Review for The Virgin and the Gypsy

When one thinks of the author DH Lawrence, a three-letter word usually, comes to mind. His short 1926 coming-of-age novella The Virgin and The Gypsy is no different. It explores the stuffy traditions of a religious upper-class family who use their conservative values to repress emotions (love naturally). On the cusp of 'womanhood', a beautiful young girl (The Virgin) wants to break free from these rigid ways of death and meets a middle-aged man (The Gypsy) who represents a sort of curiosity for this sexually repressed girl. If his writing were not so colourful, DH would be the Victorian Benny Hill - running after young innocent girls that make two bumps in the sand (cue music).

Yvette (Joanna Shimkus) and her sister Lucille (Harriet Harper) return to their East Midlands home after attending school in the south of England. Their father, being a vicar, suffocates them. Out on a daytrip with her friends Yvette encounters a free-spirited gypsy (Franco Nero). The sight of this handsome man smites her. It also awakens a sexual desire that takes her away from her dull, uneventful life at the vicarage. Mrs. Fawcett (Honor Blackman) and Major Eastwood (Mark Burns), two people living in 'sin' because of their 'immoral ways' comfort Yvette and tell her that life should be for living. Her stern mean-spirited grandmother (Fay Compton) objects to this friendship.


Disc: The picture quality is poor, drained of colour and full of scratches.

Special Features: By way of extra content on this 40th Anniversary Edition release by Arrow Films, we get a 32-minute question and answer session with Director Christopher Miles and actor Honor Blackman. Also included are a press cuttings galley, film scene gallery and a behind-the-scenes gallery.

Verdict: If you are a virginal young female woman and you want to break away from the domesticity of life and your dysfunctional family, go find a passionate gypsy who oozes sex appeal, he will teach you the raw multi-coloured ways of womanhood. You will wake up a changed woman.