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(More customer reviews)It is rare that a novel can successfully be adapted to the screen without losing much of its force. Lady Chatterley, Ken Russell's adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover, however, loses almost none of the force of the original source. The novel was banned when it came out, and one viewing of Lady Chatterley will explain why.
The British VHS box for Lady Chatterley boasts that it is filled with "very, very erotic sex." That is about the most accurate statement you can make about this movie. Lest one get the wrong idea, however, this made-for-TV movie is not pornography. It utilizes the original plot, cutting out some of the more social aspects of the novel, to tell a beautiful story about one woman's search for love -- sexual and otherwise -- outside of her marriage and class.
Joely Richardson, best known in the U.S. for cavorting with Mel Gibson in "The Patriot," here bares it all early and often with Sean Bean. Both of them shine in their respective roles. Ms. Richardson is brilliant as a strong, independent woman whose husband is crippled during WWI, thus basically ending her sexual life prematurely. Sean Bean plays her lowly, gamekeeper lover, Oliver Mellors. The dirty, scruffy, growling Mellors is the perfect vehicle for Sean Bean's talent -- part bad guy, part sensual lover, in many ways a guilty pleasure (much like Sean Bean himself!)
This is not a movie for immature audiences -- it is as beautiful a story as it is erotic, much the way D. H. Lawrence wrote it. Nor is it for the faint of heart -- the sex scenes are revealing and very intense. It is beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, and overall, is an amazing cinematic experience. The 3.5 hours are well worth watching, at least for fans of Joely Richardson or Sean Bean.
Although the movie is extremely good, I would definitely recommend reading the original novel as well, particularly the unexpurgated version. Some of the best scenes in the novel were cut for censorship considerations and their inability to work onscreen. Nonetheless, fans of the novel will not be disappointed -- and those unacquainted with the novel will certainly be more than a little surprised at the force and eroticism of this movie.
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From the director of Women in Love and Altered States comes a retelling of the literary classic that launched the most celebrated obscenity trial of the 20th century. In adapting the famous tale of unbridled passion, Ken Russell has made a moving love story and some of the most talked about television of the 1990s. Joely Richardson (Return to Me, The Affair of the Necklace) stars as the young, sexually repressed Lady Chatterley, whose paralyzed husband (James Wilby, Gosford Park) urges her to find fulfillment and an heir for his fortune in the arms of another man. Sean Bean (Patriot Games, The Lord of the Rings) is the lowly gamekeeper whose scandalous attentions awaken her senses. DVD special features include an exclusive interview with writer/director Ken Russell, behind-the-scenes photo gallery, broadcast trailer, cast and crew filmographies and DH Lawrence biography.
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