I purchased this DVD without previewing it, and I regret that choice. Though there is nothing offensive in the film, there is also not enough to keep one engrossed in it. Truly a light romance with no great depth. Rent it, don't bother buying it.

I have been watching a lot of BBC period dramas lately - probably way to many - and this is one of my favorites. The story is great, the actors are great, the scenery is great, James Murray is great. You can read other reviews to get a synopsis of the story. I found the chemistry between Keely Hawes and James Murray really nice and believable. I just really enjoy watching this again, and again, and again. I finally had to lend it to a neighbor so that I could take a break from it (but alas, it is on youtube...) It is really worth at least one watch....

Hard to believe this work was by Hardy. Normally his work is too depressing for my taste. This is much, much lighter...almost too light! Although it ends happily, it's so idyll it is totally unrealistic. Fancy Day (her name alone should tell you this is a fairy tale) turns down a wealthy tradesman who can give her comfort and the parson who can show her the grand cities of Europe to marry a man who can't even afford to give her a place of her own. Yes that's right, she chooses to live in a dirt floor cottage with his parents and siblings. Ridiculous. And we're supposed to believe that these poor uneducated folk are the happiest and best of people. Hmmm. I suppose that would be like choosing to marry someone from Harlem and moving into his parents cramped space in the projects. There are similar ridiculous elements.
But, if you can suspend all intelligent thought, and provided you don't mind the lack of fancy gowns and grand rooms, this is a pretty little romance.

Under the Greenwood Tree

Thomas Hardy, master of the nineteenth-century rural English gloom and doom novel, penned a sweet, uplifting romance in Under the Greenwood Tree. Skillfully adapted to the screen, this tale that originally centered around local young man Dick Dewy, is now recast with Fancy Day (Keeley Hawes) as the central figure and with the three men who love her secondary. It works very well and creates a bit of charm in an otherwise simplistic tale of rustic romance in a small Dorset village (though the film was entirely shot on the Isle of Jersey) amid the changes hinted at by the impending Industrial Revolution.

It is the story of Fancy, a schoolmistress who returns to the village of Mellstock. She is young, beautiful and educated, and the villagers don't know what to make of her. Handsome Dick Dewy (James Murray), a workingclass lad, is instantly smitten as are nouveau riche farmer Mr. Shiner (Steve Pemberton) and the local vicar, Parson Maybold (Ben Miles).

Fancy feels a need to honor her father and marry well, but in the course of events she falls in love and must choose between following her father's wish or following her heart.

Beautiful photography and authentic scenes and costuming add to the charm of this lighthearted adventure.

Recommended.

I purchased these items on DVD to replace items taped off PBS years previously. They were excellent then and are equally interesting now.