Set in Victorian England, when Tess’ drunken farmer of a father learns that he’s related to the well to do family the d’Urbervilles, he and his wife send their beautiful daughter away to the d’Urbervilles’ noble home, with the hopes of improving their financial and social standing. Young Tess is ill-prepared for the desires and manipulations of Alec d’Urberville (Leigh Lawson), who takes advantage of her naiveté, and uses sexual assault disguised as seduction to steal Tess’s innocence. Tess must now navigate the cruel world she’s been forced into, and the ramifications it has on her ability to find love. Director Roman Polanski adapted the Thomas Hardy novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles, a book given to Polanski by Sharon Tate the last time he saw her alive, and to whom the movie is dedicated, releasing the film 10 years after the tragic death of Tate and their unborn child. One of the most accomplished and controversial directors in cinema history, Polanski’s film canon is filled with compelling women touched by the tragic hands of fate, and Nastassja Kinski’s remarkable portrayal in the title role at the age of 15 is no exception.
