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Reviews6
blessed_damosel's rating
If you're familiar with Fametracker and its 'Hey! It's that guy!' feature, you'll understand what I mean by an 'it's-him'. It's when you watch a film and all the way through you're pointing at second banana actors going 'Oh look, it's him'. One of the pleasures of this film is trying to work out exactly why so-and-so's face is familiar and then realising it's Prior Robert from TVs Cadfael, or something similar.
I read the play Conduct Unbecoming at school, and while this film does not go quite as deeply into the themes it throws up, ie moral bankruptcy in the British Raj/army and macho values in general, it remains a well-made, well acted period drama redolent of the distinctive spirit of the period.
Then again, I could be biased because I find Milington so dishy (he played Herod Agrippa in I, Claudius, in case you're stumped!)
I read the play Conduct Unbecoming at school, and while this film does not go quite as deeply into the themes it throws up, ie moral bankruptcy in the British Raj/army and macho values in general, it remains a well-made, well acted period drama redolent of the distinctive spirit of the period.
Then again, I could be biased because I find Milington so dishy (he played Herod Agrippa in I, Claudius, in case you're stumped!)
When an arm or leg is removed, the amputee can continue to 'feel' it for some time afterwards. The phantom limb can hurt, or itch, or feel cold. But nothing is truly the same.
Similarly, the First World War irrevocably altered Britain, but in its immediate aftermath we limped on, unaware (or unwilling to admit) that anything had changed. It's this brief period of denial that Month in the Country illustrates: the moment when we teetered on the edge of the 19th century before toppling into the 20th.
Consequently, while it is a film of great heartbreak and loss, it is also one of great hope and triumph of the human spirit. There is one scene that perfectly illustrates this: a little girl visits her friend, who is sick in bed. She talks about the weather and her new hat and how they'll play together when her friend gets well. Then as she walks back home she says to Colin Firth
'She knows she's dying, doesn't she?'
It is as tragic for the girl to be so knowing and capable in the face of death as it is for young men to have experienced the hell of the trenches and return to indifference and hostility. But because of that tragedy they will go on to experience a more real, and potentially more joyful world, than the other inhabitants of comfortable and conventional Oxgodby.
Similarly, the First World War irrevocably altered Britain, but in its immediate aftermath we limped on, unaware (or unwilling to admit) that anything had changed. It's this brief period of denial that Month in the Country illustrates: the moment when we teetered on the edge of the 19th century before toppling into the 20th.
Consequently, while it is a film of great heartbreak and loss, it is also one of great hope and triumph of the human spirit. There is one scene that perfectly illustrates this: a little girl visits her friend, who is sick in bed. She talks about the weather and her new hat and how they'll play together when her friend gets well. Then as she walks back home she says to Colin Firth
'She knows she's dying, doesn't she?'
It is as tragic for the girl to be so knowing and capable in the face of death as it is for young men to have experienced the hell of the trenches and return to indifference and hostility. But because of that tragedy they will go on to experience a more real, and potentially more joyful world, than the other inhabitants of comfortable and conventional Oxgodby.
Rougher and less stylised than Herman's previous features Brassed Off and Little Voice, Purely Belter nevertheless contains elements fast becoming his trademark. Sharp comic dialogue sugaring a pill of biting social satire; life for the post-Thatcher working class; and those little things that make life bearable, but end up cutting you off from life. In Brassed Off it was Danny and his band, in Little Voice LV and her records, and for Gerry and Sewell it's football.
Like Gerry, I am a passionate football fan who has only just been to her first match - Glentoran v. Liverpool in Belfast. A pre-season friendly, not even at Anfield. But when Robbie Fowler - my favourite player - scored, my primal yell of 'YESS!!' started at my feet and rushed through all my veins. It was wonderful. Herman captures that feeling even when the lads enter the despised ground of their enemies Sunderland.
In Brassed Off and Little Voice, Danny and LV break free of their obsessions into lives which are far from perfect, but real. But Gerry and Sewell don't. Maybe because they're so much younger: Danny can remember when the mine was thriving, LV remembers when her Dad was alive. Gerry and Sewell have only ever known this life. Only ever been waiting for Saturday to come.
Perhaps that makes this the darkest of the three films. Perhaps not. Purely Belter will thoroughly entertain you, and if you let it, it will make you really think.
Like Gerry, I am a passionate football fan who has only just been to her first match - Glentoran v. Liverpool in Belfast. A pre-season friendly, not even at Anfield. But when Robbie Fowler - my favourite player - scored, my primal yell of 'YESS!!' started at my feet and rushed through all my veins. It was wonderful. Herman captures that feeling even when the lads enter the despised ground of their enemies Sunderland.
In Brassed Off and Little Voice, Danny and LV break free of their obsessions into lives which are far from perfect, but real. But Gerry and Sewell don't. Maybe because they're so much younger: Danny can remember when the mine was thriving, LV remembers when her Dad was alive. Gerry and Sewell have only ever known this life. Only ever been waiting for Saturday to come.
Perhaps that makes this the darkest of the three films. Perhaps not. Purely Belter will thoroughly entertain you, and if you let it, it will make you really think.