Based on Thomas Hardy’s classic novel, Far From the Madding Crowd is a period piece about the independent and beautiful Bathsheba Everdene (Mulligan) who attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel (Schoenaerts), a sheep farmer; Frank (Sturridge), a reckless army sergeant; and William (Sheen), a prosperous and mature bachelor.

Far From the Madding Crowd is a timeless love story. It is an exploration of the human condition, choices and passions, relationships and love, hardships, resilience and perseverance. This adaptation of the 1874 novel offers us a social commentary on the traditional gender roles, class and status of the time. But above all things, the film is beautiful. The rural setting, filmed in Dorset, England, is gorgeous and green and indeed far from the madding crowd of London.

Carey Mulligan has time and time again demonstrated her ability to draw us in to her light. She has a softness and depth giving her the ability to play such a broad spectrum from Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby to the dysfunctional Sissy in Shame. Here she is truly effervescent as she portrays the object of desire, the headstrong but naïve, complicated and enrapturing Bathsheba Everdene. With Danish director Thomas Vinterberg (The Hunt) at the helm, this latest rendition of Hardy’s novel rises above its predecessors to stand alone as a superbly acted and powerfully moving film.

‘Aloha’, the Hawaiian term for greeting or parting, perfectly encapsulates the transience and double meaning in this film. The story surrounds a disgraced military contractor (Cooper) who returns to Hawaii on business and reconnects with an old flame (McAdams), while unexpectedly falling for the officer assigned to supervise him (Stone).

Aloha is fresh, beautiful and special. It really captures a certain Hawaiian-ness. Not the hokey, touristy Hawaii; but the cultural, natural, mythological and spiritual. It is interesting how it flows through the film and teases out a complex mixture of relationships and dichotomies. The natural picturesque Hawaii and the stern and official military base, the relationship between the indigenous Hawaiians and the American government, the relationships between people, past lovers and new, a person’s core beliefs, conflicting ideologies and self-realisation.

There are so many elements to Aloha that make this film beautiful, sweet and delightful to watch. The cast is jam packed with amazing people: Bradley Cooper, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams, Alec Baldwin and Bill Murray. Even the soundtrack is wonderful and eclectic, from contemporary indie through to the Stones and David Bowie.