David Magee has been an extremely in demand screenwriter of late writing a variety of screenplays. He shared his thoughts with Creative Screenwriting Magazine about his retelling Lady Chatterly’s Lover, the classic tale of lust, desire, and class originally published in 1928 and written by D.H. Lawrence. The story has endured the test of time to delight audiences from many generations.
“People are always interested in great stories of love with great obstacles,” declared the screenwriter. This holds true whether they were written today or a century ago. “The thing that got me interested in this was that these people [Lady Constance Chatterly (Emma Corrin) and Lord Clifford Chatterley (Matthew Duckett)] became divorced from their emotions.” It was post-World War I England and the world was still reeling from the trauma “Soldiers lost limbs, they lost loved ones and found their lives torn apart. They were broken and had to find their way back into society and learn to trust others and loving other people.”
Some characters in Lady Chatterly’s Lover succeeded and others did not. “It was about finding your sense of wholeness and getting back in touch with your sense of self, your body, and your emotions,” Magee continued. This was the main thematic core of the story.
David Magee
There have been many versions of Lady Chatterly’s Lover made over the years both in film and television, each with their own take on the story. Although Magee did not want to specifically remake any of these, he wasn’t explicitly focused on reinventing the Chatterlys either. There is an inevitable evolution of these stories.
Times change by the nature of changing
“There’s a natural updating of the story as a result of times changing. Consciously or unconsciously, you are adjusting by reading it through a different lens.” David Magee’s earliest recollections of Constance Chatterly and Oliver Mellors (Jack O’Connell) were their steamy encounters late at night. “It was erotic and played for a more licentious curiosity, than their state of mind.”
We now live in an age where the level of eroticism and sexuality has reached new levels of permissiveness as we move beyond veiled scenes and obscure camera angles simply implying sex.
The nature of such scenes pushes the sex to one side and allows the audience to focus on the love story that wasn’t allowed to flourish without repercussions. That’s the thematic vein that Magee wanted to tap into. “What are the social constraints that are standing between them and the political and economic background?”
David Magee was not overly-influenced by how much skin was going to be displayed on screen. It’s been done before and audiences require varying levels of nudity to become titillated. All he saw was a beautiful love story he wanted to explore.
Lady Chatterly’s Lover Oliver Mellors (Jack O’Connell) isn’t the villain in the story, nor are Constance or Clifford. Mellors allows Lady Constance to blossom as she discovers herself and her needs. “Sir Clifford becomes a very difficult man and betrays his aristocratic roots. In some ways he defined a generation of Brits which, ironically, he deliberately tries to criticize.”
Clifford, like D.H. Lawrence, suffered respiratory ailments and become impotent later in life. They both suffered self-hatred and anger. “This showed up in Lawrence’s writing. He wanted to show how these three different people became disconnected from themselves and their situations.” Clifford’s failings were reinforced by his obsession to provide an heir and continue the aristocratic tradition of the Chatterly dynasty. This is deeply ironic since Clifford and Connie happily dispensed with the aristocratic straitjacket before the war and lived their lives on their own freewheeling terms.
A Question Of Social Class
The timeless nature of this story depicts the nature of paints the stark contrast between societal expectations and personal ambitions. “Class is of grave importance in this generation,” said Magee. There was a ruling class, and the ruled class. That’s the way things were. it was largely unquestioned. “During the war, servants were moving up the ranks and commanding men. They did not achieve that class through traditional means. This raised the question in Edwardian British society, “Why does wealth or family automatically afford privilege?” Soldiers died on the battlefields at the behest of the aristocracy. The time was ripe for a dramatic social change, one that steered away from unmerited privilege, whether by inheritance or marriage and one of self-determination.
David Magee chose to tilt his story toward the exploration of love despite D.H. Lawrence being a staunch advocate for the free and open expression of sexuality. “Being in touch with your body, your needs, and desire to touch another person.” These two concepts are not mutually exclusive or opposing. Magee believes that Lawrence was more an advocate of “passion and openness to another person rather than pure physical pleasure.” He wanted to protest agains the British cultural decision to cut themselves off from something so vital that makes us human. “The ruling class have taught themselves to frown upon caring and loving as a sign of weakness.” This emotional disconnection allowed them to send people to war without raising an eyebrow.
Magee made the decision to give Constance Chatterly more spotlight in his version of Lady Chatterly’s Lover. “I didn’t want to write another story about female desire and sexuality written by a male writer.” His story was designed to portray how Constance experienced the events of the era. To this end, Magee leant away from excessively exploring Clifford’s relationship with his family. “Clifford was not portrayed as someone who was emotionally stunted as a result of his disabilities. His self-consciousness and insecurities arose from how we was taught to think and behave as a man.” The relationship of Mellors with his wife Bertha in the novel, who was fond of affairs while Mellors fought in the war, was also diminished in the film to make way for the romance.
Sir Clifford Chatterly (Matthew Duckett} Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh/ Netflix
The irony is that Clifford encouraged Constance to find a man to bear them an heir without it being a tawdry affair. But she can never fall in love with him, especially since he’s the lowly gamekeeper. Mellors’ social class appears to irk Clifford more than the infidelity itself.
Lady Chatterly is acutely aware that her actions are deeply embarrassing to her husband and are the topic of widespread gossip. However, she must follow her heart and break free of her societal shackles. In many instances, she drives the affair even after Mellors suggests they end it for the sake of her marriage. Constance refuses, not out of being blinded by lust or wanting to hurt her husband, but by her pursuit of freedom. This is not a tryst or summer romance. It may be true love as Mellors unlocks things buried deep inside her. Her decision to leave Clifford intensifies as he gradually becomes more curt and aggressive towards the staff.
Magee’s take on the story was not an overt expression of feminism although it has been considered as such. It was simply told from a woman’s point of view. It is a story of realization that she was no long in love with Clifford and stepping into her true nature.
As Lady Constance established an intimate connection with Mellors and Wragsby, Nottinghamshire. they often made love outdoors – dancing naked in the rain. Therein she ironically toggles between emotionless sex as a physical act as her social conditioning dictated, and an act of sensuality and bonding with another human being. She reframes her notion of love into the latter during the story.
Lady Chatterly’s Lover offers a glimmer of hope to audiences and hopes that they too will find their perfect love story even if it ruffles a few feathers and raises a few eyebrows in the process. All that matters, is being true to oneself.
