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From Amazon.co.uk
A respectable and picturesque realisation of DH Lawrence's novel, 1989's The Rainbow is director Ken Russell's prequel to his 1969 version of Women in Love. By Russell's standards, this is a remarkably restrained treatment of Lawrence's novel, set in the Midlands in the 19th century: with its lush, rural setting and quaint bucolic soundtrack there are moments when you might imagine you're watching The Railway Children--until the sex scenes kick in, that is.
Her soul infused with infinite longing by the sight of a rainbow as a child, Ursula Brangwen grows up restless at the prescribed roles set out for women in Victorian England, which are stoically endured by her mother (Glenda Jackson, who played Ursula's sister Gudrun in Women in Love). She idealises her swimming instructor--the older, more experienced Winifred (Amanda Donohoe) with whom she enjoys a passionate, borderline lesbian relationship. She becomes a schoolteacher against her parents' wishes, and takes up with Paul McGann, who is somewhat tepid as a Boer War officer. Ultimately, however, she finds all of these limitations too constraining and finally strikes out on her own in search of true spiritual and sexual freedom.
On the DVD: This is a full-screen version of the film, ratio 4:3. The sound quality is fine as is the colour and sharpness, though like the film itself, not quite as ravishing as you might hope. Special features consist of a routine trailer ("She played by her passion, not by their rules") and disappointingly perfunctory "filmographies" of the director and cast: merely lists of their previous movies. --David Stubbs
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Filmographies, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: Director Ken Russell returns to the D.H. Lawrence territory that had earlier served him well in Women in Love. Sammi Davis plays Lawrence's Welsh heroine Ursula Brangwen, daughter of a wealthy mine owner, who is first seen as a child given to literally chasing rainbows. Disappointed that she can never have the real thing, the older Davis seeks out figurative rainbows in the form of sexual fulfillment. Neither heterosexual nor homosexual affairs fully satisfy Davis, because no one lover can match the 'ideal' the girl has created in her imagination. Davis' disappointment in the world is paralleled with the sorry lot of the wives of the local coal miners, who have adapted to their lives--something Davis can never do, will never do. Stately despite its raw subject matter, The Rainbow was filmed just before Russell's outrageous sword-and-sorcery fantasy Lair of the White Worm; since both films utilize many of the same cast members, the two pictures might make an astonishing double feature.
SCREENED/AWARDED AT: Moscow International Film Festival, ...The Rainbow
SCREENED/AWARDED AT: Moscow International Film Festival, ...The Rainbow
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 30 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:VHS Tape|Amazon Verified Purchase
I watched this video through with my mother and both she and I greatly enjoyed this film in fact she asked to see it again and again. Many nude scenes and but very enjoyable, if you like performing art then this is the film for you. It is a beautiful film that keeps one glued to the TV. A must for anyone interested, this is a British cinamas finest.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By P. Smith
Format:DVD
Ken Russell's effort does not come close to the wonderful BBC version filmed the year before this version. The only copy to buy is on this DVD, where the Rainbow has second billing for some reason (see the purple box inset on the cover) Widowing of Mrs Holroyd [DVD] [2008] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]. That one is the full three episode series, each an hour long.
17 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
The Rainbow is a really great story of a young girl called Ursula who has a brief affair first with her school teacher and then a passionate affair with anton, a young soldier, who she becomes engaged to.
Ursula finds that the prospect of being married to anton to restricting and she sets out on her own to experience life.
Paul Mcgann is great in this movie, some of his best work, he's perfect as the handsome young soldier.
This movie is definetly worth a watch.
Ursula finds that the prospect of being married to anton to restricting and she sets out on her own to experience life.
Paul Mcgann is great in this movie, some of his best work, he's perfect as the handsome young soldier.
This movie is definetly worth a watch.
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3.7 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
the rainbow
it will amuse you for a while but a bit dated now but worth a watch as the acting is good
Published 2 months ago by jimmy
5.0 out of 5 stars
splendid
This DVD gives a good feel for the period in which it is set, including very exotic and fashionable stiff collars on the female actors.
Published 12 months ago by D. Jefferies
3.0 out of 5 stars
Typical Russell movie
The characters philosophize and muse about love, war, religion, marriage, etc. but there is no clear line here. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Lord Anon
3.0 out of 5 stars
Indifferent but still worth a peek
After a passionate affair with her free thinking bi-sexual schoolteacher (Amanda Donohoe), a young girl (Sammi Davis) in the Midlands of Victorian England becomes dissatisfied with... Read more
Published on 13 May 2011 by The CinemaScope Cat
4.0 out of 5 stars
Russell's return to D.H. Lawrence is a bouncy little tale
Twenty years on from Women In Love [DVD] [1969] and Ken Russell provided a sequel, The Rainbow, starring Paul McGann (Withnail & I), Amanda Donohoe (Castaway, etc), David Hemmings... Read more
Published on 13 April 2011 by Philoctetes
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