Product Description

The deeply moving drama of one woman’s rebellion against convention.

Lindsay Duncan (Under the Tuscan Sun, A Year in Provence) delivers a formidable performance as Anna Bouverie, a 20th-century woman trapped in her role as a vicar’s wife in the English village of Loxford. Arranging church socials, delivering the parish newsletter, and answering the rectory’s endlessly ringing phone, Anna feels stifled by her marriage and her circumstances. "I married the man, not the job," she pleads. "I’m not an outboard motor. I’m another boat!"

Anna’s first tentative steps toward self-definition meet resistance from her increasingly distant husband as well as from patronizing parishioners. But when two other men in her orbit offer their support —and perhaps more—Anna must sort out their real motives and make her choices.

Also featuring Miles Anderson, Stephen Dillane, Pam Ferris, Ronald Pickup, Joyce Redman, and Prunella Scales. As seen on Masterpiece Theatre.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE Joanna Trollope bio and cast filmographies.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #91838 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-02-27
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 203 minutes

Amazon.com
Lindsay Duncan's lean yet luminous face will draw you in to the story of The Rector's Wife. Anna Bouverie (Duncan, Rome) chafes at her limited life as a vicar's wife in a small English town. When her husband Peter (Jonathan Coy, from the Horatio Hornblower series) is passed over for a promotion and her daughter is bullied at school, Anna gets a job at a supermarket in another town--a small act of independence that sets off gossip, domestic fights, and worse. When Anna meets another man who seems to understand her frustrations, she stumbles into an affair. The Rector's Wife, in its broad outlines, combines a romance novel plot with feminist themes, but its real strength is the richness of the characters, both in the writing and the performances. Duncan's performance is wonderfully three-dimensional and seemingly background character keep popping out with vivid details (Prunella Scales, Fawlty Towers, and Pam Farris, Rosemary & Thyme, have great scenes). This four-episode mini-series is sort of a British version of An Unmarried Woman--less concerned with psychology and more attuned to the social pressures of a small town, but nonetheless an engaging portrait of a woman struggling towards independence. --Bret Fetzer

Exclusive Magazine, February 2007
Lovely and accomplished Lindsay Duncan's understated, yet powerful performance makes this film one of the most memorable from the 1990s.

Broadcasting & Cable, February 26, 2007
First rate, top notch and thoughtful show.

Customer Reviews

VINTAGE, MUST-SEE BRITISH DRAMA.
THE RECTOR'S WIFE is one the most memorable British television productions from the 1990s. The lovely and accomplished Lindsay Duncan's understated, yet powerful performance as Anna Bouverie captures all the character's frustrations, disappointments and, finally, flowering in the wake of new love and the potential of a new life away from a loveless marriage and oppressive community. The film offers insightful comment about the nature of marriage and of the role of religion in modern society without being preachy or judgmental; if one chooses to ignore these themes, the film can just be enjoyed as fine, compelling drama. With Miss Duncan, there is fine support from the wonderful Stephen Dillane and from Ronald Pickup and, as always, Prunella Scales. Well worth repeated viewings.

Buyer Alert !!!
On my copy of this DVD set the first DVD had the first and second episodes reversed. Make sure if you watch this that the episode identified as #2 is the one you watch first. Episode # 1 should begin with The Rector's wife doing some office work. Episode #2 begins with a sort of pastoral country village scene. The second DVD doesn't have any problem.

A must-see for fans of Trollope
A classic story of a woman's efforts to remain a good wife while taking new risks. Anna Bouverie has spent the last 20 years of her life struggling to keep her family financially afloat, in spite of her husband's less than lavish salary in the parish.
The last straw occurs when he is passed over for a promotion and Anna has to face the fact that she will have to take things into her own hands as well. But how does she do this without tipping the balance? Unfortunately, her efforts brings about the disapproval of those in the parish as well as the anger of her husband.
Anna is forced to form a new identity for herself, not an easy task after all the time she's spent within the protection (and confines) of her marriage. A very believable look at the challenges faced by one woman trying to break out of her shell.