Roman Polansky's Tess: Aesthetics of Human Body and Capital

로만 폴란스키의 <테스>: 육체와 자본의 미학

David Harris argues that mass media suppress counter-hegemonic factors in order to reach audience. According to Harris's theory, the success of the film "Tess" depends on its effective adaptation from Thomas Hardy's novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891). Tess (1979), directed by Roman Polansky, casting Nastassia Kinski for Tess, was acclaimed as a professional and commercial success, awarded with various prizes. Hardy's aim at criticizing Victorian English social and moral standard through Tess appears obscure in Polansky's film which focuses on the aesthetics of human body and capital. Polanski's Tess with urban white beauty does not emerge victimized by poverty, which the late twentieth century audience under the capitalist umbrella may abhor. To examine his use of music, sound effect, visual images by means of camera operation—angles, distances, close-ups and frequent movements—light and color, and mythic elements in the film, show Polansky's sharp perception of his contemporary audience's desire and conscientious work upon it.