Thomas Vinterberg ponders fate in Far From the Madding Crowd

Thomas Vinterberg recently pushed buttons with The Hunt, his gut-wrenching film about a man whose life is shattered by an alarming accusation. Now, the famously provocative Danish filmmaker is putting his spin on a classic work of English literature with Far From the Madding Crowd.

The new film tells the story of strong-willed estate owner Bathsheba Everdeen (Carey Mulligan) as she works to establish her place in the world while being courted by three very different men. It's based on Thomas Hardy's classic 1874 novel of the same name. 

Vinterberg explains why he took a break from his usual "dark, Danish" writing to re-interpret the over 140-year-old story, and how his time in a radical Danish commune informed his portrait. He also notes that the female protagonist grapples with many of the same conflicts modern women do — which either means Hardy was a visionary, or the lives of women have not changed enough.