God's Own Country

One of the reviewers writes that God's Own Country is no Brokeback Mountain. True it's not like the latter film, but it's just fine and powerful.There is great emotions and feeling to this film, about a man discovering his capacity to love, tenderly brought to the surface by a Romanian immigrant/worker to England. The character John Saxby is a lonely gay man who has few social skills, and when it comes to loving, he's almost totally ignorant. And he has a drinking problem. God smiles on him by sending to him a a Christ-like young man, who with his beard somewhat looks like Christ, and who happens to be a superb shepherd not only of sheep but of John (cf the lord is my shepherd"). John needs/craves tenderness and love, and he finally receives both and it transforms him. The angry young man transforms into a maturer man, one capable of sensitivity and love.He's basically a good man, but the burden of assuming the responsibility of his father's sheep/cattle farm is too much for him. He finds escape from his problems and his lack of love in booze and casual sex. The family has hired a Romanian to assist him. On their first trip alone together to repair a stone wall out on the moors, they young men become intimate. There's a D.H. Lawrence-like wrestling scene where the two fight each other until they both succumb to sex (Lawrence's men don't go all the way). This is the beginning of their relationship.The story occurs in Yorkshire. One thinks of the Brontes, especially Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. I don't think it's farfetched to call this a gay Wutheriing Heights, the biggest difference being that God's Own Country not a tragic story. The two young men come together at the end of the film, after one of the most beautiful acting scenes I've ever encountered in a film when John finds his friend and reveals his love by finally saying, "I want to be with you." Very powerful scene, and the two actors should be very proud of this scene, as well as the director.Now about the two actors. One reviewer lamented that the two lead actors aren't very good looking. I beg to differ. Josh O'Connor has what has often been called "rugged good looks." He's the perfect actor for this role because John Saxby lives on a rugged terrain, stones and rock everywhere. O'Connor's face is one of angles and grooves and cheekbones like rocky cliffs. He has a sensual mouth and large expressive eyes. He's a handsome man.The other actor, Alec Secareau, is also a good looking man. I'm wondering if the director Lee Francis hired him because his face has a Christ-like quality. He has small, sensitive features, a kind mouth and eyes. As for their naked bodies, both actors have nothing to be embarrassed about. They are strapping young men, and it's all we need to know and to see.Now their acting. Josh O'Connor is an extraordinarily gifted actor. He has stripped off all his own personal masks to play this role. To make himself so vulnerable, well, it took him a lot of courage to play this part. He reminds me of the great actor, Spencer Tracy, another actor with rugged good looks. I think O'Connor will have a great acting career, and I hope he chooses his roles wisely. I hope he doesn't make the mistakes Nicholas Hoult is making, the latter a gifted actor who's staring in awful movies. Well, let him make the money while he can, and he can later take on better films. The other actor, Alec, is also gifted. He has the gentler role so he doesn't leap off the screen the way Josh does. But he has his moments when the screen is all his. Two talented actors. The actors who play the mother and father are also talented, and they play their roles perfectly, a minimalistic style worthy of the film. As a review already noted, they convey so much by their eyes. Excellent actors, surely pros and it shows, Gemma Jones and Ian Hart. This movie is now up there with my favorite gay film Tom Ford's A Single Man.I'm not sure if the director has deliberately employed religious symbolism, but to this viewer, there seems to be much to suggest Christianity. There's the gentleness of the Romanian worker who looks like Christ. We see him save sheep, feel them, show them affection.When John hurts his hand, G.. the Romanian, takes his hand and spits on it to clean it of infection. G. teaches John to love. Later, John's wound on his hand looks like the pierced palm of Christ, which G. licks. Of course, there is the appellation given to the apostle, John the Beloved of Christ. Don't know if I'm reaching in this, but there is a meal, prepared by G. for John and himself. There is the swimming scene. the sunrise scene. And on the bus, the iconic image of John with his head on G's shoulder. A lovely image, so like holy icons of Christ and the Beloved John. Wish I could speak to the director Francis Lee about this. My gut feeling is that Lee wants us to think of both John the apostle and Christ. Such a film as this Christianizes gay love. And of course there is the title with the word "God." Yes, the director must want us to think in spiritual terms. . . .Powerful scenesThe wrestling sceneSharing of the saltSharing of a cigaretteWatching the sunset together (John's first time?)Teaching John to kiss (John's first time kissing?)The E.M. Forster-like swimming scene (baptism of love?)Teaching John the tenderness of a finger's touchJohn touching his ill father (first time?)John bathing his stroke-struck fatherThe fight between the young men after John drinks too much and is unfaithful, and Geo. leavingJohn lonely for G, and his mother giving G's address to him, written on a piece of paper, she knows her sonJohn finding G, the MOST POWERFUL SCENE, and his revelation of loveThe driving home together on the bus together, John sleeping on G's shoulderTaking away of the mobile vanThe young men entering the house together, for life?

One of my favorite gay movies. I like it because it's gritty, raw, and doesn't involve the typical "gorgeous twink struggling with his sexuality" trope. I like that this movie features real men, and not in a way that takes it to the OTHER end of the common trope "gorgeous bearded otter struggling with his love life despite being incredibly handsome and meeting other impossibly handsome otters/bears.". Such a great story!!

Well-written, relevant content with accurate subject matter.

I cannot heap enough praise on this film. It is bleak but beautifully shot at the same time. The dialogue is sparse but the emotions of the characters are very apparent each time they open their mouths. This plays out a bit like a version of "Brokeback Mountain" where two guys discover one another while off on a trip to care for the sheep owned by the family of one of the men. It starts on a farm where the father, due to stroke, is unable to carry on with the day-to-day business of running the farm. This task falls on the shoulders of his son, who is very unhappy, believes his father sees him as unable (and possibly unworthy) of running the farm "properly". His escape is to drink to excess and have anonymous sexual encounters with men. He is unable to make more than physical contact with anyone. The father is critical of almost every move the son makes to the point that the son is about to explode in frustration, shame (that he cannot do things in a manner to get his father's praise and also shame over his homosexuality), and resentment of having been saddled with the farm out of a sense of duty. They hire a handsome young man to assist around the farm and that makes the son even more despondent and angry at the father and now at this interloper who is getting the praise from the father that HE is struggling to get.The two must drive some distance on the farm and stay for several days to care for the sheep. During this time, wordlessly, the son and stranger, who is a kind and gentle man, discover a mutual attraction and change and healing begin for everyone in the family. The son is less sullen, the father learns to trust the son and becomes more patient and gentle, the son quits drinking for the health of his new relationship. Then another tragedy befalls the farm, testing all who reside there.This was one of the best movies I've seen in a while. It is, as I said, a quiet movie with the dialogue not wasting time on frivolous discussions. Almost every word rings true, exposes more about the characters, and moves the story forward. This is one of those movies where the silence and facial expressions tell more than the dialogue ever could. We get the frustration of the father who is locked in a crippled body longing to be able to do what he could before his stroke. We get the son's psyche writhing inwardly as he tries and fails to please his father and reconcile within himself the feelings he has for other men. And we understand the kindness and passion in the helper as he understands what is going on and acts in ways that teach the son what he needs to do to be more efficient and to heal a broken and wounded soul. This film does not slap you in the face with the story and drama but nestles around you like a warm blanket on a cold day. It is uncomfortable to watch but comfortable at the same time. Once I realized what was motivating the outward emotions of the characters I could only feel sad for them and root for them to find a happier place emotionally. Beautiful film with two handsome lead actors.