- Actors: Sammi Davis, Amanda Donohoe, Paul McGann, Christopher Gable, David Hemmings
- Directors: Ken Russell
- Writers: Ken Russell, D.H. Lawrence, Vivian Russell
- Producers: Ken Russell, Dan Ireland, Jeremy Bolt, Ronaldo Vasconcellos
- Format: PAL
- Language English
- Classification: 15
- Studio: Universal
- VHS Release Date: 1 July 2002
- Run Time: 113 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000069JC0
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 16,166 in Video (See Top 100 in Video)
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
Product details |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
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
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 25 people found the following review helpful
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.
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
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.
14 of 19 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.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Typical Russell movie
The characters philosophize and muse about love, war, religion, marriage, etc. but there is no clear line here. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Lord Anon
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 12 months ago by The CinemaScope Cat
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 13 months ago by Philoctetes
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
