Score another victory for Netflix in its ongoing battles with Hulu, Apple+, Prime Video, Peacock, HBO Max, Disney+, etc. The original streaming movie streaming service has seen many peaks (and a few valleys) since it moved from its strictly digital base platform in 2007. Fifteen years later, with fierce competition, including the likes of Amazon and Apple, two of the most influential companies in the history of the world, the 1997 start-up company continues to be the clubhouse leader with both its quantity and quality of original content. Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre follows up The Mustang, her breakthrough directorial effort, with Lady Chatterley’s Lover, a heartwrenching retelling of the classic D.H. Lawrence novel.
With a wholly universal plot that is far from original, de Clermont-Tonnerre presents her story with such passion and fever that it feels timely and timeless at the same time. So much of this is accomplished through her bold, unrestrained approach that allows us to feel part of the passionate, fervent love affair between lead characters, Connie (Emma Corrin – My Policeman, Misbehaviour) and Oliver (Jack O’Connell – Jungleland, Unbroken). While we’ve all experienced much art about infidelity (through music, books, cinema, theater, television, and more), Lady Chatterley’s Lover leaves us exhausted because of the steamy chemistry between Corrin and O’Connell. Their passion felt believable, and while much of this was purely sexual, much more was involved.
Our story begins with Clifford Chatterley (Matthew Duckett) returning home from World War I, paralyzed from the waist down and needing around-the-clock care. Such a life-changing event would be challenging for anyone. For Clifford and Connie, it is the first experience of being a married couple after a courtship, marriage, and honeymoon were expedited so the new husband could quickly return to war. Many of the hopes and dreams that the couple had imagined, individually and together, are dashed, as Clifford shares with his wife that his paralyzation includes his reproductive organs. In an instant, Connie’s hopes of starting her gone. In a fraction of a second, a future of sexual fulfillment is lost. Both know that Connie will become more of a caretaker than a lover, which becomes even more exasperated as his lack of emotional affection matches his lack of physical connection.
One conversation, in particular, serves as a wedge between Clifford and Connie’s relationship. Wanting an heir, Clifford encourages his wife to find a partner to have sexual relations with so that she can become pregnant. His only requirement is for Connie to do this with the right kind of man. But, unbeknownst to Clifford, Connie had already been engaging in an affair with Oliver, a war veteran turned gamekeeper for Clifford’s estate, one that quickly turned into ardent love that led to Connie’s sexual and intellectual awakening rather than the transactional relationship that Clifford had expected.
As the passion between Connie and Oliver intensifies, it consumes everything that tries to block its way. Whether Clifford is upset because he doesn’t believe a gamekeeper to be in his social class, because he first heard of the relationship as the townsfolk did, or because the spark that ignited Connie and Oliver’s relationship is something that he will never experience, it is apparent that Clifford believes his self-entitlement takes precedence over anything that matters to Connie.
Though privately published in 1928, “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” was banned in the United States until 1959. The novel has long been banned in many parts of the world, including the UK, Canada, Australia, India, and Japan. While Lawrence’s words may seem far more innocent when read in 2022, at the time of its publication, even the thought of an upper-class woman having a scandalous affair, one in which she was able to achieve sexual pleasure, with someone of Oliver’s low social status was too taboo even to consider putting pen to paper.
de Clermont-Tonnerre Lady Chatterley’s Lover is a fascinating three-character study. Corrin, O’Connell, and Duckett successfully bring out the best and worst in each other’s characters. The film is a rousing watch that will leave you spent as it stirs towards its ‘will they’ or ‘won’t they’ conclusion. Enjoy the most intimate film of 2022.
Plot 8/10
Character Development 7.5/10
Character Chemistry 9.5/10
Acting 9/10
Screenplay 9/10
Directing 9/10
Cinematography 9/10
Sound 9/10
Hook and Reel 8.5/10
Universal Relevance 10/10
88.5%
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