Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Women in Love Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 4, 2018

Winner of Oscar Award for Best Actress, Ken Russell's "Women in Love" (1969) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the British Film Instutue. The supplemental features on the disc include an original vintage trailer for the film; two archival audio commentaries with the director and screenwriter and producer Larry Kramer; recorded archival audio conversation with actress Glenda Jackson; and more. The release also arrives with a 26-page illustrated booklet with new writings on the film, as well as technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The sisters

Ken Russell’s cinematic interpretation of D.H. Lawrence’s popular novel is one big and lavish masterclass in human psychology staged during the early 1920s. Its main points are formulated while following the actions of two young women and two slightly older men with contrasting understandings of what love is supposed to represent and how it should be consumed.

The four are first seen together at a wedding ceremony at the home of Thomas Crich (Alan Webb), a very wealthy mine owner who for decades has employed the majority of the healthy men in the provincial town of Beldover. Here the sisters Gudrun (Glenda Jackson) and Ursula (Jennie Linden) pick the old man’s son, Gerald (Oliver Reed), and his childhood friend, Rupert (Alan Bates), as the perfect men that they would want to start a family and spend the rest of the their lives with. (The many reasons behind their picks are then systematically identified throughout the film). Eventually, after a tragic event the couples are formed -- Gudrun begins an affair with Gerald while Ursula ends up with Rupert. After the initial euphoria that their romantic encounters produce, however, the four gradually become frustrated with their relationships and begin to question their perceptions of true love. While on a honeymoon in Switzerland, Gudrun even experiments with a frivolous bisexual sculptor (Vladek Sheybal) and in the process completely destroys Gerald’s faith in love.

The brilliance of this film stems from Russell’s ability to present four contrasting points of view that over its course become impossible to discard. So what emerges of the struggles between the two couples is actually yet another validation of the old truth that above all else love is essentially a series of compromises that protect and straighten the deep feelings two people have for each other.

Something else worth highlighting is that the order in which various events are presented in the film is largely unimportant. The manner in which the main protagonists react in specific situations where their core beliefs are tested and they have to defend them is of far greater significance because it allows Russell to successfully discredit them whenever they define love in terms that align only with their personal views. So the episodic narrative is actually the center piece of a very delicate game of subversion in which right and wrong and strong and weak are constantly interchanged by Russell to reveal the flaws of various conventional stereotypes about the ways in which people discover love and allow it to define how they live their lives.

The film is full of memorable segments. Early on, for instance, Bates uses a ripe fig to deliver a strikingly cynical comparison that even the biggest prudes would have an awfully difficult time dismissing as inaccurate and idiotic. Then there is also that iconic segment in which Reed and Bates engage in a very intense fight, completely naked, to prove a point.

Russell’s decision to work with cinematographer Billy Williams (Gandhi) was undoubtedly the right one because the film’s period appearance is spectacular. The soundtrack was created by Oscar-winner Georges Delerue (The Conformist).

Women in Love Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.75:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ken Russell's Women in Love arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the British Film Institute.

The release is sourced from the recent 4K restoration of the film, which in the U.S. Criterion accessed for their local release. I could not see any meaningful discrepancies between the two releases. I only spotted a few tiny white flecks popping up rather early here but not on the Criterion release, but I am unsure if they might have been manually removed. Either way, the rest of the basic qualities that we usually address in our review are practically identical -- delineation, depth, clarity, and fluidity are very pleasing. Color reproduction is also impressive, and just to be clear there are no discrepancies here to report either. Also, there are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Image stability is excellent. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Women in Love Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I can only echo my initial comments about the terrific quality of the lossless track -- it has fantastic dynamic nuances and clarity is as good as one can except from this type of period production. There are no pops, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in our review.

Women in Love Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Women in Love. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Billy Williams OBE BSC in Conversation with Phil Meheux BSC - in this filmed conversation (with a Q&A section), cinematographer Billy Williams recalls his first encounter with Ken Russell, and discusses some of their early experimentation with light and filters, the final look of Women in Love, the filming of the notorious wrestling scene, some of the pros and cons of film stock and digital filmmaking, etc. The conversation was filmed in 2015. In English, not subtitled. (50 min).

• Audio Commentary by Larry Kramer - this archival audio commentary with screenwriter and producer Larry Kramer was also included on the old DVD release of Women in Love that MGM produced in the United States in 2003.

• Audio Commentary by Ken Russell - this archival audio commentary with Ken Russell was also included on the old DVD release of Women in Love that MGM produced in the United States in 2003.

• The Guardian Lecture: Glenda Jackson - in this archival audio conversation, Glenda Jackson explains she transitioned from the theater to the film business, and discusses her work with Peter Brook, the type of scripts that she finds attractive, the significance of the Academy awards, her work with Ken Russell on Women in Love, etc. The conversation was recorded at the National Film Theatre in 1982. In English, not subtitled. (77 min).

• The Pacemakers - this archival documentary feature focuses on Glenda Jackson's acting career. Included in it are clips from an archival interview with the actress in which she addresses her working methods while rehearsing and interacting with John Schlesinger during the shooting of Sunday Bloody Sunday. The documentary was produced in 1971. In English, not subtitled. (15 min).

• Second Best (1972) - a rare, previously unreleased short film with Alan Bates, based on the story by D.H. Lawrence. Directed by Stephen Dartnell. Remastered. In English, not subtitled. (27 min).

• Isolated Score - presented as LPCM 2.0.

• Booklet - 26-page illustrated booklet with new writings by Michael Brooke, Paul Sutton and Vic Pratt, as well as technical credits.

Women in Love Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The BFI's recent release of Ken Russell's Women in Love is sourced from the same beautiful 4K restoration that Criterion accessed when they produced their local release of the film in the United States. However, there are different bonus features on this release that could be of some interest to folks that like the film. If you happen to be one of them and can play Region-B releases, it might be a good idea to pick up a copy for your collection. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.