Category Archives: Social class differences

2022, Based on a Book, Explicit sex, Miners, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Romance, Social class differences, Social Class Inequality, Unhappy Marriage

Lady Chatterley’s Lover (2022)

From Netflix:

Unhappily married aristocrat Lady Chatterley begins a torrid affair
— and falls deeply in love — with the gamekeeper on her husband’s country estate.

From Netflix you can stream this 2 hour 7 minute film adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s (in)famous novel.

In addition to the French 2006 version which we reviewed recently, IMDB lists no less than 4 other versions (which includes this 2022 version).  In a twist of irony Joely Richardson played Lady Chatterley in the 1993 version and now plays the elderly housekeeper Mrs. Bolton in this 2022 version.

Emma Corrin, who plays Lady Chatterley, played the younger Marion in “My Policeman” as well as Princess Diana Spencer in 8 episodes of “The Crown”.

Now I feel compelled to read the original unexpurgated version (99 cents on Kindle) just to see how faithful the screen adaptations were.

Actually the French version was more erotic than this 2022 version directed by the French actress Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre.  Rest assured, however, that both versions offer an abundance of explicit sexual activity.

More than offering mere titillation,  this version continues the tradition of including a social conscience.

2006, Based on a Book, Carpentry, Classic, Conflicted childless couple, Could Be Sad, Drama, Erotic Tension, Ethical struggles, Explicit sex, Extramarital Affair, Film Remake, French, Inevitable Ending, Kanopy streaming, Love Story, Mistreatment of under class, Nudity, Sex Scenes, Social class differences, Social Class Inequality, Unhappy Marriage

Lady Chatterley (2006)

From IMDB:

A French adaptation of the second (and much less well-known) version of D.H. Lawrence’s erotic tale.

From Kanopy:

Kino is now proud to present Lady Chatterley in a new, two-part, Extended European Edition featuring nearly an hour of additional material excluded from the film’s theatrical cut that explores the emotional and sensual borderlands uniting sex, love, and loyalty with even more intelligence, passion, and power than before. Through extra footage never seen in the US, director Pascale Ferran’s “rapturous visual tone poem” (New York Times) becomes both a highly erotic immersion into Lady Chatterley and Parkin’s passion and an equally frank and unsentimentally provocative portrayal of a marriage hobbled by war and ultimately torn apart by hypocrisy.

From KANOPY you can stream 6 hours and 5 minutes of this French adaptation with English subtitles. Actually it is 3 versions of the same film where each runs for 2 hours.  Whatever difference there is between the first and the other two I could not find. Watching just the first 2 hours is more than sufficient.

When was the last time your watched a naked man and naked woman frolic in the rain? When was the last time you watched a naked man and woman in front of a blazing fireplace where he decorates every part of her body with wildflowers?  Clearly this version of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” is the most explicit  and also the most photographically beautiful  version I  have ever seen

2016, Abduction, Abortion, Abuse of Women, Adultery, Art as worthless fakery, Art Gallery, Author, Bullying, Cancer theme, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crude Talk, Cynical, Dark, Depression, Detective, Disrespect toward women, Disturbing Image, Eccentric Detective, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Extremely Violent, Failed Marriage, Failing Marriage, Grim, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Psychopath, Rape, Romance, Ruthless Killer, Serial rapist, Social class differences, Suspense, Tragedy, Unhappy Ending, Upsetting ending, Violent, Vulgar

Nocturnal Animals (2016)

From Netflix:

Reading her ex-husband’s violent novel manuscript destabilizes gallery owner Susan’s life, upending her present while digging up their past.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 56 minute complete film.

WARNING:  Almost certainly you will find this extremely violent film upsetting.  In addition the  opening videos of an especially obese naked woman are  quite revolting.

However, as usual, Jake Gyllenhaal delivers his usual impassioned performance.  Just don’t try and sleep afterwards.

Basically the entire film is a downer:

  • Amy Adams as Susan Morrow has reached the pinnacle of an unhappy life.  Her failing faux-modern art gallery features worthless but expensive junk.   She rejected the real love of her life, Tony Hastings. Her second marriage to Hutton Marrow is a lonely empty shell.
  • Armie Hammer as Hutton Morrow is the handsome, suave, and habitually unfaithful second husband.
  • Laura Linney as Susan’s mother Anne Sutton plays the completely materialistic, domineering Texan society matron.
  • Michael Shannon is the tough, chain-smoking lawman who is dying of metastasized cancer.
  • Jake Gyllenhaal is Susan’s first husband, a writer whom Susan loved but discarded as impractical.
  • Robert Aramayo as Turk.  His portrayal of a violent, psychopathic alpha thug is pitch perfect.

What!!! You still want to see this movie?

 

2022, Abandoned child, Acceptable for teenagers, Alcoholism, Amazon Prime, America of the 1950s, Amusing banter, Based on a Book, Based on true facts, Brother-Sister relations, Coarse manners, Could Be Sad, Crude Talk, Disrespect toward women, DO NOT MISS, Eccentric cast of characters, Failed Father, Father-son relations, Fatherless child, Feel Good Not For Children, Friendship, Happy ending, Husband leaves wife, Local color, Sex Scenes, Social class differences, Uncle-Nephew relations, Vulgar, Wife Beating

The Tender Bar (2022)

From Amazon Prime:

​​From director George Clooney and based on the best-selling memoir, The Tender Bar follows an aspiring writer (Tye Sheridan) pursuing his romantic and professional dreams. From a stool in his uncle’s (Ben Affleck) bar, he learns what it means to grow up from a colorful group of local characters.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this gem of a film which lasts for 1 hour 46 minutes.

Ben Affleck’s resumé has seen its ups and downs, successes and embarrassing flops.  But with this wonderful film he has nailed a really memorable role.  Even one critic who found the film “bland” still conceded that Affleck (as Uncle George) delivered an excellent, terrific performance.

Although that Long Island neighborhood, home of a lot of foul-mouthed but warm-hearted men and women, was rougher than anything I ever experienced, nevertheless I admired their tight friendships.

Expect notable acting from:

  • Tye Sheridan as the young JR.  Naïve, plain looking, and hopelessly attracted to
  • Briana Middleton as Sidney. Did she ever love JR or was she looking for “experience” (as in “sex”)?
  • Quincy Tyler Bernstine as Sidney’s mother, whose sneering, smug, cruel treatment of JR left me boiling.
  • Daniel Ranieri as young JR.
  • Christopher Lloyd as Grandpa. “Don’t tell anybody I’m a good grandfather, everybody will want one.”
  • Lily Rabe as the  Mom whose life is centered on her son JR.
  • Max Martini as JR’s cringe-worthy drunk of a father.

In the IMDB entry for this movie, there is a sizeable user review that is much harder on the film than I have been. Still —

DO NOT MISS!