Priest of Love

Looks at the later part of DH Lawrence's life with his beloved wife Frieda and their frequent movement from one country to another against a background of controversy and book banning / burning back in his native country.

The lead performances are believable and interesting and the second half is more accessible and enlightening than the first as you get closer to the couple's lives and Lawrence's vigorous self belief. The first half though is played out too fast, moving very quickly across the globe with the man having hissy fits with little explanation. Nice support from Penelope Keith.

Probably needs watching more than once.

Priest Of Love (1981) -

I might have remembered that Mr. Lawrence had written 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' had I been pressed for an answer at a quiz, but other than that I knew very little about him at all and might even have assumed that D. H. might have stood for Dorothy Helen without looking it up, so ultimately it was interesting to learn more about the literary great.

And while the story wasn't particularly rife with extraordinary events happening throughout, the authors life and character were still intriguing, especially to me, as a rookie novelist.

Lawrence was obviously an intelligent man and creative, but with a flair for a reverse extravagance, in the way that he shunned things and money, but still enjoyed the life that they brought. He appeared to be of a mind like my own, in respect to how literature should be a real representation of life and that sex is a part of that to be acknowledged and enjoyed.

In that lead role Ian McKellen was as superb as ever and he played it with great personality. Whether he was accurately depicting the real Lawrence or not, I could not say, because I knew so little about him, but the performance certainly sparked an interest in reading his complete works and perhaps even a biography of the man.

There were a lot of homosexual suggestions regarding Lawrence's connections with other men, but nothing definitively depicted. If he did have dalliances with men, for the sake of accuracy and for my own enjoyment, I would have liked to have seen it represented. As a gay man, it is nice to have my lifestyle acknowledged in cinema and to see that some of the greatest minds have felt the same way too. It builds on my own aspirations.

And I would have liked to have seen a lot more of Jorge Rivero (Tony Luhan) and Massimo Ranieri (Piero Pini), if you know what I mean.

The other actors all seemed to deliver their roles well too, perhaps with the exception of Penelope Keith, who although she was fine, in her part of The Honourable Dorothy Brett, it was a bit like Margot Leadbetter* had given up Surbiton and finally understood the appeal of Tom and Barbara's more adventurous nature, but she was still essentially the same character. We all knew that her and Gerry were swingers anyway. All those bowls in her house to swap keys in.

I've digressed.

Although the story didn't move anywhere specific in particular, it was still a pleasure to watch. I was initially a bit worried that the film wouldn't live up to my expectations, because I really do enjoy a good biopic provided the person is worthy, but Mr. McKellen certainly brought life to this one.

719.59/1000.

*'The Good Life' (1975-8).

My review was written in August 1981 after a screening (of the original version) in Times Square: Christopher Miles's "Priest of Love" is an impressively mounted and acted biopic dealing with the latter years in the life of author D. H. Lawrence. Reunited with screenwriter Alan Plater who wrote his filmization of Lawrence's "The Virgin and the Gypsy", Miles takes a somewhat removed and cool look at his subject, with emphasis on accuracy over emotional involvement making the pic a tough sell beyond its natural art house market.

Picture opens in 1924 with Lawrence (Ian McKellen), wife Frieda (Janet Suzman) and their friend Dorothy Brett (Penelope Keith) en route to Taos, New Mexico, for a self-imposed exile at the house of art patroness Mabel Doge Luhan (Ava Gardner). Back in Britain his books have been banned by the censor, Herbert Muskett (an effectively stern cameo by John Gielgud).

In a typical scene, Lawrence becomes irrational at a party and out of control, slaps Frieda around violently and breaks all the dishes, causing a speedy departure from Taos. Also characteristic is couple's unsympathetic decision to send Dorothy away. Amongst flashbacks detailing economically Lawrence's youth in Cornwall, Miles emphasizes the duo's sojourn in Italy at a villa in Florence provided by a new patron, Angelo Ravagli (Maurizio Merli). Lawrence writes "Lady Chatterley's Lover" there, with impressive care for detail in footage shot at the same Italian printing press where the book was first printed.

Key scenes involve the fearless duo pushing relentlessly for the truth in a sexual manifesto in literature (establishing Frieda as D. H.'s literary collaborator) and tasteful scenes indicating his bisexuality (with a youth nude bathing at an Italian seashore), plus relentless selfishness in inviting Dorothy to bed and then spurning her suddenly.

Dominated by pastoral landscape photography, pic lacks a dramatic edge, with D. H.'s battle from afar with the censor and his impending death by tuberculosis carrying little impact. Coda has Rapagli replacing the deceased Lawrence in Frieda's life and a happy ending for the life-loving survivors, whose joyous celebrations comically extend to absent-mindedly leaving Lawrence's coffin behind at the train station.

Director Miles and actor McKellen create a Lawrence who engages one's intellectual sympathy and is an arresting multi-dimensional figure (even given to an hilarious Gielgud impersonation mocking the censor), but whose selfishness and physical manhandling of Frieda clearly cut off a viewer's emotional support for the character. Too infrequently seen in films, McKellen gives a bravura performance, all the more remarkable for its avoidance of easy empathy. Veteran of a one-woman show on stage as Frieda, Janet Suzman is given her head by Miles and turns in a flamboyant, explosive turn which prevents the film from being dominated by McKellen.

Supporting cast is well-chosen with Ava Gardner looking great and utterly convincing in her best role in years as duo's free-spirited American connection. British comedienne Penelope Keith is the spitting image of her real-life counterpart, but Miles has not curbed her natural comic bent in what should be a straight role. Amongst minor players, Mexican matinee idol Jorge Rivero is well-used as Gardner's sexy young husband, while Italian singer/heartthrob Massimo Ranieri is similarly appropriate as a virile young stud.

Working with stunning locations, Miles and lighting cameraman Ted Moore produce a series of spectacular deep-focus compositions, and wisely present the flashback material in sharp, luminous visuals rather than the cliche of soft-focus. Although Miles adopts a stately pace, he and editor Paul Davies use quick cutaways at the emotional highpoints of scenes, a device which acts to distance the audience from the characters. Joseph James' romantic musical score is good.

I must say, this poignant drama about one of the greatest authors/poets, filled with wonderful, top shelf actors rmade my movie night. POL is an engaging if engrossing drama, which recounts the banning of DH Lawrence's books, and paintings, which at the time, went against what was acceptable, where Lawrence's work was sort of pushing, pornographic boundaries, which today, would be seen in a much more normal light. It's opening sees the grand trashing of one of his awesome sellers, by authority. DH Lawrence was the guy responsible for the notorious and raunchy Lady Chatterly's lover, which Lawrence based on his older wife, who on impulse, just took off with him, leaving her three children and hubby. The story is a little bit patchy, but really, it's the awesome actors which take away from that, and the story is an interesting journey of a liternary geniius. There are some wonderfully shot locations, villa's where Lawrence spent time, while his cancerous health deteriorated, where on occassions he was coughing up phlegm and blood, one scene, quite alertiing. You can't go wrong when you have actors of McKellen's, Suzman's, Gardener's, Keith's stature. Their all A1, there's actually no real competition, as they're just all perfect here, as is the less shown Gielgud, a police seargeant, who banished and seized Lawrence's works, where one gets the impression, there's a more personal attack, grudge. I actually found it hard to believe Gielgud's character's earlier profession, as he seemed much different. Keith, who once was the ambassador for the Continental soup ads in the 80's, as was the great Robert Morley, is just a delight as a sort of, floozie tag along wirth DH Lawrence and wifie. Her character was probably my favorite, in some ways, sad, and pitiful. I really liked this close trio, living for today, not tomorrow. Lawrence had some pretty violent moodswings, his anger exploding out of nowhere, where mostly, it was physically transferred on older wifie, Suzman. Some scenes, which you can see in the prieview, use that special atmospheric which truly gives meaning to the scenes. Trivia note- another of Lawrence's trashed books, Kangaroo, which we see as another hit for the author here, became an Aussie film, with Colin Friels, but sadly cinema wise, made more of a thud. Great period piece film for 1981, I suggest, you see POL. It might just entice you.

First things first: I lived and worked in Eastwood, (D H Lawrence's home town) for ten years. I still pass through the area regularly as my wife's family live there. I always found it interesting that D H Lawrences best work is located in that mining (now ex-mining of course) area between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. This film concentrates on D H Lawrence's life after he left the area.

The film is just a bog standard biopic done from the write by numbers playbook. It hardly ever come close to the real D H Lawrence. The facts and events are there, all the wandering around the world etc, but you only have to read Lawrence's collected letters to know that the picture given here is rather superficial It isn't helped by some amateur dramatics style acting, particularly from a way below par Ian McKellen and Janet Suzman. A pet hate of mine is the lazy generic Northern accent adopted by most actors doing D H Lawrence. Ian McKellen made him sound as though he was brought up in Yorkshire rather than Notts. Admittedly the Nottingham/Derbyshire accent is hard to do. Robert Lindsey does it well, but then he comes from Ilkeston.

The other thing missing in this film is a sense of D H Lawrence's wit and humour, which can be seen very well in his letters, short stories and some of his poems. I also didn't like the way the script writer (Alan Plater in his soap writing mood) somewhat lazily bought into the feminist critique of the 1980s. D H Lawrence, who wrote very sensitively on women's issues, is made to seem as though he was a male chauvinist. Again, a more careful reading of his works would have shown this to be untrue.

So, overall, a pleasant enough journey round the world with some nice scenery and some good support actors. As another reviewer has pointed out, a bit like a dramatisation of an encyclopedia entry.