Director: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre
Starring: Emma Corrin, Jack O'Connell, Joely Richardson
Running Time: 127 minutes
Synopsis: In England, Connie Reid (Emma Corrin) marries Sir Clifford Chatterley (Matthew Duckett) just before he heads off to World War I. He returns paralyzed from the waist down and unable to engage in sexual activity. The couple settle at Chatterley's lavish Wragby estate, and Clifford encourages Connie to discreetly get pregnant to produce an heir. When nurse Mrs. Bolton (Joely Richardson) arrives to look after Clifford, Connie is freed to explore her passion, and stumbles upon gamekeeper Oliver Mellors (Jack O'Connell), a war veteran with a broken marriage. Connie and Oliver embark on a torrid affair, with unexpected consequences.
What Works Well: The adaptation of the scandalous 1928 D.H. Lawrence novel is a visually rich romance, drawing beauty from secluded English countryside settings and a sense of wealth and privilege at the Chatterley estate. But loneliness and resentment also reside here, and act as triggers for Lady Chatterley to search for a lustful adventure. The sex scenes are frequent and daring, with Emma Corrin and Jack O'Connell generating heat as a couple from opposite sides of the social divide finding common ground (and almost all the sex takes place on the ground).
What Does Not Work As Well: Away from the sex and nudity, the pacing is languid and borders on sleepy, and the emotional tones are repetitively whiney. The transition from animalistic lust to wholesome love is unconvincing, as the script fails to traverse the canyon between satisfying physical needs and complementing lifelong desires. Side themes related to the residents of the nearby village (dependent on the Chatterley wealth), Clifford's drive to mechanize his coal mines, and his lack of empathy for miners, remain at the fragment level.
Key Quote:
Clifford: I've always cared for you, Connie.
Connie: Yes, cared for me. In the same way you care for your books and for your radio, but never in the ways I need you to.
All Ace Black Movie Blog reviews are here.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We welcome reader comments about this post.