book to movie

   "Far From the Madding Crowd" is my favourite classic novel.  I have read it several times.  I love the language, I love the plot and I love the setting!
I did not love the movie.
  When you have read the book, you have a very clear picture of the characters. And that was one of my problems.  Right at the beginning, I said, "That is not Gabriel Oak!"   Gabriel Oak is one of my favourite fictional characters and this actor did not seem right for the part.  Nor did I like the casting for Bathsheba.
  But my greatest disappointment was the photography. I was looking forward to beautiful sweeping vistas of the English countryside, and there were a few.  But much of the movie was dark, with way too many closeups- the side of a face, the hands.  Even though I knew the story, I was often wondering what was happening.  There was little dialogue- lots of emoting.
  A big disappointment.
  I discovered that "Far From the Madding Crowd" had been made into a movie in 1967 with Julie Christie, Peter Finch, Alan Bates, and Terence Stamp.  It was a longer movie- 3 hours.  I think I would like Julie Christie playing the role of Bathsheba.
  The basis of the story is that Bathsheba Everdene, a very willful woman, inherits a farm and is romantically pursued by three very different men.  Tragically, she falls for the one who is arrogant, showy and conniving.
  Gabriel Oak, the patient, virtuous man, doesn't allow her to fall into his waiting arms, when her life falls apart.  He is the man that she really had desired- a man who would stand up to her.  And that he does. Such a great love story.  But not a good movie.