Carey Mulligan, you saucy minx. I have seen Thomas Vinterberg’s gorgeous adaptation of Far From the Madding Crowd twice now, and I have to say right up front: I love it. The cinematography, the score, the costuming, the casting choices…in my mind, they’re all aces. Never have lens flare and sheep-laden greenery looked so beautiful. As a movie playing out on screen, I think it hits almost every right note…but as a story, I do have a few minor qualms with it. FFTMC is often described as Thomas Hardy’s “most pastoral” novel, which kind of begs the question: Why exactly was it resurrected from its dusty place on the bookshelf and turned into …
