Thomas Vinerberg’s Far From the Madding Crowd is an unnecessary but unusually handsome adaptation, executed with enough artful wit to still feel fresh. A troop of terrific actors are led Carey Mulligan as Bathsheba Everdene, and the feminist bent of her character makes this period costume drama germane to our times. But Madding Crowd lacks the fiery passion that modern audiences are accustomed to, and the lax, deliberate pace may provide a monotonous, sour experience for the uninitiated. But there are treasures here, and if you’re willing to spend the effort to dig them up Madding Crowd proves to be a rewarding experience worth exploring.

Bathsheba Everdene is an independently wealthy woman who is, herself, fiercely independent and in her own words, in need of taming. She deems no man worthy of the challenge, and over the course of the book (and so the film’s) timeframe, three men, personifying the three varying ideas, propose to her in marriage. She says no to at least two of them, and how the complexity of the narrative gradually builds is one of Crowd’s pleasures. She inherits a vast property previously owned by her parents, and while it has not fallen to ruin, it is in much need of tighter upkeep. Reshaping the present for a better future is a thematic throughline present in many of the story’s settings, characters, and indeed even the plot itself, and the push for a more magnificent estate mirrors Bathsheba’s own hope for a better future. Not just for her, but for women.

The first suitor is the rugged farmer Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), who as his name heavy-handedly reveals, symbolizes the natural world. He owns a farm adjacent to Bathsheba’s, but amidst courting her his farm falls to ruin and he’s forced to relocate. Rigorously hard working and an honest man, he is the easiest to root for. The second is William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), an extraordinarily wealthy but rigid man lacking, amongst other personal qualities, a sense of humor. The third is the sensual Sergeant Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge), whose impetuous charm amusingly captures the artificial allure of foreign intervention. This is a better story than one where each of these three men’s bids for affection is siphoned off, and how they interlock and slowly come to a confrontational boil is when Crowd entertains most. Allegiance becomes a fraught over thing, and how they behave not only with Bathsheba but between each other reveals their character.