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Actors: Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep, Hilton McRae, Lynsey Baxter, Leo McKern
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The French Lieutenant's Woman |
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John Fowles's bestselling 1969 novel, seemingly too rich and complex to be filmed, was brought to the screen in 1981 by eminent British playwright Harold Pinter and Czech director Karel Reisz. Pinter chose a parallel plot device to approximate the novel's self-consciousness: We see the story of two Victoria era lovers, and alongside it, the modern-day actors who are filming a movie about them. In the 19th-century, young gentleman Charles Smithson is engaged to marry pleasant but somewhat shallow Ernestina, but he becomes fascinated with "fallen woman" Sarah Woodruff. She runs away from him after their brief but passionate affair, which destroys his previous plans. Mike and Anna, the contemporary actors, are married to other people but have an affair during the film project. The story is perhaps too multilayered and cerebral to please the average American moviegoer, but the actors work hard (this was Americans' first good look at Irons), and the location settings -- especially lovely Lyme Regis in Dorset, where Fowles set the story and has lived most of his professional life -- are gorgeous.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The French Lieutenant's Woman |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about
books by breaking them down into many different literary
elements, all of which are searchable (click here). |
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 19th century
Romance/Love/Hugging
Yes
Kind of romance:
- inconveniently married while playing footsy
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- simply wealthy
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard straight
Body type
- (man) average
Unclothed?
- Chest
Events of movie makes character more...
- sad
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- red
Hair style
- (woman) long wavey
Body type
- (woman) average
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 40's-50's
Eccentric:
Yes
- eccentric
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 40%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- British
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Setting
Europe
Yes
European country:
- England/UK
Forest?
Yes
Small town?
Yes
Small town people:
- nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- thoughtful
Sex/nudity in movie?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- actual description of sex
Non-American film?
Yes
What language?
- English
Subtitles?
- No
Any profanity?
- None
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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