Lady Chatterley

Wragby Hall, the Chatterley country estate; October 1921. Constance and her husband Clifford settled here a few years ago in the midst of this coal-mining region. Since his return from the War, the former lieutenant is a wheelchair user and impotent. Constance sinks into the monotony of her Victorian-like married life. Only when her sister employs a nurse for Clifford does she begin to explore new avenues. Out walking one day, she meets Oliver Parkin, the estate’s taciturn gamekeeper. Fiercely protective of his seclusion, he is initially suspicious of his mistress. But his raw physical presence soon stirs untold longing in Lady Chatterly that throws Parkin’s whole existence out of kilter.
Concentrating entirely on D. H. Lawrence’s famous protagonist, the first ‘Chatterley’ adaptation to be directed by a woman is a sober yet sensitive study of burgeoning female sexuality blissfully free of shame and class distinctions. As the film progresses, director Pascale Ferran increasingly blurs the inner and outer worlds of two people as they commune across the class divide. A visually impressive work in which nature becomes a vibrant part of this couple’s common emotional terrain.
by Pascale Ferran
with Marina Hands, Jean-Louis Coulloc'h, Hippolyte Girardot, Hélène Alexandridis, Hélène Fillieres, Bernard Verley, Sava Lolov, Jean-Baptiste Montagut, Michel Vincent, Christelles Hes, Joël Vandaele, Jacques de Bock, Ninon Bretecher
France / Belgium 2006 French 158’ Colour

With

  • Marina Hands (Lady Constance Chatterley)
  • Jean-Louis Coulloc'h (Olivier Parkin)
  • Hippolyte Girardot (Sir Clifford Chatterley)
  • Hélène Alexandridis (Mrs. Bolton)
  • Hélène Fillieres (Hilda)
  • Bernard Verley (Constance's Father)
  • Sava Lolov (Tommy Dukes)
  • Jean-Baptiste Montagut (Harry Winterslow)
  • Michel Vincent (Marshall)
  • Christelles Hes (Kate)
  • Joël Vandaele (Field)
  • Jacques de Bock (Doctor)
  • Ninon Bretecher (Emma Flint)

Crew

Director Pascale Ferran
Screenplay Pascale Ferran, Roger Bohbot, Pierre Trividic based on the second draft of ‘Lady Chatterley’s Lover’ by D.H. Lawrence
Cinematography Julien Hirsch
Editing Mathilde Muyard, Yann Dedet
Sound Design Jean-Jacques Ferran
Sound Pascal Chauvin
Sound Mixing Jean-Pierre Laforce
Music Béatrice Thiriet
Production Design François-Renaud Labarthe
Costumes Marie-Claude Altot
Make-Up Danièle Vuarin
Assistant Director Gabrièle Roux
Casting Richard Rousseau, Sarah Teper
Line Producer Olivier Guerbois
Producer Gilles Sandoz
Co-Production Saga Film Brüssel / Brussels
Les Films du Lendemain Paris
Arte France Paris

Produced by

Maïa Films

Pascale Ferran

Born in 1960, she studied at the Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques in Paris and went on to participate in numerous film projects. In 1999, she directed the French-language dubbed version of Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. Her film Bird People screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.

Filmography (selection)

1994 Petits arrangements avec les morts (Coming to Terms with the Dead) 1996 L'âge des possibles (The Age of Possibilities) 2000 Sam Rivers/Tony Hymas - Quatre jours à Ocoee (Sam Rivers/Tony Hymas - Four Days in Ocoee); documentary 2006 Lady Chatterley; Panorama 2014 Bird People

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2019