The French Lieutenant's Woman

"She was lost from the moment she saw him."

1981 2h 4m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 249

DramaRomanceHistory

Synopsis

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In this story-within-a-story, Anna is an actress starring opposite Mike in a period piece about the forbidden love between their respective characters, Sarah and Charles. Both actors are involved in serious relationships, but the passionate nature of the script leads to an off-camera love affair as well. While attempting to maintain their composure and professionalism, Anna and Mike struggle to come to terms with their infidelity.

“She was lost from the moment she saw him.”

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Cast

Meryl Streep
Sarah / Anna
Jeremy Irons
Charles Henry Smithson / Mike
Hilton McRae
Sam
Lynsey Baxter
Ernestina
Emily Morgan
Mary
Penelope Wilton
Sonia
Jean Faulds
Cook
Charlotte Mitchell
Mrs. Tranter

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Karel Reisz
Writers: Harold Pinter
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

45 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Karel Reisz, shot by Freddie Francis. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Carl Davis. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor John Bloom shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons and Hilton McRae carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "She was lost from the moment she saw him.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0082416 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Karel Reisz directs. Freddie Francis behind the camera. Carl Davis scores. John Bloom cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.4× over at the box office.
245 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Karel Reisz, shot by Freddie Francis. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Carl Davis. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor John Bloom shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons and Hilton McRae carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "She was lost from the moment she saw him.".
8IMDB entry: tt0082416 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Freddie Francis
Original score: Carl Davis
Editing: John Bloom
Production design: Assheton Gorton
Costume design: Tom Rand
Makeup / hair: Simon Thompson
Runtime: 124 min · 2h 4m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $8,000,000
Box office: $26,890,068
Return: 336% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)

Awards

BAFTA Award for Best Sound
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Karel Reisz

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-01-17
★ 7/10
Usually if there are two separate timelines featured in a story, the director tries to ensure that we cannot readily distinguish between one that might be true and one that might be artificial. It's the complete opposite that really works well here as we mingle the story of an 18th century woman living within the constraints of high Victorian society with a more profligate 1970s one. To fit out the earlier scenario, we meet the shy "Sarah" (Meryl Streep) who is rebounding from a liaison with the titular French lieutenant by having an even less suitable assignation with the altogether more decent "Charles" (Jeremy Irons). The modern day scenario has the same two actors playing "Anna" and "Mike", only both are married to others and they are the "real" life actors portraying these other characters in a film of their lives. Now we get to experience the story of both relationships undulating in parallel. It sounds way more complex than it actually is as a combination of Harold Pinter's adaptation of the original novel and the acting from both Streep and Irons manages to convince us that though we are seeing two separate stories play out before us, they have remarkable similarities in the life imitating art sort of space. I preferred the older scenario, but only because the supporting cast of characters could make much more of their rigid, sexist and downright hypocritical environment and Streep works well with her frankly quite insipid "Sarah". The more modern day story tended more to soap for my liking: their behaviour more duplicitous, selfish and that led to a disappointing degree of predicability. More relatable, if you like. I'm not really a fan of Irons, but here he works well across both iterations and gels remarkably well with a Streep who seems to morph from both of her persona effortlessly and convincingly. The pace can dawdle at times, and maybe Karel Reisz could have just tightened things up a little at the rather plodding start, but the production design across both storylines looks good and it's once the tram lines are laid down and the two become entrenched, it becomes quite a compelling story of love, lust, betrayal and lies.

Production companies