 Director Ken Russell s screen rendering of D.H. Lawrence s celebrated and controversial novel, about the battle of the sexes and relationships among the elite of Britian s industrial Midlands in the 1920s. Gerald Crich (Oliver Reed) and Rupert Berkin (Alan Bates) are best friends who fall in love with a pair of sisters Gudrun, a sculptress (Glenda Jackson) and Ursula Brangwen, a schoolteacher (Jennie Linden). Gerald marries Gudrun, Rupert weds Ursula, and the foursome embarks upon a Swiss honeymoon. But the relationships take markedly different directions, as Russell explores the nature of commitment and love. Rupert and Ursula learn to give themselves to each other; the more withdrawn Gerald cannot, finally, connect with the demanding and challenging Gudrun.