A film is being made of a story, set in 19th century England, about Charles, a biologist who's engaged to be married, but who falls in love with outcast Sarah, whose melancholy makes her ...
See full summary »
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje plays "Killer Croc" in Suicide Squad. What other roles has he played over the years?
Related News
The Surprising Roles Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant Regret They Didn't Get
10 August 2016 9:15 PM, +01:00 | PEOPLE.com
10 August 2016 9:15 PM, +01:00 | PEOPLE.com
The Surprising Roles Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant Regret They Didn't Get
10 August 2016 9:15 PM, +01:00 | PEOPLE.com
10 August 2016 9:15 PM, +01:00 | PEOPLE.com
Meryl Streep Reveals 1 of Her Least Favorite Acting Performances
19 April 2016 8:00 PM, +01:00 | backstage.com
19 April 2016 8:00 PM, +01:00 | backstage.com
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Connect with IMDb
Share this Rating
Title: The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
User Polls
Learn more
People who liked this also liked...
Silkwood
(1983)
Biography
|
Drama
|
History
Director:
Mike Nichols
Stars:
Meryl Streep,
Kurt Russell,
Cher
A Cry in the Dark
(1988)
Drama
Director:
Fred Schepisi
Stars:
Meryl Streep,
Sam Neill,
Dale Reeves
Sophie's Choice
(1982)
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Alan J. Pakula
Stars:
Meryl Streep,
Kevin Kline,
Peter MacNicol
Postcards from the Edge
(1990)
Comedy
|
Drama
Director:
Mike Nichols
Stars:
Meryl Streep,
Shirley MacLaine,
Dennis Quaid
One True Thing
(1998)
Drama
Director:
Carl Franklin
Stars:
Meryl Streep,
Renée Zellweger,
William Hurt
Ironweed
(1987)
Drama
Director:
Hector Babenco
Stars:
Jack Nicholson,
Meryl Streep,
Carroll Baker
The Seduction of Joe Tynan
(1979)
Drama
Director:
Jerry Schatzberg
Stars:
Alan Alda,
Barbara Harris,
Meryl Streep
Julia
(1977)
Drama
Director:
Fred Zinnemann
Stars:
Jane Fonda,
Vanessa Redgrave,
Jason Robards
Falling in Love
(1984)
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Ulu Grosbard
Stars:
Robert De Niro,
Meryl Streep,
Harvey Keitel
Music of the Heart
(1999)
Drama
|
Music
Director:
Wes Craven
Stars:
Meryl Streep,
Cloris Leachman,
Henry Dinhofer
Out of Africa
(1985)
Biography
|
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Sydney Pollack
Stars:
Meryl Streep,
Robert Redford,
Klaus Maria Brandauer
Still of the Night
(1982)
Crime
|
Drama
|
Mystery
Director:
Robert Benton
Stars:
Roy Scheider,
Meryl Streep,
Jessica Tandy
Edit
Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Meryl Streep | ... | ||
| Jeremy Irons | ... | ||
 |
Hilton McRae | ... |
Sam
|
|
|
Emily Morgan | ... |
Mary
|
|
|
Charlotte Mitchell | ... |
Mrs. Tranter
|
|
|
Lynsey Baxter | ... | |
|
|
Jean Faulds | ... |
Cook
|
| Peter Vaughan | ... | ||
| Colin Jeavons | ... |
Vicar
|
|
|
|
Liz Smith | ... |
Mrs. Fairley
|
|
|
Patience Collier | ... |
Mrs. Poulteney
|
|
|
John Barrett | ... |
Dairyman
|
| Leo McKern | ... |
Dr. Grogan
|
|
|
|
Arabella Weir | ... |
Girl on Undercliff
|
|
|
Ben Forster | ... |
Boy on Undercliff
|
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
A film is being made of a story, set in 19th century England, about Charles, a biologist who's engaged to be married, but who falls in love with outcast Sarah, whose melancholy makes her leave him after a short, but passionate affair. Anna and Mike, who play the characters of Sarah and Charles, go, during the shooting of the film, through a relationship that runs parallel to that of their characters. Written by Leon Wolters <wolters@strw.LeidenUniv.nl>
Taglines:
She was lost from the moment she saw him.Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents »
Edit
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
UKLanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
16 October 1981 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
La maîtresse du lieutenant français See more »Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
Edit
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
The WH Smith Literary Award of 1970 was won by this film's source novel "The French Lieutenant's Woman" (1969) by John Fowles. See more »Goofs
When Charles visits the garden and his bride to be is firing arrows, as she sees him she loads a new arrow - then there is a cut to a closer shot and she is loading the new arrow again. See more »Quotes
Sarah: Do what you will. Or what you must. Now that I know there was truly a day upon which you loved me, I can bear anything.See more »
This film is a joy to watch -- as not many films these days are. The settings are superbly created -- the green, grotto-like woodland where Irons and Streep meet in the Victorian world of the film, the murky streets of Lyme, Exeter, and London, and the interior of the lawyer's office, for example. The Victorian part of the film emerges from the dawning of the concept of abnormal psychology (just before Freud) and is really convincing. Streep shows us that her character cannot move on emotionally until she has worked out her own madness. That constitutes a remarkable and complex performance of insanity and self-awareness inhabiting a single psyche. She earns the gentle movement out of the tunnel and onto the calm lake. The turbulence of the unconscious -- that threatening sea of which Irons has warned her -- has been subdued. Seems to me the flaw lies in the 'modern story' (as some here have pointed out). It may be that the Streep character is trying to find a subtext for her fictional heroine, but it looks like the old ennui, so that, while her lack of concern for the relationship is understandable, his obsession with it is not. Though the garden party at the end almost gets it there. Were we shown her decision there? If so, I missed it. I like the concept of the 'two endings' and their contrast, but the ending in the 20th century was a so what? The one in the 19th century was complex and included much of the pain that the relationship had caused both characters. A little more attention to the contemporary love affair -- to suggest that it was more than just a romp on location -- would have helped that dimension of the film per se and also suggested what the Victorian lovers had earned within their Hardyesque world.