Review: Netflix’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover starring Emma Corrin

Wragby, a dreamy town in England, with all its picturesque meadows and salt of the earth living countrymen.  It has the ancient family state of the Chatterley family, it is brimmed with soft fogs even on sunny afternoons, and greenery is enough to make a city dweller go insane and inspire to live in the moment.

England, without a doubt has enchanted numerous literature figures with its picturesque landscape and esoteric lifestyles.

But this isn’t a blog about England, or the English people, or even the town of Wragby. It is about Mrs. Constance Chatterley and her unprecedented escapades at Wragby

Directed by Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Lady Chatterley’s Lover is an adult explicit romantic-drama movie based on a far more explicit novel of the same name by a well-known classic author D.H Lawrence.

But before I talk about the film, let me say something about the novel which by the way, was the last one of D.H Lawrence’s life. It was published in Italy, in the year 1928, and then the very next year in France.

After decades, the novel was polished in the United Kingdom followed by trials and vilification. It still however managed to sell 3 million copies back then.

Despite its commercial success, the novel was banned in multiple countries including the United States and Australia for featuring obscenity.

Fast forward to the last breathing days of 2022, we have a full fledge movie that came alive from the very work.

Constant Reid is married to Sir Clifford Chatterley in London. She is happy and effusing about how her future life will going to be with as Mrs. Chatterley. She says that Clifford is the man she has been longing. She is confident of her new husband and says that she feels safe with him.

Sir Clifford Chatterley, a fine decent man is destined for greatness. He is a man of dreams and a man of family. Clifford desires a life with children and progress for a country, that is why he has also become a soldier and is all set to go out on war for England.

But things are not always sunshine and rainbows for the couple. Sir Clifford returns from the war with his paralyzed pair of legs and an inability to produce an heir. The couple moves from London to their grand family state at Wragby, a small English town surrounded by mines.

The movie is a fresh adaptation in which the screenplay was crafted by David Magee. The character of Constance Reid has been played by Emma Corrin. Her style evokes manners and versatility of the actual novel character.

What seems to surprise me is the ability of Emma of flawlessly adapting different shared of Constance. From the Constance of London adorned by her social gatherings and high life to the Constance of little Wragby with her decency and the evident element of patience.

Emma further transforms herself into a wild and free Constance, free from her clothes and finally in the hands of her lover.

Sir Clifford (Matthew Duckett) is a character that has grown sterner after the war and has been portrayed in all the fecundity of Mattew.

Back in Wragby, Constance grows weary of taking care of her cripple husband. Life has chiseled away all the joy and the spirit of a young lover , But Constance endures this new lifestyle. Things take a twist when she comes across her husband’s new gatekeeper: Oliver Mellors (played by Jack O’ Connell)

The movie personifies the imprisonment of Constance, from a life of a happy healthy marriage, into the beautiful but there deserted seeming silence in the town of Wragby , accompanied by a partner who’s ability has become seriously limited.

And while Cliffor Chatterley revitalizes his energy by showing an enthusiasm in writing literature, Constance seemed more drained and hollower until coming across Oliver.

A man from the army just like Constance husband Clifford, Oliver retuned home with an intact body but a with a news which broke her heart.

His wife had ran away with a stranger while he was fighting at war. Ever since that tragedy struck, Oliver has been a hollow man, deprived of the love which he deserved, the care and the warmth of a partner.

When Oliver meets Constance, things get to stir up. They start finding solace in each other’s company, warmth in each other’s arms, and motivation in each other eyes.

The movie swifty takes a turn from a dull starting to a rejuvenating stage where every emotion regarding love and romance seems to rekindle for Constance and Oliver.

Oliver is a powerful character, although the character lacks manners of making an entrance, it does so with compelling power. Those who haven’t read the novel and are experiencing the movie will notice the compelling characteristic pressured ipon Oliver when he appears.

I believe his entrance should have been with more grace and at a steady pace. The screenwriter should have taken its time to build the momentum, instead we see a chemistry formed too soon between Lady Chatterley and Oliver.

But the thing it, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, in movie form, is tilted towards a bit drabness and boredom.

It takes time to become interesting. The viewers should cut the movie some slack before judging right from the start.

The movie differs greatly from the actual novel. To those who haven’t read the novel, it is another run of the mill secret affair movie, one of the two genres that Netflix is often fond of publishing (the other being mystery and thriller).

Creating a movie out of classic literature is always a risk. But it’s a daunting attempt to challenge the ordinary. Lady Chatterley’s Lover is a commendable attempt if not perfect so. I would still recommend watching it and explore a forgotten era in an appealing English town.