Synopsis
Director Ken Russell returns to the D.H. Lawrence territory that had earlier served him well in Women in Love. Sammi Davis plays Lawrence's Welsh heroine Ursula Brangwen, daughter of a wealthy mine owner, who is first seen as a child given to literally chasing rainbows. Disappointed that she can never have the real thing, the older Davis seeks out figurative rainbows in the form of sexual fulfillment. Neither heterosexual nor homosexual affairs fully satisfy Davis, because no one lover can match the "ideal" the girl has created in her imagination. Davis' disappointment in the world is paralleled with the sorry lot of the wives of the local coal miners, who have adapted to their lives--something Davis can never do, will never do. Stately despite its raw subject matter, The Rainbow was filmed just before Russell's outrageous sword-and-sorcery fantasy Lair of the White Worm; since both films utilize many of the same cast members, the two pictures might make an astonishing double feature.
What Critics Say
No Hollywood.com review at this time
Spill.com puts a whole new spin on the "classic" movie review; turning dorky and dry into hilarious and hip. Spill's reviews are high-quality animated videos featuring a regular cast of comic personalities.
Movie News
-
'Over the Rainbow' Takes Top Spot
HOLLYWOOD, Mar. 8, 2001 -- There really is gold at the end of the rainbow.
"Over the Rainbow," the 1939 ballad first sung by the legendary Judy Garland in "The Wizard of Oz," earned the top spot on a list of 365 Songs of the Century, according to a poll sponsored by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Others in the top five are "White Christmas," sung by Bing Crosby; "This Land is Your Land," from Woody Guthrie; "Respect," from Aretha Franklin; and Don McLean's "American Pie."
The compilation includes memorable music from all decades and genres. Songs from the '50s and '60s are frequent favorites, and the list includes a variety of pop, rock, country, jazz, and patriotic tunes. Highlights include "Rapper's Delight," by the Sugar Hill Gang at 162, "Yesterday," by the Beatles at 56, and "Satisfaction," from t
-
ROLE CALL: Bening 'Over The Rainbow?'
Annette Bening SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 26, 2000 -- Ding, ding, ding went Annette? Annette Bening might follow up her self-absorbed "American Beauty" housewife by playing an even more self-absorbed, complex and pathos-ridden woman.
Word comes today, via Variety's Army Archerd, that Bening is the No. 1 candidate to play Judy Garland in "Rainbow's End," a biopic in development at Fox Searchlight.
The movie, to be based on a new book by another Variety scribe, will be no "Wizard of Oz." It's about Garland's over-the-hill days in the early 1960s, when she hosted "The Judy Garland Show," a weekly primetime series. The movie will be executive produced by (get this) Oliver Stone and Garland's ex, Sid Luft.
One question, though: Who's gonna play Liza?
DON'T DO IT! How do you follow up an Oscar for Best Actor? You make an Inspector Clouseau movie, dummy.