Sensitive study of a sexual awakening

Pascale Ferran's film, already the recipient of the prestigious Prize Delluc and nine César nominations, is a tender and touching portrayal of a young woman's sexual awakening that eschews both rough language and rough sex.

It uses the beautiful countryside of southern France to underscore its story of an entirely natural rather than blazingly furious passion between Constance (Marina Hands), the wife of an upper-class paraplegic mine owner (Hippolyte Girardot), with a working-class gamekeeper (Jean-Louis Coullo'ch).

The film draws its script from the earlier version of Lawrence's 1928 book which was originally called John Thomas and Lady Jane.

And it characterises the gamekeeper not as a handsome young hulk but as a rough diamond approaching middle age.

This works well since Coullo'ch is so good. But the film really belongs to Hands, whose performance as the uncertain but potentially passionate woman is entirely convincing.

There are plenty of sex scenes but they are bereft of salaciousness. The point is well made that here is a woman discovering sex but also a kind of love, too.

The film is arguably too long at 168 minutes but it is still a beautiful and sensitive version of the book of which Lawrence might well have approved.

Lady Chatterley was showing at the Berlin Film Festival which runs until Sunday. www.berlinale.de

Lady Chatterley