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The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970)
Elements, Earth, Fire and Water.
This year June 2020 marks the 50th Anniversary of the release of the film 'The Virgin and the Gypsy' based on a novelette written by D.H.Lawrence. It launched the career of two young men, Christopher Miles aged 29yrs Director, and Alan Plater aged 33yrs, Scriptwriter and Playwright.
The film which stars Franco Nero as the Gypsy, and Joanna Skimkus as the Virgin, won enormous critical acclaim both here in England where it ran for 18 months in the West End and in America where it broke the box office records and was voted best film on both sides of the Atlantic.
The drama critically stands the test of time. It portrays two young sisters who return home to the family rectory from a French finishing school. Yvette the young 'virgin', rebels unlike her sister Lucille against the family and her father, the divorced rector played by Maurice Denham. Her sexual desires are supressed by the moralistic religious society of the 1920's she is raised in, and desperately wants romance in her life. She has erotic daydreams when she meets the local filandering gypsy, a free spirit with blue smouldering passionate eyes.
Christopher Miles direction is methodic and sensitive, and visually full of poetry, set in the tranquil idyllic landscape of Derbyshire in the village of Youlgrave. Yvette's passions are finally released in a flood of emotion, when the elements fire, earth and water come together as she is rescued by the gypsy in the dramatic conclusion of the film.
Both Alan Plater and Christopher Miles collaborated together 11 years later in 1981 on another of D.H.Lawrence novel, 'Priest of Love', starring Ian McKellen as the author, and Janet Suzman, his German wife.
Honor Blackman who plays Mrs Fawcett so wittily in the film, died this year 5thApril 2020.
Richard Cole, Author and Artist.
Priest of Love (1981)
A CREATIVE MASTERPEICE
Film directors, as we are fully aware are always anxious to make their own 'Director's Cut'.
They are frequently unhappy with the final production of their films which is often due to financial restrictions, production problems, disagreements, possible censorship, and ending up with large amounts of film on the cutting room floor.
Director Christopher Miles is no exception, but instead of wanting all of his treasured film re-instated, he has re-edited his original 1981 film production of 'Priest of Love', added a few extra scenes and made it shorter by 26 minutes.
His 1985 Director's cut is a creative masterpiece and it tells the story of D H Lawrence's final years and his relationship with his German wife Frieda as they travel from England to Mexico and across Europe to Italy and France. His health during the journey was gradually worsening and culminated finally in his death, but he continued to write with vigour and humour.
There are some fine performances from the star studded cast and a well crafted script by Alan Plater. Ian McKellan plays D H Lawrence, with Janet Suzman as Frieda his wife. Ava Gardner, Penelope Keith and Sir John Gielgud are the supporting cast.
I saw the 'Director's Centenary Cut' of the film on a large screen at the Purbeck Film Festival in 20th October 2019. The film delights in showing the original locations Lawrence and Frieda visited and lived in, but what has interested me as an artist and author, is that Lawrence took up painting in order to express visually what he was writing about.
We were priviledged during the showing of the film to have the Director and the leading actor Janet Suzman present. Christopher Miles read out an extract from the 'Los Angeles Times' written by a man who knew Frieda Lawrence. He complimented Janet Suzman and said how true to life her performance of Frieda was in the film.
Although we see some of Lawrence's friends portrayed, the film concentrates rightly in my opinion on their own relationship, and what it meant to his writing. There is a very telling scene where Lawrence asks Frieda to tell him all she knows about making love. She replied, "I shall need a bigger book!"
Richard Cole.