WOMEN IN LOVE (1969)

Nature in widescreen

Brooding even with a rabbit.

Foreground, midground and background. Fine composition.

Title: Women in Love
Year: 1969
Director: Ken Russell
Format: Blu-ray
Label: BFI

Notes: Not a totally-new-film type of revelation on Blu-ray as the film is so obviously visually magnificent even when seen on the old letterboxed non-anamorphic DVD. But now the film looks as spectacular as you could imagine, short of a pristine 35mm screening in a cinema.

And what a film. Wonderful photography, great sets and locations and memorable performance from the 4 leads, plus the absurdly over-the-top Eleanor Bron. Ken Russell's direction seems a little restrained here - it's nothing like the manic wildness of THE DEVILS.

A minor criticism might be that you won't really care about the characters. The men are not likeable (nor the women really, but that's justified) so when the tables turn dramatically on Gerald it's hard to be too sympathetic. Also, some of the mystical romanticism may seem a bit silly but I suspect it's an accurate depiction of the mood of the novel and the times.

Limiting myself to just 3 frames for this blog seems absurd for such a visually rich film but it did help focus the mind. Next time I'll probably pick 3 completely different scenes...