Sons & Lovers (B+ or 3.5/4 stars)
Set in a small mining town near Nottingham, England, 'Sons & Lovers' (directed by Jack Cardiff & adapted from D.H. Lawrence's famed autobiographical novel) focuses on the Morel family, Walter (Trevor Howard), the crabby patriarch miner, his repressed wife Mrs. Morel (Wendy Hiller) & their 3 sons. The tale centers on 1 relationship, that btwn. the mother & her middle son, Paul (Dean Stockwell). The father is rigid & macho-to-a-fault, but it's the mother who's the forceful figure who rules the roost, a woman who doesn't hide the fact that she favors Paul, her sensitive son whose ambition is to pursue the career of an artist in London.
The father - a rough hewn alcoholic - is, of course, against Paul's artsy inclinations, which offend his lower middle-class pride. While dating a local farm girl, Miriam (Heather Sears, of Room at the Top), Paul finds himself falling for Clara Dawes (Mary Ure), a mature woman who, sadly, is already married. Both relationships cause tensions btwn. Paul & his strong-willed mother, who makes him end the 1st relationship & is livid with the 2nd. Paul listens to his mom, but knows he should follow his inner feelings. However, it's very difficult (even painful) for him to detach himself from her; he ALWAYS feels his mother's dominant presence.
With time, it becomes obvious that Paul is a mama's boy; but more importantly, we see that Mrs. Morel's obsessive motherly love for her son is a sort of substitute for the love she is supposed to feel for her husband ... but no longer does. Dramatically, there is a tragedy early in the proceedings. And later, Paul looks to abandon his dreams in order to comfort his mother. Tragedy strikes again. And Paul looks to start a new life away from the family & claustrophobic town he's come to both love & hate; but destined to be haunted by his conflicted inner feelings about live & love.
'Sons & Lovers' is what I call a stellar meat-&-potatoes drama. There are some minor critical complaints that the film isn't as freewheeling as the book it's based on (this movie was made in 1960 where a code of ethics was put in place). But I actually really appreciated the straightforward storytelling. Cinematographer-turned-Director Jack Cardiff offers interesting thematic motifs & has a painterly eye for images. Furthermore, the cinematographer he hired, Freddie Francis, is also a superb lenser; capturing the evocative drabness {if that makes sense} of the provincial coal town setting. Bleak weather has never looked more appealing.
I enjoyed the 1st awkward sexual encounter btwn. Paul & Clara; the scene is both humorous, as well as lustful. I chuckled at a scene where the Trevor Howard character is getting a bath. But really, this is a heavy drama that has a lot to say about propriety, sex, & love (of all kinds). I'm reminded of a heartbreaking scene involving painkiller drugs. Trevor Howard impressed me as the combustible father. Wendy Hiller, fresh from her Oscar win for 'Separate Tables', always provides such an appealing & lived-in characterization with her roles. Heather Sears & Mary Ure are stellar, if not spectacular, as Paul's very different love interests.
And Dean Stockwell is fantastic as the lovely, yet inwardly tortured Paul; a man who can't quite get a grip on whether to hold close to stagnant, well-established familial duties or flee to make a new kind of life for himself. Now, if anything holds me back from giving this intelligent, superbly-acted film an A, it's because the tone of the film is a tad too earnest & restrained. Everything is tidy & in order. Respectable. And I wanted a little messiness. The complexities of love & the various sexual passions that form the center of the source material were kind of buffed over. But I'm nitpicking. I really got a lot of out 'Sons & Lovers'. Great film.
The father - a rough hewn alcoholic - is, of course, against Paul's artsy inclinations, which offend his lower middle-class pride. While dating a local farm girl, Miriam (Heather Sears, of Room at the Top), Paul finds himself falling for Clara Dawes (Mary Ure), a mature woman who, sadly, is already married. Both relationships cause tensions btwn. Paul & his strong-willed mother, who makes him end the 1st relationship & is livid with the 2nd. Paul listens to his mom, but knows he should follow his inner feelings. However, it's very difficult (even painful) for him to detach himself from her; he ALWAYS feels his mother's dominant presence.
With time, it becomes obvious that Paul is a mama's boy; but more importantly, we see that Mrs. Morel's obsessive motherly love for her son is a sort of substitute for the love she is supposed to feel for her husband ... but no longer does. Dramatically, there is a tragedy early in the proceedings. And later, Paul looks to abandon his dreams in order to comfort his mother. Tragedy strikes again. And Paul looks to start a new life away from the family & claustrophobic town he's come to both love & hate; but destined to be haunted by his conflicted inner feelings about live & love.
'Sons & Lovers' is what I call a stellar meat-&-potatoes drama. There are some minor critical complaints that the film isn't as freewheeling as the book it's based on (this movie was made in 1960 where a code of ethics was put in place). But I actually really appreciated the straightforward storytelling. Cinematographer-turned-Director Jack Cardiff offers interesting thematic motifs & has a painterly eye for images. Furthermore, the cinematographer he hired, Freddie Francis, is also a superb lenser; capturing the evocative drabness {if that makes sense} of the provincial coal town setting. Bleak weather has never looked more appealing.
I enjoyed the 1st awkward sexual encounter btwn. Paul & Clara; the scene is both humorous, as well as lustful. I chuckled at a scene where the Trevor Howard character is getting a bath. But really, this is a heavy drama that has a lot to say about propriety, sex, & love (of all kinds). I'm reminded of a heartbreaking scene involving painkiller drugs. Trevor Howard impressed me as the combustible father. Wendy Hiller, fresh from her Oscar win for 'Separate Tables', always provides such an appealing & lived-in characterization with her roles. Heather Sears & Mary Ure are stellar, if not spectacular, as Paul's very different love interests.
And Dean Stockwell is fantastic as the lovely, yet inwardly tortured Paul; a man who can't quite get a grip on whether to hold close to stagnant, well-established familial duties or flee to make a new kind of life for himself. Now, if anything holds me back from giving this intelligent, superbly-acted film an A, it's because the tone of the film is a tad too earnest & restrained. Everything is tidy & in order. Respectable. And I wanted a little messiness. The complexities of love & the various sexual passions that form the center of the source material were kind of buffed over. But I'm nitpicking. I really got a lot of out 'Sons & Lovers'. Great film.