★ 7 / 10
Told by way of a interview retrospective, this
CinemaSerf
Told by way of a interview retrospective, this is a tale of disillusionment and political naivety amongst the English upper classes in the 1930s. Guy Bennett…
Told by way of a interview retrospective, this is a tale of disillusionment and political naivety amongst the English upper classes in the 1930s. Guy Bennett (Rupert Everett) was a student at Cambridge University - openly gay to his fellow students - on the periphery of the social and political norms of the day. His friend Tommy Judd (Colin Firth) and he bonded largely out of a desire for non-conformity, not because they believed in the same ideals; Firth a fervent Marxist, Everett ambitious - perhaps because of his sexuality - to reach the top of the hierarchical structure at the school. He falls in love, however - with the younger James Harcourt (Cary Elwes) and all the blind-eyes that had previously been turned to his behaviour were turned full beam and his behaviour, and to some extent that of Judd are challenged to breaking point. Julian Mitchell's play has been self-adapted to demonstrate just how insidious the educational establishment could be for those who did not play the game; and how empowering it could be for the ultra-conformist bullies (in this film deftly portrayed by Tristan Oliver as Fowler) and it is little wonder these academic institutions became an intellectual petrie dish for those recruiting future espionage assets. The film looks gorgeous - though filmed in Oxford - with a gently complementary score from Michael Storey.
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★ 8 / 10
Brilliant little period film
MieMar
This film is ageing brilliantly well. OK, the end might, the chat about accepting your sexuality etc, be very much of its time and of the stage where the film…
This film is ageing brilliantly well. OK, the end might, the chat about accepting your sexuality etc, be very much of its time and of the stage where the film originated, but the film is crisp and, despite its slowness, wonderfully alive. The classically beautiful photography also helps the timeless feel of it.
In the scenes of Everett and Firth the film really comes alive, and the actors have hardly since been better. Firth of course has less to do but the strange Firth hallmark reserve - which Tom Ford exploited for A Single Man but for me, in most roles including that one, makes him somehow permanently fake - has not yet set in. Judd, the character, holds himself back but is present in a way that older Firth rarely manages. Everett, without a doubt, has never been better. Which, in itself, is a bit of a tragedy. Its a fantastic role but he is stunningly good, subtle and showy at the same time. No wonder that Orson Welles was impressed. His Guy is insolent, vulnerable, naive, world-wise, cynical, poetic, open, deceptive, gentle and ruthless. I was a bit of an admirer of Everett's work and persona even before seeing this film - he seems one of the last real people out there, in the homogenised, we're all just lovely people, really, fame-game arena - but find to my disappointment that his acting work is too often the least interesting thing about him. Which, truly, is a pity because as this film shows, he really has the goods as an actor - and clearly enough experience and emotional honesty in real life too - to actually really grab us, draw us in and make us feel for him, with him. But in a lot of his work it seems he rarely brings the full package of emotions to work, happy to perform a facet of a man for us - often a rather glib one - rather than a full creature. I'd love to see him do something brave again, as I am sure that the man and the actor he is now could wash the floor with his younger self, in terms of complex, deeply felt emotion.
Another Country, with is milieu of extreme constraint, beautifully frames the feeling and behaviour of the boys it observes, and the focus on the endless rituals of the boarding school life also work to remind us how world is out to shape these boys (a kind of an anti-Harry Potter/Trinian's, in that aspect) and works still as a metaphor for society at large. In some ways times have changed less than we'd hope - or less than it looked like it would change, a few decades ago - even if caning is a distant memory.
I wanted to give Another Country 9 stars but unfortunately, although the cast in uniformly very strong I feel that the third key role, Guy's love interest James, hasn't dated well and the performance is flat, leaving Everett to do all the work in their scenes. For the film to overcome the slight staginess of the ending and to give real meaning to the innocent way that Guy and James choose to conduct their romance when boys around them are clearly habitually doing much more would have needed an actor who could match Firth and Everett in terms of interpretation of a role.
Oh, and people who can be bothered to complain about the old-man make up on Everett at the end - get a life. This is a film, all latex looks fake, even today, how ever much you choose to believe it, for what ever reason.
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