--- title: "Tess: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/tess/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/tess" critics_score: 72 critics_reviews: 8 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Tess (1979): what the critics said Critics' score 72 from 8 reviews: 5 positive, 2 mixed, 1 negative. Most critics admire Tess, and the praise gathers almost entirely around how it looks. Review after review names the colour photography and the production design as the film’s chief virtues, with one critic likening the scale to David Lean. Nastassja Kinski’s performance draws steady approval, described as delicate and deeply moving. A number of critics also note how unlikely a project this seems for Polanski, and read it through his own history and his recurring interest in innocence spoiled. The reservations start where the beauty ends. The New Yorker finds the film smooth and hypnotic but tame, going soft on Hardy’s rawer material and reducing Tess to a pure victim. Empire calls it good in parts but far too long, blaming the pace on fidelity to the novel. Time Out goes furthest, judging it cloying and hollow, more interested in the director’s preoccupations than the book’s. The spread is wide, though the dissenters are a minority. ## Slant Magazine — Budd Wilkins Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 25 February 2014. The critic emphasizes the film's ravishing visual poetry and personal resonance for Polanski, connecting it to themes of exploitation and loss seen in Chinatown, while praising the Criterion Blu-ray's transfer and extensive extras on the adaptation and production. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/tess/) ## The Guardian Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 24 March 2013. The critic calls the film an outstanding piece of work. They single out Nastassja Kinski's deeply moving performance as Tess and the ravishing cinematography for praise. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/mar/24/tess-polanski-dvd-review-french) ## Variety — Variety Staff Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1978. Polanski has delivered a sensitive, intelligent screen treatment that combines fidelity to the novel with beauty. First-rate contributions include the color photography and superb production design. [Read the review](https://variety.com/1978/film/reviews/tess-1200424419/) ## The AV Club — Ben Kenigsberg Rating B+. 26 February 2014. The critic highlights the film's sumptuous visuals and cinematography as a departure toward epic scope for Polanski, likening it to David Lean while tying it thematically to his personal history and recurring motifs of innocence defiled. It notes the strong 4K restoration and bonus features on the Criterion release. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/the-sumptuous-tess-is-roman-polanski-by-way-of-david-le-1798179588) ## The New York Times — Janet Maslin Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 12 December 1980. Polanski has turned Hardy's novel into a lovely, lyrical, unexpectedly delicate movie that might seem an unlikely project for him. It stands as one of the best films of the season for its handsome, sweeping and deft adaptation. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1980/12/12/archives/screen-polanskis-tess-hardy-through-a-mist.html) ## The New Yorker — Pauline Kael Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 26 January 1981. The film is a sustained feat of craftsmanship that is textured, smooth and hypnotic but tame and lacking in Hardy's visual passion and emotional danger. Kinski gives a delicate performance as a pure sufferer, but the movie reduces Tess to a victim and goes soft on the story's raw elements. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1981/02/02/the-current-cinema-71) ## Empire — Patrick Humphries Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. The critic finds the adaptation lengthy and lyrical but criticizes its ponderous pace due to fidelity to the novel and Polanski's relocation of the setting. It is insufferably long but very good in parts. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/tess-review/) ## Time Out — FD Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. The adaptation has visual beauty and lush elements but feels cloying and hollow overall. It prioritizes the director's preoccupations over the novel's themes and omits key details from the source material. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/tess-1) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/tess.md