Waiting a week to review a film or a play can be problematic. Thinking
back, surely the film's faults will rise to the surface, the ones you
tended to overlook at the time. Of course, the opposite could be true;
mulling over a film in your head might make it grow with hindsight.
Walking out of Francis Lee's "God's Own Country" I knew I had seen
something special; I knew I had seen a film that was a triumph of both
LGBT cinema and of British cinema in general. A week later, and taking
everything into account, I'm inclined to think that "God's Own Country"
could be the best film of the year.
Like Andrew Haigh's "45
Years" this is an incredibly simple film about very complex emotions and
issues. The setting is a farm in Yorkshire. The farm isn't successful
and in time, it may well go under. It's run by Martin, (Ian Hart), but
he's incapable of working due to injury and later illness. The work,
(looking after the sheep and the cattle), is done by his taciturn son
Johnny, (Josh O'Connor). Johnny is gay but he's practically homophobic;
after a quick bout of sex with a guy he's picked up in a cafe, he just
doesn't want to know and brushes the guy off with the words. "We? No."
Then Gheorghe comes into his life; he's the Romanian farm-hand they
hire, initially for a week, to help with the lambing. At first Johnny
treats Gheorghe like dirt, asking him if he's 'a Paki' and calling him
'Gypo' and when, finally, they do have sex it's a rough act of lust
borne out of loneliness on both their parts.
It's here that
comparisons with "Brokeback Mountain" are bound to be raised, both in
the setting and the way in which the initial attraction happens,
(there's a later, and quite disarmingly beautiful, moment that will
remind you of a similar scene in "Brokeback Mountain"), but Francis
Lee's film is a much more honest and a much finer film than Ang Lee's
which aimed for a Hollywood demographic.
"God's Own Country" is a
film that hearkens back to the great British kitchen-sink movies of the
sixties and to the kind of films that Ken Loach is still turning out.
It feels 'real' and down-to-earth; at times it could be a documentary,
(there are a lot of scenes showing life on a farm where the most
dramatic thing that happens is a sheep or a cow giving birth). The
relationship at the centre also feels real if, to some, a little
unlikely. Perhaps the biggest, indeed the only, fault I can find with
"God's Own Country" is in Lee's decision to make Gheorghe the strong,
silent hunk who lands on Johnny's lap. Wish-fulfillment or what?
Nevertheless, and without wanting to give too much away, it's edifying
to finally see a gay-themed movie that doesn't end in tragedy. It's also
superbly played by basically its cast of four. Both Josh O'Connor and
Alec Secareanu are excellent as Johnny and Gheorghe, conveying so much
with very little in the way of dialogue, while Ian Hart and especially
Gemma Jones are wonderful as Johnny's father and grandmother. Jones is
beautifully understated as a woman who accepts everything life throws at
her with stoicism and a degree of humour.
Of course, this is a
film that won't appeal to everyone. There are people who will find fault
with the pace, with the lack of drama, with its political message and I
am sure there will be gay men who will see in Johnny and Gheorghe
things they may think don't ring true or simply dislike, (Johnny is far
from sympathetic from the outset), and yet it is these very
contradictions, together with Lee's wonderful sense of place, that marks
this out as a great film in my eyes. And yes, it is deeply political
without ever stressing that side of things. This may, indeed, be the
first great post-Brexit picture to come out of the UK. However you
choose to view it, it remains utterly unmissable.
The films reviewed here represent those I have liked or loved over the years. It is not a list of my favourite films but all the films reviewed here are worth seeing and worth seeking out. I know many of you won't agree with me on a lot of these but hopefully you will grant me, and the films that appear here, our place in the sun. Thanks for reading.
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