Best movie ever!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

I have never read the book, but have always been fascinated by the story, which is, of course, famously known.Having never seen the other movie adaptations, I can't compare. However, I thought this version was terrific. Maybe it is more of a "woman's movie" but I could put myself into their shoes throughout the story. The initial love scenes were so much more sensual than in today's US movies where nothing is left to the the imagination. My favorite scene is of them unabashedly dancing in the rain, naked, happy, free and all with their boots on!!! It might be too "fairytale-ish" for some, but I say "Bravo!" and thank you Pascale Feran for creating this visual and sensual masterpiece.

First we may talk about the general atmosphere of this remarkable movie. All sceneries are very beautiful, accurate and full of meaning: the landscapes, the interiors and the characters' clothes like we would expect in a reproduction of events which take place in mid-twenties of last century. In what concerns the plot and story we must keep always in mind that at the time most Victorian moral values still prevail and we must see the movie against this background so what wouldn't be revolutionary nowadays was revolutionary indeed at the time. This is the well told, well acted and well directed story of a woman awakening for the physical side of love life. She is the aristocratic rich wife of a no less aristocratic and rich man who is nevertheless an invalid ridden to a wheelchair for life and sexually impotent of course. This awakening begins when she sees for the first time her husband's gamekeeper naked above his waist and washing himself. She is then overwhelmed by a great psychological trouble and the ensuing uncontrollable need of meeting him again leads her to go to see him once more and finishing by surrender herself to make love with him. The first two love scenes were so quick that she doesn't get to any climax and only during the third scene where she takes a more active part does she reach a full orgasm. It's curious however (but quite in accordance with social patterns of that time) that during the first love scenes between the two the relation master-servant maintains itself before and after sex and only later does it gain a more personal and intimate nature. After the third love scene she even thanks him for it like if it had been a service rendered by him which offends him a lot. This adaptation of the second version of the literary masterpiece novel by the British writer D. H. Lawrence is a great success indeed. This novel was banned as pornographic when it was published first time and only in the sixties of last century a court declared it not pornographic according to he real difference between pornography and eroticism which exists though many people still don't know it but it's out of the scope of this review to explain. Sex is a force of nature and indeed a part of human relations and the literary or artistic works based on it can be object of aesthetic (in the broad sense) evaluation notwithstanding any possible moral evaluations which are not within the scope of a literary or a film essay.

I went to this solely because of one review by a trusted critic elsewhere and I am very glad that my trust was not misplaced. This 3-hour French adaptation of the D.H. Lawrence novel boasts no stars I'm familiar with, is directed by someone I've never heard of, and is based on a novel I've never read -- so I went into it pretty blind. The majority of people seeing this will almost certainly be more familiar with the story than I was, so I won't go on at length; suffice it to say that the aristrocratic Lady's romance with a grounds-keeper on her crippled husband's lands (I believe he was a stonemason in the novel) starts out somewhat plodding, wrapped up in a 19th-century gauze of courtliness and tentative, unexpressed feelings, but the intensity builds with a smoothness and a sure command of film language that is completely impressive. The principal leads, Marina Hands and Jean-Louis Coullo'ch, are exemplary, the photography and camera movements natural, capturing the beauty and sensuality of both the couple and landscape without seeming over-decorous or sentimental. The extraordinary use of music is perhaps what I'll remember most; the majority of the film does not have background music, but on a few brief occasions a yearning early 20th-century post-Romantic score (reminiscent to me of Delius or Bax) soars outward; the judgment of director Ferran in her use of these rare bars of melody (by Béatrice Thiriet) to express the wordless emotions of her heroine might seem almost Spielbergian if you're just reading about them, but they show a restraint and perfect timing that far exceeds the sentimental uses that most Hollywood directors would put them to. The final moments, the discovery of the erotic, naturalistic and romantic voices all finally fused into one -- are as rapturous as any ending I've seen this year. Theatrical viewing at The Roxy (our one art-house cinema) in Burlington, late 2007.

Constance Chatterley, a higher class Englishwoman, had the misfortune of marrying an impotent man. She has never known what sexual bliss is really like and there is no hope her husband will ever satisfy her because of a war injury that has rendered him unable to have sex with her. Constance, who is first seen as a dedicated wife, suddenly awakes to a life of fulfillment when she finds in Parkin, the estate's game warden, a soul mate and a man who can bring her to taste the pleasures that has been denied to her.D. H. Lawrence, the author of the novel in which the film is based on, was a man who was aware of the class struggles in his native land. He had a connection with the miners that he saw as more interesting than the moneyed rulers who employed them, and to a certain degree, exploited them. The struggle is not emphasized in this version of the novel by French director Pascale Ferran, who also contributed to its adaptation. Ms. Ferran brings out the sexual aspect to the front burner in a film that is a bit long, and a bit repetitive, at times."Lady Chatterley" main asset is the wonderful portrayal Marina Hands gives to Constance. She is a new face that seems to be a natural, as she clearly demonstrates here. Ms. Hands is equally matched by the fierce take of Jean-Louis Coullo'ch, who brings an animal quality to his interpretation of Parkin. These two actors carry the film and make it much better than it should have been.This film is greatly enhanced by Julien Hirsch's cinematography. His take of the countryside gives a serene quality to all that one sees in the film. Also, the musical score created by Beatrice Thiret is heard in the background. One can expect interesting things from Ms. Ferran in the future, as she is a new voice to be reckoned with in the French cinema.