Rachel, Rachel

RACHEL, RACHEL (PG)

D: Paul Newman

Warner Bros / Seven Arts / Kayos (Paul Newman)

US 🇺🇸 1968

101 mins

Drama

W: Stewart Stern [based on the novel “A Jest Of God” by Margaret Leighton]

DP: Gayne Rescher

Ed: Dede Allen

Mus: Jerome Moross

Joanne Woodward (Rachel Cameron), James Olson (Nick Kazlik), Kate Harrington (May Cameron), Estelle Parsons (Calla Mackie), Donald Moffat (Niall Cameron)

Paul Newman directs his wife, Joanne Woodward, in this (then) contemporary drama about a woman’s sexual awakening in 1960s New England. 

Woodward stars as the eponymous character, a repressed, middle-aged school teacher who still lives with her mum in their small Connecticut community, though her life changes when she meets a man from the big city.

Some of the subject matter may have been quite scandalous for the late 1960s, but looking back on this film from the 20th century, it’s little more than a wishy-washy soap opera with strong performances.

The Academy Awards deemed it worthy enough to gain a Best Picture nomination (over 2001: A Space Odyssey!), but I wouldn’t consider it even amongst the 10 best films of 1968, though it perhaps scrapes into the top 20 or thereabouts.

6/10