Constance Reid (Marina Hands) is 23 years old when she marries Clifford Chatterley (Hippolyte Girardot) a dashing Lieutenant in the British Army. It is 1917 and their honeymoon is short lived. Clifford goes to fight on the Flanders battle front from which he returns a broken man, paralysed from the hips down. Constance's sexual frustration leads her into a passionate affair with Parkin (Jean-Louis Coulloc'h), the gamekeeper - who chooses to live a solitary life in the woods after separating from his wife. Constance falls pregnant and joins her sister and father on the Riviera where she plans to cover up the parentage of her child. On returning home she has to face the reality of her situation. Lady Chatterley tells the story of their impossible love. The story of an encounter, a difficult taming, a slow awakening to sensuality for her, a slow return to the world of the living for him...
Special Agent Matti
Let me tell you what happens in the country. Not a hell of a lot. And it takes a long time, too. 161 minutes is far to long for both this film and this story; they aren't big enough to fill the hours. (One critic even fell asleep during the screening!)
What's really weird about Lady Chatterley is that it's an English story but everyone is speaking French and you can't pronounce an English name (like "Mrs Brown") with a French accent and not come across as being silly - like the French chevalier in The life of Brian. If you want to see real English country life, watch Gosford Park.
The drama, France movie Lady Chatterley is directed by Pascale Ferran and stars Marina Hands, Jean-Louis Coulloc'h, Hippolyte Girardot.
M (Moderate sex scenes and nudity)
161 minutes (2:41 hours)
Film: 6 September 2007
