The Rainbow (1989)

A young woman deals in her own personal way with the trials of adolescence and young adulthood in early 1900s England.

Director:

Ken Russell

Writers:

Ken Russell (screenplay), Vivian Russell (screenplay)

Stars:

Sammi Davis, Amanda Donohoe, Paul McGann

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sammi Davis	...	Ursula Brangwen
Paul McGann	...	Anton Skrebensky
Amanda Donohoe	...	Winifred Inger
Christopher Gable	...	Will Brangwen
David Hemmings	...	Uncle Henry
Glenda Jackson	...	Anna Brangwen
Dudley Sutton	...	MacAllister
Jim Carter	...	Mr. Harby
Judith Paris	...	Miss Harby
Kenneth Colley	...	Mr. Brunt (as Ken Colley)
Glenda McKay	...	Gudrun Brangwen
Mark Owen	...	Jim Richards
Ralph Nossek	...	Vicar
Nicola Stephenson	...	Ethel
Molly Russell	...	Molly Brangwen

Storyline

Ken Russell's loose adaptation of the last part of D.H. Lawrence's "The Rainbow" sees impulsive young Ursula coming of age in pastoral England around the time of the Boer War. At school, she is introduced to lovemaking by a bisexual physical education instructress. While experiencing disillusionment in her first career attempt (teaching), she has an affair with a young Army officer, who wants to marry her. Unable to accept a future of domesticity, she breaks with him, and eventually leaves home in search of her destiny.

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Plot Keywords:

coming of age | loss of virginity | women's rights | women's emancipation | victorian era | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Featuring in this filmed D.H. Lawrence adaptation of director Ken Russell was actress Glenda Jackson who had starred in Russell's earlier Lawrence adaptation Women in Love (1969) where Jackson had won the Best Actress Academy Award for her leading role in that earlier picture. Jackson was not present at the 1971 Oscars awards ceremony but actress Juliet Mills accepted the statuette on her behalf. In The Rainbow (1989), Jackson plays the mother of the character she played in Women in Love (1969).

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Connections

Version of The Rainbow (1988)

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Soundtracks

Sheep May Safely Graze
(uncredited)
Music by Johann Sebastian Bach

User Reviews

The Wild and Weird World of Ken Russell: D.H. Lawrence Victorian romance.

The Rainbow (1989) was a film Ken Russell made based upon the writings of the legendary Victorian era author D.H. Lawrence, but with a Ken Russell twist. The story is a bout a young woman (Sammi Davis) who wants to live her life but she has to do it during the repressive Victorian age of England. But she meets a mentor (Amanda Donohoe) who shows her the many ways she can escape her button up lifestyle (if only for a few hours at a time). At many times it feels like a stuffy D.H. Lawrence novel (with the occasional highly charged eroticism). Ken Russell gets the chance to show the beauty of Amanda and Sammi in various stages. Too bad it was never released in the United States on D.V.D. If you love Victorian romance films, D.H. Lawrence or the films of Ken Russell then you appreciate more than the average viewer.

Recommended for Ken Russell fans.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 May 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

El arco iris

Filming Locations:

Borrowdale, Lake District, Cumbria, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$11,987,578 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$444,055

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$444,055

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vestron Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1