Opened: September 18, 1981

Directed by: Karel Reisz

Starring: Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Hilton McRae, Emily Morgan, Charlotte Mitchell, Lynsey Baxter, Jean Faulds, Peter Vaughan, Colin Jeavons, Liz Smith, Patience Collier, John Barrett, Leo McKern, Gérard Falconetti, Alun Armstrong & Penelope Wilton

Differing from its source novel by providing a framing story, The French Lieutenant’s Woman provides both a happy and a sad ending that will equally intrigue audiences.

Anna (Meryl Streep) and Mike (Jeremy Irons) are starring as Sarah Woodruff and Charles Smithson in a film adaptation of The French Lieutenant’s Woman. While Charles strays from his fiancée Ernestina (Lynsey Baxter) for Sarah, Anna and Mike have their own affair during filming.

While the intertwining stories aren’t defined well at first and the film within the film takes precedence over the framing story in the first half, both turn out to have well-developed plots that show the difference in affairs between the two time periods.

Though Irons’ characters are similar, Streep gets to play vastly different ones, which shows off her acting range.

Final say: An interesting parallel to watch. ★★★★☆