Lady Chatterley's Lover

Emma Corrin and Jack O'Connell in Lady Chatterley's Lover

Laure de Clermont-Tonnere's Lady Chatterley's Lover, currently streaming on Netflix, is a slightly above average adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's final novel that ultimately fails to capture the complexities of the original. Ms. Clermont-Tonnere's does a good job contrasting the stultifying interiors of the manor house with the liberating splendor of the English countryside. The film is handsome without being ostentatious and the costumes by Emma Fryer, whether they are worn or cast about, are an asset. There are good performances in supporting roles by Joely Richardson, Faye Marsay, and Ella Hunt. 

However, the lead performances are all wan and underdrawn, resulting in a film that never ignites. Matthew Duckett is forgettable in the role of Clifford Chatterley. Now the role is a thankless one, but this cuckolded laird seems impotent even before he leaves for the Great War. Jack O'Connell is a more felt presence as the gamekeeper. Depth of character is hinted at, he reads Joyce fer chrissakes, but he functions as little more than a primeval stud. Emma Corrin nails her character's boredom and sense of entitlement. Still, something is missing. There is little sense of the intellectual and spiritual growth of their character. At times, the Lady comes off as a bored and spoiled housewife who just needs a good boff.

David Magee's adaptation of the novel overly simplifies Lawrence's ideas for present day consumption. One could easily surmise from this film that Lawrence was a socialist. There are certainly socialist themes in Lawrence's writing, but he had more issues with industrialization than capitalism per se. He was not doctrinaire in any fashion. Socialist Bertrand Russell thought he was a proto-fascist. Lawrence rejected the mind/body dualism of Western thought and yearned for individual liberation rather than a collective one. As he put it in his poem A Sane Revolution, "If you make a revolution,/ make it for fun." Connie Chatterley's liberation in this film seems more a product of good sex than a raised consciousness whereas, in the novel, both are equally important. As George Clinton sang, "Free your mind and your ass will follow."

Ms. Richardson's presence hearkened me back to the miniseries derived from this book that she starred in with Sean Bean under Ken Russell's direction. The long form of the series helped in adding character development and Ms. Richardson and Mr. Bean gave their characters more oomph than is found in Ms. Clermont-Tonnere's version. Mr. Russell is responsible for the best adaptation of Lawrence thus far, not the highly praised film of Women in Love, but his little seen adaptation of The Rainbow from 1989.