Boobirt Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Bereamic Awesome Movie

Twilightfa Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

Blueghost Wow. I really dislike slow moving romances, but the amount of artistry that was injected into this production, and the rendered result is just pure art in every sense of the word.Every shot is an oil painting. I don't know what it is about the French and their history with art that makes them such masters, but not a single strip of film was wasted here. The lighting, the costumes, the camera angles, and composition of the frame and music, really were just given such care that it's a wonder this film hasn't gained more notoriety among D.H. Lawrence enthusiasts.Then there are the sex scenes. Yes ladies and gentlemen, there is sex in this film, though it's rendered with a very gentle brush stroke by a master painter of film. There is nothing tawdry in the nature of the sex other than the fact that the couple is bucking societal convention. To find out what I mean, you have to watch the film.This is a story about a woman's wants and needs. Whom she married because modern convention pushed her in that direction, and what she really wanted because her innate nature and the man in question succumbed to proper instincts.One man has societal power and wealth, but cannot care for himself without the assistance that his wealth affords. Another can withstand adversity after adversity, and like so many men, prefers, prospers, and even thrives when he's alone. One is the master of men. Another is the master of himself, and cares for no other. Ladies, which do you prefer? Which do you say you want, and which one fires your heart, body and soul? That's what this movie is all about. On an even more intellectual level both males have a kind of female inner psyche working for them. One gains the world, the other gains something else.I have two regrets about this film. Firstly that there are a couple of pans (and one awful zoom) that come lose to derailing the flow of the movie. But as visually jarring as they are, they pass quickly. Like a B-movie producer/director once told me, America makes the best dollies and tripods for professional movie cameras, and that is an unchallenged truth. If you look at any foreign film, and compare the camera moves with American movies, you'll note that American films have very smooth dolly shots, Steadicam shots, and the now occasional rare pan. Foreign films are still playing catchup, even for this film which was shot only ten years ago! Secondly; I streamed this film off of Amazon, and it is not a high definition transfer with muted colors. The colors I'm thinking were a creative choice of the director and cinematographer, and they may have even used a soft lens or a soft filter in front of the lens to add that bit of visual texture to give this film an even softer touch and intimate feel. Even so, I wanted to see more information on the screen, but whether it was the creative team being artistic or the limitations of the technology, I'll never know until I see this thing on bluray.Here's the thing; I was forced to read D.H. Lawrence in high school, and hated his writing. It was slow, lethargic, seemed to cater to over emotionalism, and just downright boring as hell when compared to some of the sci-fi authors or military fiction authors I used to read (and get more out of), but this film (and the French really do love Lawrence) very much delivers a film maker's film. And, as usual from French cinema, gives us a character study of the gentler side of human nature. What is, what we'd like, and what ought to be.I don't recommend this film to anyone who is not a cinema aficionado. If you like heavy psychology and films about how a trist can be mistaken or evolve into love, then this film is for you.Otherwise, maybe give it a shot and see what you think.Enjoy.

evening1 Bored, inhibited Lady Chatterley is a woman of privilege who has a kinky fascination with lower-class men.When she indulges her curiosity and engages in wordless, clothed sex with her gamekeeper we are invited to share in the fantasy that an affair with one's servant can bring happiness.This fairy tale of a film kept me interested enough to watch it to the end. I'd never read the book, or I might have been more impressed with the story here. However, I never really cared about the protagonist's happiness. Her blase, totally conflict-free comings and goings seemed like narcissistic self-indulgence after awhile.And her chats with oafish Parkin toward the end of the film struck me as yuppyish anachronism. What's more, the film's ending was jarringly abrupt in the version I caught on Sundance Channel. I can't believe that with all the cinematographic efforts evident here, Parkin's eyes-in-the-headlights stare was what the director intended. Sheesh!

OldAle1 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.

Furuya Shiro Secret rendezvous in a forest that shows beauty of nature season by season. They are no longer young, but the movie has innocent atmosphere as though I am watching an adolescent movie. And in fact, they behave like youths.The original novel 'Lover of Lady Chatterlay' had given special impact on Japanese society. In early 1960's, its Japanese translator and the publisher were indicted as disseminating an obscene book. It caused nationwide dispute about obscenity and freedom of expression. Finally the Supreme Court declared it is obscene. That was why when I read the novel by Ito Sei's translation, most of the parts that depict sex had been omitted. Still I felt it was a great novel. I thought it was a story of a woman who struggles for freedom from the suffocating class society when world is changing under industrial revolution. Now watching the movie without having removed sexual parts, I received the message that sex gives freedom and open their mind to others. It is the opposite portrayal of sex from the movie like 'Realm of the Senses', where sex ruins and destroys humanity.By the way, there is an important scene when Lady Chatterlay is moved with tears watching lovely chick on her palm. This is I believe very critical in the whole story, but I don't think it is acted convincingly. I think this is one of few flaws.Another question. While Lady Chatterlay is traveling in Europe, Lord Chatterlay suddenly becomes very active and the lady is surprised he can walk with crutches. What does it mean? Did Mrs. Bolton give him anything special?