Reddleman Diggory Venn drives slowly across the heath, carrying a hidden passenger in the back of his van. When darkness falls, the country folk light bonfires on the hills, emphasizing the pagan spirit of the heath and its denizens.
The young and beautiful Eustacia Vye (Catherine Zeta-Jones) visits her grandfather in Egdon Heath, a country area in northern England, but quickly becomes bored and dreams of city life in Paris. When Egdon Heath native Clym Yeobright (Ray Stevenson) returns from Paris and falls in love with Eustacia, she agrees to the courtship, hoping to move to the city with Clym. But Eustacia's attraction to the handsome Damon Wildeve (Clive Owen) forces her to choose between the two men.—onlytansalways