The Rainbow

Synopsis: 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.
Genre: Action, Drama, Romance
Director(s): Ken Russell
Production: Vestron
  1 nomination.
 
IMDB:
6.5
Rotten Tomatoes:
71%
R
Year:
1989
113 min
231 Views


This film contains some strong

language & some scenes of a sexual nature.

LAUGHS:

Ursula!

Ursula!

Ursula, come back 'ere!

Ursula!

Ursula!

Come back 'ere! It's dangerous!

LAUGHS:

Ursula! Wait for me!

Who didn't come, then?!

Was it you, Miss Puddleduck?

Were you off for a swim?

No.

What is it, me lady?

I want that, Daddy.

Can't have it, it's not for catching

Want it!

It's too far off, lass. If you're a

good girl I'll make you one for tea.

They were naughty to fight. Losing

their feathers. They'll be sorry when it's cold.

I just saved this one from the river

Off you get.

Perhaps we'll have that gate fixed.

You left the door open!

What if I did?! The baker came

and the baby woke up.

Why do you niggle me?! I don't just

sit around designing lace hankies.

Soup again? You spoil me.

Oh, is our little blackbird tuning up?

Sing up, lad, and drown your mother out.

You put such pressure in my head.

Oh, get off!

# When the pie was opened

The birds began to sing

# Wasn't that a dainty dish... #

Still there, Daddy. Can't I have it?

You're a persistent little

madam. I'd not forgotten.

There you are. On you jump.

There we go. What about that, then?

Want a taste?

Uh-uh.

A little taste. Just a little one. No?

Uh.

Oh, I see. You want the real one.

Well, you can't have it, my lass.

"And again, I say unto you, it is easier

for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle...

..than for a rich man to enter

the kingdom of God."

The collection is for Mrs Hartley...

..widowed by the Grange Pit tragedy.

I know you will give generously.

On a happier note, there will

be a resumption of christenings.

Thanks to the restoration of the font

by our organist - Will Brangwen.

PLAYS ORGAN:

He's like my dolly.

This church takes up too much time,

but it's a fine hand you've carved.

It's an ogre's hand.

It's the hand of God, Billy.

Assisting at the birth of Eve.

He's not a midwife!

It was my hand you used as a model.

That's not so, it's after Donatello's "Frances".

Perhaps that's how it started.

Oh, never!

For all you know, Donatello may have used his wife as a model.

Don't be ridiculous. The hand of God is a man's hand.

Like taking Eve out of Adam's body, when man is born of woman? The impudence of men!

Oh, Mother, don't fuss so!

I have said, Ursula, do not speak to me like that.

How could a great big camel pass through an eye of a needle?

With great difficulty, I'd think.

RUNNING FOOTSTEPS

It's locked. Open the door, Ursula.

She won't answer, she's dead.

Go away. I'm not dead. What do you want?

Mother says you have to come down to dinner.

There's a soldier downstairs with Uncle Henry.

DOOR HANDLE RATTLES

You're not fibbing, are you?! Cos I'll pull your hair out. Even if it is Sunday.

I always used to ask strangers to stay.

It was rather trying for my parents.

It's our Lazarus. And Billy said you were dead.

Might as well be sometimes.

LAUGHTER:

I wanted some peace. I didn't realise you were coming.

Or she'd have had a sherry.

Likes a tipple, does she?

Give your Uncle Henry a kiss.

Drink the health of my friend - Lt Anton Skrebensky.

He's staying at the hall. His father was the parish priest.

Are you staying long?

This is my last day.

I have to report back tomorrow.

To what do you report?

I'm in the Engineers. And you? I suppose you're at school.

My last term. I'm taking my matriculation exams soon.

You'll be going out to work?

Don't put ideas in her head. My daughters don't need to work.

I'm considering my field of action.

There's stockings need mending. They could be your field of action.

What would you like to be?

I don't know. A teacher, perhaps.

I could never study. The brains of the Army are in the Engineers.

I joined to get the credit of other people's brains.

Brains don't matter.

What does matter, then?

Whether people have courage or not.

Courage for what?

For everything.

Like a soldier, you mean?

That's another field of action you wouldn't like.

She should join the Royal Engineers.

No need for courage to build a privvy.

Are you not lonely, being an orphan?

I have got a guardian. And Henry. And my aunts.

I'm really fond of them all. But my real home is the Army.

Do you like being on your own?

I think so.

I went to school early.

The outside world was more of a home to me than the vicarage.

This house used to be a vicarage.

Really?

Do you not feel like...

..like a bird, flown out of its own latitude?

CHUCKLES:

I find things much as I like them.

You look very lazy.

I am lazy.

You look really floppy.

I am floppy.

Can't you stop?

I don't want to stop.

It looks like there isn't a bone in your body.

That's how I like to feel.

I don't admire your taste.

That's my misfortune.

Damn it! Why can't I rock?!

Men don't rock themselves.

Girls don't pull men's hair.

You've seen that they do.

My father used to rock me on the swingboats.

Would you like to go on one again?

Oh, I didn't mean...

When?

Now!

You arrange it with mother while I change.

Our families go a long way back.

My grandmother told me stories of her life in Poland.

She knew your father in Warsaw.

She married his friend, Dr Lensky, just before the uprising. They fought together.

Dr Lensky and Baron Skrebensky. Don't you find Polish names extremely musical?

They're a musical nation. And very patriotic. They make poor exiles.

They all die young, humming Chopin's "Funeral March".

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Ken Russell

Henry Kenneth Alfred Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. His films in the main were liberal adaptations of existing texts, or biographies, notably of composers of the Romantic era. Russell began directing for the BBC, where he made creative adaptations of composers' lives which were unusual for the time. He also directed many feature films independently and for studios. He is best known for his Oscar-winning film Women in Love (1969), The Devils (1971), The Who's Tommy (1975), and the science fiction film Altered States (1980). Russell also directed several films based on the lives of classical music composers, such as Elgar, Delius, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, and Liszt.Film critic Mark Kermode, speaking in 2006, and attempting to sum up the director's achievement, called Russell, "somebody who proved that British cinema didn't have to be about kitchen-sink realism—it could be every bit as flamboyant as Fellini. Later in his life he turned to making low-budget experimental films such as Lion's Mouth and Revenge of the Elephant Man, and they are as edgy and 'out there' as ever".Critics have accused him of being obsessed with sexuality and the Catholic Church. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "The Rainbow" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/the_rainbow_16535>.

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