This prequel to D.H. Lawrence's "Women in Love" may result in more questions than answers for viewers of the film not familiar with that 1969 British film (also directed by Ken Russell, and giving Glenda Jackson her first Oscar) which focused on two sisters (Jackson and Jennie Linden) exploring the world through their own desires and rules. Gudrun and Ursula Brangwen (Glenda McKay and Sammi Davis) are passionate young ladies making their way in a man's world, one (Davis) chosing to be a spinster schoolteacher and the other settling into a more normal life. Jackson, who played Gudrun in "Women in Love", plays the wise, often witty mother, but the character she played there is not really significant here. Ursula has a passionate affair with Amanda Donohoe's gym instructor, and it is obvious from the time they meet that is where Lawrence and Russell are heading in the narrative of the story.
While interesting as a character study of Davis's character, it really is more about a series of events in her life, how she stands up to the men who try to exploit her (a rather perverse artist and her supervisor at the school), and how her affairs shape her life. Jim Carter of "Downton Abbey" fame (butler "Carson") is the very rigid school supervisor who barks that him and his cane rule the school, that is until Davis must use her own on a trouble making student. That scene is quite disturbing as Davis swats the pre-teenage boy over and over until she breaks the cane and gets the attention of the entire school. What is amusing is how she basically laughs at all the men around her with their intent to get her into bed, and the passion that she does show when the more desirable men do manage to seduce her.
Jackson's presence here merely is notable as a tie between the two books films, and while she is commanding as always, she really doesn't have much to do other than offer comfort or come out with a witty line here and there, showing that there's a Lady Violet ("Downton Abbey's" caustic matriarch) in the making. Perhaps the length of time between the very art house "Women in Love" and the film version of "The Rainbow" (written five years before Lawrence published "Women in Love") lessened the interest in this prequel which had some attention in big cities but came and went so fast. The art house focused video store I worked at when this was released had four copies on the shelf which basically sat there collecting dust after initial interest had passed.
As this came out during the rise of Merchant Ivory, audiences were probably perplexed by the excessive sexuality and nudity, only very subtle in "A Room With a View" and the gay themed "Maurice". There is also much more symbolism here, not surprising considering Ken Russell's involvement as the director. It is certainly watchable, with the sets and costumes and outdoor garden like scenery transitioning the viewer to the English countryside, accompanied by a musical score that is perhaps the most memorable element of the film. It will be interesting to watch "Women in Love" after this as opposed to before it considering the timeline in which both novels and films take place.
While interesting as a character study of Davis's character, it really is more about a series of events in her life, how she stands up to the men who try to exploit her (a rather perverse artist and her supervisor at the school), and how her affairs shape her life. Jim Carter of "Downton Abbey" fame (butler "Carson") is the very rigid school supervisor who barks that him and his cane rule the school, that is until Davis must use her own on a trouble making student. That scene is quite disturbing as Davis swats the pre-teenage boy over and over until she breaks the cane and gets the attention of the entire school. What is amusing is how she basically laughs at all the men around her with their intent to get her into bed, and the passion that she does show when the more desirable men do manage to seduce her.
Jackson's presence here merely is notable as a tie between the two books films, and while she is commanding as always, she really doesn't have much to do other than offer comfort or come out with a witty line here and there, showing that there's a Lady Violet ("Downton Abbey's" caustic matriarch) in the making. Perhaps the length of time between the very art house "Women in Love" and the film version of "The Rainbow" (written five years before Lawrence published "Women in Love") lessened the interest in this prequel which had some attention in big cities but came and went so fast. The art house focused video store I worked at when this was released had four copies on the shelf which basically sat there collecting dust after initial interest had passed.
As this came out during the rise of Merchant Ivory, audiences were probably perplexed by the excessive sexuality and nudity, only very subtle in "A Room With a View" and the gay themed "Maurice". There is also much more symbolism here, not surprising considering Ken Russell's involvement as the director. It is certainly watchable, with the sets and costumes and outdoor garden like scenery transitioning the viewer to the English countryside, accompanied by a musical score that is perhaps the most memorable element of the film. It will be interesting to watch "Women in Love" after this as opposed to before it considering the timeline in which both novels and films take place.