The Rainbow (1989) review

Or, Women in Love ... Mostly With Each Other: "innocent" (but curious!) student Ursula Brangwen (Sammi Davis) is fascinated with soldier Anton (Paul McGann) but is seduced by her own physical education instructor Winifred (Amanda Donohoe), defies her father's wishes and becomes a schoolteacher for a group of urchins (who are covered in sores and soot), and then her sexual relationship with Anton fizzles out and he marries someone else.  This final adaptation of a D. H. Lawrence novel by Russell has him in an unusually subdued state - aside from copious nudity, that is - and I wonder if trying to keep his creative impulses under control "threw him off" slightly because he seems to lose sight of the purpose of the book ... however, I personally find the scenes with Ursula in the classroom having to contend with both the brats (who only "obey" when there's a fear of being caned) and lecherous colleague Mr. Harby (Jim Carter) to be totally compelling: many times, "seasoned" educators can be unacceptably condescending to newcomers (at least that's how I felt in my early years).  The ending is a tad rushed through although the movie remains hopeful Ursula's dreams of adventure haven't been completely crushed by "experience."