Film Review
Five years before Penguin Books published the full unexpurgated versionof D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley'sLover, resulting in a high profile obscenity trial (thirty yearsafter the author's death), French cinema audiences were treated to thissurprisingly risqué film adaptation by French film director MarcAllégret.The first adaptation of Lawrence's most famousnovel, L'Amant de lady Chatterleymay appear tame by today's standards, but for the mid-1950s it waspretty steamy stuff and the film was banned outright in the UnitedStates. Based on a stage play by Gaston Bonheur andPhilippe de Rothschild, the film is a characteristically Gallicreinterpretation of Lawrence's novel, far more concerned with the classimplications of an illicit relationship than with the lurid details ofa torrid love affair. Whilst the film's love scenes arediscreetly handled, they are highly suggestive and represent somethingof a milestone in the portrayal of sex in the cinema.
Danielle Darrieux, arguably the most glamorous French actress of hergeneration, was the obvious choice for the part of Lady Chatterley, andwhilst the film is not one of her best remembered, the performance shegives in it is assuredly one of her finest.The agonising trauma of a woman having to choose between the man she loves out of duty andthe man she loves by instinct and necessity is powerfully conveyed byDarrieux in the film's most compelling scenes. At first, it istempting to regard Allégret's casting of British and Italianactors for the roles of Sir Clifford Chatterley and the gamekeeper Mellors asan egregious example of national stereotyping. Is it necessary tostress the Arctic frigidity of the one and the hot-blooded temperamentof the other in such a crude way? In fact, the casting turns outto be inspired. Leo Genn, a well-regarded English actor who hadpreviously been nominated for an Oscar for his work in Quo Vadis (1951), perfectlyembodies Lawrence's most tragically drawn character, a man hopelesslydependent on his wife's misguided view of love, whilst Erno Crisa, acharismatic star of Italian cinema, conveys not only the passionatenature of Mellors but also his psychological complexity. Thefilm's power lies not in its direction and writing, admirable as theseare, but in the blistering authenticity that the three principals bringto their performances.
Marc Allégret directed L'Amantde lady Chatterley towards the end of his career, when he wasmainly preoccupied with lightweight popular comedies such as En effeuillant la marguerite(1956) and Un drôle de dimanche (1958).Previously, Allégret had distinguished himself with such filmsas Fanny(1932) and Entrée des artistes(1938), although he was never considered to be a great filmmaker of thestanding of Carné, Duvivier or Renoir. His D.H. Lawrenceadaptation represents one of the artistic highpoints of his career, notjust an inspired rendering of a daring and very problematic novel, butalso a wry commentary on contemporary attitudes towards maritalinfidelity, class and the portrayal of sex in cinema. There havebeen several film adaptations of LadyChatterley's Lover since this one, including Pascale Ferran'ssizzlingly sensual Lady Chatterley (2006), butAllégret's film has its own unique charm. The severecensorship limitations of the 1950s may have prevented Allégretfrom showing us the more lurid aspects of Lawrence's novel, but hisfilm captures its essence and perhaps manages to express Lawrence'sideas about the inseparability of love and desire, the union of themind and the body, more succinctly than the author himself.This film, like the novel on which it is based, is surely ripe for afresh reappraisal.
© James Travers 2012
The above content is owned by frenchfilms.org and must not be copied.
Next Marc Allégret film:
En effeuillant la marguerite (1956)
Film Synopsis
Lady Constance Chatterley is under pressure from both her sister Hilda andher husband, Sir Clifford, to find herself a lover so that she can get herselfpregnant and provide an heir to the Chatterley estate. Sir Cliffordis the wealthy owner of a colliery, but through injuries he sustained inthe war he is now impotent and confined to a wheelchair. Although Constancesympathises with her husband, she cannot bring herself to be unfaithful tohim. The idea of taking a lover appals her. And then she meetsMellors, Sir Clifford's burly gamekeeper.
It would seem that Mellors is just what the Chatterleys need to obtain anheir. Strongly attracted to the crude, muscular man, Constance doesnot resist as he draws her into an intensely physical relationship.Lady Chatterley has never known a passion so brutal and life-affirming asthis. The affair isn't purely physical. She soon realises that sheis deeply in love with Mellors and could not end the relationship now evenif she wanted to. No one could understand, not even her devoted husband,what Constance feels for her lover. She and Mellors belong to completelydifferent worlds, but she has never known a man who has made her feel socomplete and alive.
For all the happiness it brings her, Lady Chatterley knows full well thescandal that will flare up if ever her infidelity were to be discovered.Her reputation, and that of her husband, would be ruined forever. Whilstthe torrid affair remains a secret the lovers are safe - but for how muchlonger? Then comes the day that Constance has been dreading.The gamekeeper's estranged wife shows up unexpectedly and, out of sheer spite,she confronts Sir Clifford with the news of his wife's illicit love affair.Constance's woes are compounded by the discovery that she is pregnant withMellors' child...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by frenchfilms.org and must not be copied.
