Thirty-two years ago when I started writing weekly columns I wrote about agriculture and rural life. Serious stuff. I never thought to write about, or even mention, the big event in February, Valentine’s Day. A woman called me to say I could write about farm stuff all year long but the week of Valentine’s Day she wanted to read about love and romance. She may have been kidding me or perhaps she was telling me to lighten up. I took her advice.
I have always been a movie fan and subscribe to movie channels on television that don’t have commercial interruptions. I especially enjoy watching farm-type movies. Farmers are often portrayed having some sort of disaster on their hands and they’re always financially strapped for money. I watch them with a bit of a critical eye.
One of my favourite movies is Far from the Maddening Crowd. There was a remake released in 2015, but I recommend the original 1967 version. This British epic drama is adapted from Thomas Hardy’s book of the same name. The film stars Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Terence Stamp and Peter Finch.
The 2015 film stars Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen and Tom Sturridge. It doesn’t have the interesting grain harvest scenes that the original movie had.
Set in rural England, the story features Bathsheba Everdene (Julie Christie), a headstrong, independently-minded woman who is courted by three men. She inherits her uncle’s farm and decides to manage it herself. She hires a former neighbour, Gabriel Oak (Alan Bates), to be her shepherd. He is rejected by her as a suitor, Gabriel lost his own flock of sheep when one of his new dogs drove them over a steep cliff. Ignoring Gabriel’s love, Bathsheba impulsively sends a valentine card to William Boldwood (Peter Finch), a nearby gentleman farmer. When he misinterprets her unpredictability and proposes to her, Bathsheba promises to consider his offer. But she is smitten by Frank Troy (Terence Stamp), a dashing cavalry sergeant.
There are superb scenes of rural life — harvesting the grain, building straw stacks, washing, clipping and herding the sheep. Sheep break into a tall legume field and many bloat and have to be stuck with a knife to allow the air to escape, or they die. It caused considerable chaos for the owner as only Gabriel Oak knew how to do the tricky job. But he is working at another farm as Bathsheba had fired him.
The movie has spectacular scenes of harvesting wheat in the1870s. Antique machinery from museums was used for the harvest. It’s the first time I saw a sail reaper at work. The sail reaper came about in 1862. It had four, large, wooden sail-type rakes that rotated around and cleaned the stalks off into piles off to the side of the machine. The five-foot wide contraption made a loud clanking racket. I have only seen one on display — in an agricultural museum in B.C.
As mentioned, I watch some movies with a bit of a critical eye. The 2015 version, actor Matthias Schoenaerts, playing Gabriel Oak, walks when he’s going to different farms. You never see him hitching a ride in a horse drawn carriage. He quit working at a sheep farm and walks along a road when in the distance, across the forested valley, he sees black smoke rising. He senses trouble and heads that way, walking. Next scene he’s at that farm and taking charge getting the house roof fire under control and he saves the house from burning. Needless to say, the owner of the farm, a young widow who is running the farm, is most impressed by this young man. Ah, such great timing! And so romantic.
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!
