Brimstone & Treacle

Perhaps the build-up of so many people telling me to check out Sting's movies for years may have raised the stakes a bit too high. I have only seen his villainous role in David Lynch's Dune and also watched bits and pieces of Brimstone and Treacle long time back. The prayer sequence never left my subconscious and it stayed with me including the soundtrack. I slept on this for years and finally got to watch this creepy BBC film during the lockdown. This is a film adaptation of Dennis Potter's controversial play and was banned from screen for many years. The story is provocative starring Sting as a diabolical con artist who becomes a caretaker for a middle-aged couple's daughter who is in coma. Things take a nasty turn and it just gets weirder, at times somewhat uncomfortable, but above all devilishly intriguing. To be fair, this film is not for everyone. Yet it is a shame not to give this a watch. Also, it boasts of a terrific soundtrack; I'm not a huge fan of Sting/Police but he has done a splendid work to contribute for the score. Overall, a twisted story, full of solid acting performances to complement the dark atmosphere.

Almost feels like a period piece watching B&T these days.

I saw this when it came out and didn't care much for it then. However, on rewatch I can see the acting performances from Elliot, Plowright and Sting are great. The direction is good considering that it does feel quite 'stagey' having been adapted from the theatre.

The Dennis Potter story and script is a bit wordy but there are interesting religious themes of redemption and guilt throughout.

The music was somewhat out of place, but probably a contractual obligation for having Sting in the cast.

Polite, mannered drifter Martin Taylor (Sting) charms his way into the home of Thomas Bates (Denholm Elliott), an outwardly upright publisher of religious text, his simple-minded, devout wife Norma (Joan Plowright) and their catatonic daughter Patricia (Suzanna Hamilton), whom he claims to know. Martin is allowed to stay in the home for a couple of days, cooks, cleans, "cares" for the daughter and tries to help the couple through their marital problems, but he's also the catalyst that forces some dark secrets out of the family closet.

Sting's character will either annoy or fascinate you as he exists solely as an enigma, representing angel or demon, or possibly both. Originally a play, this film never quite escapes the stage, but that only feeds into the claustrophobia of the stuffy household and guilt-ridden, lonely characters who inhabit it, and, all in all, it's an intriguing allegory on the nature of good and evil that has a lot to offer, including potent religious imagery, a knockout nightmare/fantasy sequence and a good score (plus songs by The Police) all driven home by excellent performances by the three leads and assured direction by Richard Loncraine.

Dennis Potter's script was previously filmed in 1976 for BBC (that version also starred the great Denholm Elliott).

I really enjoyed Denholm Elliott's performance in this film. He's so bitter and gnarled up that his outbursts are brilliant and quite funny. Obviously the sick manner of the story is the same as the Play for Today, it's delivered well if not as successful as the TV version, although I've not seen that version for a long time so maybe the memory cheats a little.

Nothing wrong with Stings performance in this film but he he just didn't have the screen presence for me to completely convince.

I enjoyed this film more than I expected and it's good to see it get a repeat here in the UK on London Live channel. 7/10.

A middle class commuter belt couple Mr Bates (Denholm Elliot) and Mrs Bates (Joan Plowright) are duped into taking a charming young man Martin(Sting)into their house to help care for their catatonic daughter (Suzanna Hamilton). Martin claims to have been close to their daughter before an accident left her unable to communicate. As the film progresses the couple mistakenly start to trust Martin and dark family secrets are revealed.

Originally a stage play written by Dennis Potter the film is in turn engrossing, disturbing and claustrophobic. Denholm Elliot is as ever brilliant as the lonely and disturbed father figure, Sting puts in a good performance as a strange and demonic young man, Joan Plowright is very good as the maternal and naive housewife.

The two slight let downs for me were the music which I did'nt feel fitted in well with the film and the main fantasy sequence which did'nt stand the test of time well.

Other than that the film held my attention throughout, the direction by Richard Loncraine was extremely capable, all in all an intriguing and idiosyncratic piece which is well worth a watch.