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The French Lieutenant's Woman by Karel Reisz
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DVD detailsActor: Charlotte Mitchell, Emily Morgan, Hilton McRae, Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep Director: Karel Reisz Brand: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX HOME ENT Cinematographer: Freddie Francis Editor: John Bloom Producer: Geoffrey Helman Producer: Leon Clore Producer: Tom Maschler Writer: Harold Pinter Writer: John Fowles DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 1.85:1 Running Time: 124 minutes DVD Release Date: 2001-09-04 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of The French Lieutenant's WomanDVD Review: sort of a neo-classic Summary: 4 StarsThis movie mixes two tales: one modern and one antique.
The tale of a branded scarlet woman of the 19th century in parallel with a modern affair of the two married actors. The harder one is in the modern life version than the happy ending of the of the movie
with requited and unrequited love.
This movie is the one that made Meryl Strep's deserved reputation as an actress.
DVD Review: Oldie but a goodie Summary: 4 StarsGood movie but one of Streep's earlier works. She did, in my opinion, better work later in her film career.
DVD Review: Story Within A Story Concept Works Beautifully In This Film Summary: 4 StarsThis 1981 film version of a famous novel by John Fowles from a few years earlier stars Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons at the height of their youthful attractiveness if not their fame. Streep plays the dual roles of Sarah and Anna. Sarah is the title character, a young Victorian woman whose life has seemingly been ruined by her relationship with a Frenchman who abandoned her. Anna is the modern American actress who portrays her and who is involved in an affair with her costar, Mike, despite them both being in other committed relationships. Jeremy Irons plays this actor, Mike, as well as Sarah's love interest in the film Charles. Charles is a paleontologist and wealthy man of leisure who while recently engaged to a silly rich girl develops an obsession for the mysterious, forlorn but lovely Sarah.
The movie was obviously filmed on location in England and is quite beautiful to look at with lush outdoor scenes and ornate Victorian interiors and costumes. The story within a story approach was not used in the novel but the book would be particularly difficult to faithfully film because it has three alternate endings. The problem with the alternate endings is partly and cleverly solved by using the modern days actors' relationship to portray one of the alternatives while Sarah and Charles' story ends in another possible conclusion offered by the novel. The movie should appeal to those who love the Victorian era, romances or Thomas Hardy as the story is quite reminiscent of some of his novels.
DVD Review: TWO FOR ONE Summary: 4 StarsThis movie has been around for a long time now but I just happened to see it the other night. It was on one of those late night movie channels and well worth staying up for. You really got two good stories in one. ( you will have to watch the movie to understand what I mean ) Meryl, was her usual great self so if you enjoy her work and have not yet seen this movie, you should.
DVD Review: A classic Summary: 5 StarsI saw this in the original release -- then I got to go to England, to Lyme Regis, to walk on the Cobb in a misty rain -- and it was magic. And so is this film. If you've read John Fowles' novel, you know what a challenge it was to make the film version. But, thanks to Harold Pinter, and everyone involved with the making of this film, most especially Streep and Irons, it remains a masterpiece!
Description of The French Lieutenant's WomanOscar?(r) winners* Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons star as two separate pairs of lovers in this "jarring, engaging [and] beautifully visualized" film (Leonard Maltin). Embraced by audiences andcritics alikeand garnering five 1981 Academy Award?(r) nominations**, including Best Actress (Streep)The French Lieutenant's Woman will forever remain one of the most literate, imaginative and stunning love stories ever to grace the screen. As Mike and Anna, two film actors involved in a tumultuous affair, and Charles and Sarah, the star-crossed Victorian lovers whomthe actors portray, Streep and Irons are at their compelling best. Just as his character Charles' reputation is ruined by the enigmatic Sarah, Mike finds he cannot accept the intangible affections ofthe wiley Anna. The skillful interweaving of these two love storiesone period, one contemporaryyields a fascinating insight into the passion and mystery that can pull two people together...and just as easily tear them apart. *Streep: Actress, Sophie's Choice (1982); SupportingActress, Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)/Irons: Actor, Reversal of Fortune (1990) **Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction, Costume Design, Film Editing Writer Harold Pinter (Betrayal) and director Karel Reisz (Isadora) take an experimental spin with John Fowles's magnificent novel set in Victorian England, and come up with something puzzling. Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep play the forbidden lovers in Fowles's story, but in a parallel story line they also play contemporary actors performing those characters in a movie production and having an affair of their own during off-hours. Got that? Considering that Fowles himself presents alternative endings in his novel, something equally eccentric is called for here. But little is accomplished by this intertwining of a fictional past and present, and the opportunity to do justice to a great story is lost. On the plus side, Irons and Streep are instantly striking as a natural couple on screen, and their presence makes watching this film easy enough despite the larger problems. --Tom Keogh
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