Ken Russell first claimed attention with this 1970 adaptation of the D.H. Lawrence novel. In retrospect, it seems surprisingly sane and classy for him, though his themes of excess and abandon bubble beneath the surface. Though the plotting is largely shucked in favor of image and atmosphere, it remains Russell’s best-told film apart from Savage Messiah. The delirious romanticism is not nullified, in Russell’s usual way, by a sour awareness of its absurdity, which may account for the film’s persistent popularity. With Alan Bates, Oliver Reed, Glenda Jackson, and Jennie Linden.