The French Lieutenant's Woman: A Screenplay

by Harold Pinter

screenplay

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Nobel Prize, Drama, Plays

104 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Harold Pinter was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party (1957), The Homecoming (1964) and Betrayal (1978), each of which he adapted for the screen. His screenplay adaptations of others' works include The Servant (1963), The Go-Between (1971), The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), The Trial (1993) and Sleuth (2007). He also directed or acted in radio, stage, television and film productions of his own and others' works.

Reviews

[Marco Tamborrino · Rating 1 out of 5]

"La domanda non è perché, la domanda è... PECCHÈ?"

[Red · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great adaptation of the novel and its metafictionality!

[Tim Nason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reads like a comic book version of the novel – so short; but it changes my expectations of the movie in a positive direction.

[Vishnu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't yet seen the movie but the screenplay itself is just on another level. The movie would be ten times better considering the performances of 2 of the GOATs of acting.

[Jonathan Kieran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pinter's spare and evocative screenplay style is a great antidote to the steroidal salesmanship of the average spec script. Any of the great collections of HP's scripts are recommended reading for any aspiring screenwriter. This volume is typeset (i.e. not facsimile pages that give you the direct experience of reading a manuscript page), but still scans fairly well, and the texts are all appear to be Pinter's final drafts, not transcriptions. Also recommended Collected Screenplays 1, which in addition to The French Lieutenant's Woman includes Pinter's great unproduced script for a film based on Isak Dinesen's "The Dreaming Child."

[Daniela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Davvero, un libro particolare, ma mai noioso.
Il protagonista è Charles, un gentiluomo vittoriano fidanzato con la giovane ma un po' sciocca Ernestina. All'improvviso Charles viene a conoscenza dell'esistenza di una donna, una disonorata, pazza probabilmente, che poi ha la fortuna di incontrare. Sarah. Ma chi è Sarah? Se qualcuno riesce a capire meglio di me cosa voglia veramente questa donna, mi piacerebbe davvero saperlo.
Bellissime le descrizioni della società vittoriana, divertenti i riferimenti alla metanarrazione, davvero un libro da godersi, davanti al caminetto... o per chi può sulla costa davanti al mare in tempesta.

[Joleen]

Man, I wish I could recall anything about this book besides the cover! I read it in High school, and while I recall several books from then extremely well, this one just didn't stick. I loved and remember "The Collector" by John Fowles, even though it horrified and frightened me. So my quandary here is wondering if this book deserves a reread with my adult eyes (maybe it will be more relatable now than at 15-16) or not. Hmmmmm, suggestions?

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This screenplay is based on the John Fowles novel by the same title.

The Harold Pinter play is more interesting as it contains one more story in addition to the John Fowles story.
The screenplay contrasts actors navigating in and out between performing their French Lieutenant's Woman roles in a film shoot and in their real lives.

Overall, the novel and the screenplay are so different that it is still worth it to read the novel.

[Claudio C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Acquistato 4 anni fa in quanto assegnatomi dalla professoressa di inglese, credendo fosse il romanzo in se'. Preso in mano solo oggi, scopro che in realtà altro non è che la sceneggiatura del film dell'81 con Meryl Streep e Jeremy Irons.
Lo si legge in due ore scarse. Storia interessante, ma non da considerarsi un libro, ecco.

[Steve D'avis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb screenplay - probably one of the best I've read - beautifully balanced & well paced. The dialogue is authentically adjusted to suit both time frames. Never rushed this is highly recommended if you are interested in the art of the screenplay.

[Jessica]

2005 Nobel Prize Winner - just watched the movie, which I realize is no comparison - but oscar worthy meryl streep and jeremy irons performance none-the-less.

[Toby McMillen]

I've tried to get into this a couple of times, but it was always 'not-the-Magus' to the extent that I never finished. Perhaps age & experience will push me through the barrier...

[Jacqueline Howett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvelous!

[Lucile Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

41. The Screenplay of The French Lieutenant’s Woman from the novel by John Fowles by Harold Pinter.
I have had problems reading the novel and I was just out of the hospital when I saw the movie which did not sink in. Reading the screenplay was aa heck of a lot easier, enough so that I may attempt to see the movie again, although I am not a Jeremy Irons fan. The intertwining of the filming of a story with almost parallel plots is a great device, and Pinter was able to take the novel and get some sense out of it. The fictional story is of Sarah, a former governess, who was deserted by a shipwrecked French lieutenant and who fascinates a young paleontologist, Charles, who is engaged. The present story is of the actors playing the characters, Anna and David, both of whom have other partners. The other actors are in the film, too, and there are huge differences in their on-set and off-set behaviors. The best Pinter I have read, and so much better than Fowles’ novel.