The Chatterley Affair

D.H. Lawrence's highly charged 1928 novel Lady Chatterley's Lover—a tale of adultery that cut across social classes—was banned in Britain until 1960, when a trial pitted the crown censors against Penguin Books, which had challenged the status quo by announcing the publication of an inexpensive, unexpurgated version. James Hawes' The Chatterley Affair (written by Andrew Davies, who penned the masterful A&E miniseries adaptation of Pride and Prejudice) combines a fictionalized account of the court case (juxtaposing testimony from admiring witnesses against graphic excerpts read into the record by the prosecutor and others) with a plotline about an affair involving two of the jurors, a married man (Rafe Spall) from the working class and a world-wise upper-class divorcee (Louise Delamere) of higher station. Obviously mimicking the book's theme, the relationship is meant to suggest the absurdity of suppressing a classic novel in an age of increased democratization and sexual freedom. But the caricature-like portrayal of the 12 jurors—even the pair who become intimates—undercuts the message and the decision to have the modern lovers periodically comment on their relationship from the perspective of the present comes across as precious rather than revelatory. A BBC-aired production (with suitable warnings for coarse language—most of which is directly from the book—nudity, and sexual situations), The Chatterley Affair is an uneven execution of an intriguing premise. Optional. (F. Swietek)