídeo (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Computer Film Company, The (CFC) (crowd duplications)

Other Companies

• Hover-Cam  aerial cameras
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services
• Sound Design Company, The  post-production sound services

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexuality and intense depictions of death and birth.

Runtime:

123 min | Germany:118 min (TV version)

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Latin

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:R21 | Japan:R-15 | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:14 | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:12 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIB | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:AA (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Beamish Open Air Museum, Beamish, County Durham, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

Christopher Eccleston (Jude Fawley) and David Tennant (Drunk Undergraduate) both later portrayed the Doctor in "Doctor Who" (2005). The former played the Ninth Doctor in 2005 while the latter since played the Tenth Doctor since 2005.

Quotes:

Sue: Do I irritate you?
Jude Fawley: No.
Sue: Even though I'm always trying to prove how much cleverer than you I am.
Jude Fawley: You are!
Sue: Don't say that!
Jude Fawley: Why not?
Sue: Because it's not the sort of thing you should admit to!
Jude Fawley: Even if it's true?

Movie Connections:

References Jules et Jim (1962)

Don't let the kids see this

This pessimistic and rather brutal cinematic production is based on the nineteenth century novel Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. A bowdlerized and altered version of that novel first appeared in Harper's New Monthly Magazine as a serial beginning in December 1894. Its original title was `The Simpletons,' a title modern viewers of this movie might find appropriate considering how Jude and Sue round out their lives.

It need hardly be said that any motion picture, and certainly not one running only about two hours, can hope to do justice to Hardy's novel (his last, incidentally) which is about 180,000 words long (about 400 pages of dense text). An earlier TV mini series version made by the BBC that I have not seen, Jude the Obscure (1971), ran for almost four and a half hours in six episodes. But this is a pretty good movie anyway, highlighted by an enthralling performance by Kate Winslet.

The movie starts rather slowly, if picturesquely, until Kate appears and then the movie comes to life. I have seen Winslet in several films, including her first feature film when she was18-years-old, Heavenly Creatures (1994), an interesting film made in New Zealand based on a sensational matricide from the 1950s. She was very good in that film, her budding talent immediately obvious as the spinning, laughing, crazy teen who went off the deep end emotionally. In Jude, Winslet's sharp, confident and commanding style is given greater range and she comes across with a performance that is full of life, effervescent, delightful, witty, sly, clever, and very expressive, and she looks beautiful doing it.

The story itself, a naturalistic tragedy that in some respects anticipates Theodore Dreiser, et al., was considered immoral in its time. `The Bishop of Wakefield, disgusted with the novel's <insolence and indecency>, threw it in the fire,' according to Terry Eagleton who wrote the Introduction for the New Wessex Edition of the book. Modern film goers will hardly notice the implied critique of marriage that offended Victorian readers, but they might find the scene where Arabella throws the pig's `part' at Jude indelicate. Victorian readers found that scene most offensive. As a public service I want to warn any modern viewer who might be offended at seeing Kate Winslet naked to avoid this film. (Just Joking: Kate is quite fetching in the Rubenesque shot.) To be honest, though, this really is a tragedy that still has the power to offend some sensibilities. Certainly you don't want the kids to see it.

Christopher Eccleston plays Jude and does a good job, and Rachel Griffiths in a modest part plays Jude's first wife Arabella. Director Michael Winterbottom stayed spiritually true to Hardy's dark vision while tailoring the tale for modern audiences. There's a nice period piece feel and some charming cinematography. The denouement is well set up and so realistically done that we don't know whether to be horrified or outraged. I think I was both.