DVD
The French lieutenant's woman [videorecording] / director, Karel Reisz ; story, John Fowles ; screenwriter Harold Pinter.
John Fowles' original novel The French Lieutenant's Woman was distinguished by a literary technique that involved telling a story of Victorian sexual and social oppression within the bounds of a 1970s viewpoint. How does one convey this time-frame dichotomy on film? The decision made by director Karel Reisz and Harold Pinter was to frame Fowles' basic plot within a "modern" context of their own making. While we watch as Sarah (Meryl Streep), a 19th-century Englishwoman ruined by an affair with a French lieutenant, enters into another disastrous relationship with principled young Charles (Jeremy Irons), we are constantly made aware that what we're seeing is only a film. This is done by surrounding the story with a modern narrative, focusing on a movie production company which is on location--filming The French Lieutenant's Woman. Meryl Streep doubles in the role of Sara and the American actress who plays her, while Jeremy Irons essays the dual role of Charles and the handsome Briton playing Charles. Likewise, everyone else in the cast is seen as "themselves" and as their French Lieutenant's Woman characters.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781681430331 :
- Physical Description: 2 videodiscs (123 minutes) : sound, colour ; 4 3/4 inches.
- Edition: Special edition.
- Publisher: [United States] : The Criterion Collection, [2015]
- Copyright: ©2015
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Originally released as a motion picture in 1981. Special features: New introduction with actors Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep, editor John Bloom, and composer Carl Davis; Episode of "The South Bank Show" for 1981 featuring director Karel Reisz, novelist John Fowles, and screenwriter Harold Pinter; trailer; Plus an essay by film scholar Lucy Bolton. Title from container. |
| Creation/Production Credits Note: | Music composer, Carl Davis. |
| Participant or Performer Note: | Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Leo McKern. |
| Target Audience Note: | Canadian Home Video Rating: PG. |
| System Details Note: | DVD ; widescreen presentation ; Dolby digital. |
| Terms Governing Use and Reproduction Note: | For private home use only. |
| Language Note: | English audio. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Feature films. Romance films. Triangles (Interpersonal relations) > Fiction. England > Social life and customs > 19th century > Fiction. Lyme Regis (England) > Fiction. |
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Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at Tsuga Consortium.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakeshore Branch | DVD Frenc | 31681002448868 | DVD | Available | - |
- Alert
"An astounding array of talent came together for the big-screen adaptation of John Fowlesâs novel The French Lieutenantâs Woman, a postmodern masterpiece that had been considered unfilmable. With an ingenious script by the Nobel Prizeâwinning playwright Harold Pinter (Betrayal), British New Wave trailblazer Karel Reisz (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning) transforms Fowlesâs tale of scandalous romance into an arresting, hugely entertaining movie about cinema. In Pinterâs reimagining, Jeremy Irons (Dead Ringers) and Meryl Streep (Sophieâs Choice) star in parallel narratives, as a Victorian-era gentleman and the social outcast he risks everything to love, and as the contemporary actors cast in those roles and immersed in their own forbidden affair. The French Lieutenantâs Woman, shot by the consummate cinematographer Freddie Francis (Glory) and scored by the venerated composer and conductor Carl Davis, is a beguiling, intellectually nimble feat of filmmaking, starring a pair of legendary actors in early leading roles." - Baker & Taylor
When film actors Mike and Anna play Charles and Sarah, an engaged young Victorian man and the cast-off mistress of a French lieutenant, they find their own relationship paralleling the roles that they play. - Criterion Distribution
Co-stars of a movie parallel the Victorian lovers they play. Directed by Karel Reisz. From the John Fowles novel.
