Another Country
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Another Country
Plot
A pair of British lads, one gay and one socialist, chafe at the restrictions of boarding school life in this period piece, which was adapted from Julian Mitchell's novel and play of the same name and loosely based on the Burgess-Maclean spy scandal of the 1950s. In the 1930s, upper-class scions Tommy Judd (Colin Firth) and Guy Bennett (Rupert Everett) are both nearing the end of their careers at an unnamed public school that bears a striking resemblance to Eton. Tommy, a Marxist intellectual, refuses to participate actively in the school's rigid social hierarchy. But Guy, when not mooning after pretty boys, angles for a position next term as one of the "gods," or master prefects, of his house. When a faculty member stumbles onto the homosexual fumblings of a pair of students, one boy commits suicide and a scandal erupts. The administration and senior students do their best to ensure nothing of this sort ever sullies their reputation again. Considering that homosexual experimentation is rampant and that Guy has slept with most of the prefects in his house, the strict new rules leave a bad taste in his mouth. They also put a damper on his Wildean lifestyle, especially after he falls hopelessly in love with James Harcourt (Cary Elwes), a dreamy boy from one of the other houses. Things come to a head when autocratic prefect Fowler (Tristan Oliver) intercepts a letter from Guy to James and sentences Guy to a savage beating. By film's end, Guy's complicity in the power games of the British class system has been challenged, and his friend Tommy's communist dogma has made a lasting impression; a framing device portrays Guy as an elderly former spy living in exile in Soviet Moscow. Another Country was shot at Cambridge, Oxford, and Althorp Hall (Princess Diana's childhood home) after the producers were denied permission to shoot at Eton. Everett and Firth both appeared in the original London theater production alongside Kenneth Branagh and Daniel Day-Lewis; on-stage, it was actually Firth who played Guy. For a more factual account of the Burgess-Maclean affair, see the TV movie An Englishman Abroad. ~ Brian J. Dillard, RoviReview
Although the protagonist of this measured, elegiac coming-of-age story is loosely based on Guy Burgess, an Englishman who spied for the Soviets and defected in the '50s, the events of the film are almost wholly fabricated. They're also deeply moving -- an alternately brutal and tender examination of class, status, disillusionment, and longing. Set to a mesmerizing, subtly mournful score by Michael Storey, Another Country deftly introduces its audience to the complicated world of British public schools, then methodically exposes the cracks in the system of oppression that holds such institutions together. Rupert Everett and Colin Firth give strong, economical performances as the homosexual dandy and the fervent Marxist who, for different reasons, chafe at the restrictions of their society. Both characters are callow and self-absorbed, but Firth's principled thinker and Everett's ambitious romantic undergo subtle transformations that make them ultimately sympathetic. The rest of the cast is uniformly fine, especially Anna Massey as Bennett's propriety-minded mother. Cary Elwes doesn't have to do much besides look exceptionally handsome and blush a lot as the dashing young man who steals Bennett's heart. But the restrained love scenes -- shot in the same wistful style as the rest -- are a lot hotter than the more explicit ones that have become the standard in years since. Julian Mitchell's witty, nostalgic script may not do enough to connect the dots between the main action and the framing device that establishes Bennett's later career as a spy. But the prologue and epilogue do set the film's melancholy tone and provide Everett with an absolute corker of a closing line. In short, the tart and thoughtful Another Country may not stick to the facts, but its sustained sense of yearning gives it a compelling emotional power. ~ Brian J. Dillard, RoviCast
- Rupert Everett - Guy Bennett
- Colin Firth - Tommy Judd
- Michael Jenn - Barclay
- Frederick Alexander - Jim Menzies
- Robert Addie - Delahay
- Philip Dupuy - Martineau
- Rupert Wainwright - Devenish
- Crispin Redman - Prefect
Credit
Clinton Cavers - Art Director, Celestia Fox - Casting, David Garfath - Choreography, Penny Rose - Costume Designer, Alison Thorne - Continuity, Andy Armstrong - First Assistant Director, Marek Kanievska - Director, Gerry Hambling - Editor, Robert Fox - Executive Producer, Julian Seymour - Executive Producer, Ross Carver - Hair Styles, Michael Storey - Composer (Music Score), Pat Hay - Makeup, Sarah Monzani - Makeup, Aaron Sherman - Makeup Special Effects, Brian Morris - Production Designer, Peter Biziou - Cinematographer, Simon Bosanquet - Production Manager, Alan Marshall - Producer, Robert Fox - Producer, Brian Morris - Set Designer, Ken Weston - Sound Mixer, Julian Mitchell - Screenwriter, Eddy Joseph - Dubbing Editor, Christopher Figg - Second Assistant Director, Michael Zimbrich - Second Assistant Director, Pip Newbery - Costume/Wardrobe, Kenny Crouch - Costume/Wardrobe, Penny Rose - Costumes Supervisor, Ray Potter - Electrician, Clive Barrett - First Assistant Editor, Jeremy Strachan - First Assistant Editor, Tony Wright - Storyboard Artist, Julian Mitchell - Play Author, Christopher Knowles - Third Assistant Director| Another Cinderella Story (2008 Film), Another Chinese Cop (1996 Film) | |
| Another Dawn (1937 Film), Another Day (2001 Film) |
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Another Country (film)
For other uses, see Another Country.
| Another Country | |
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 DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Marek Kanievska |
| Produced by | Alan Marshall Robert Fox |
| Written by | Julian Mitchell |
| Starring | Rupert Everett Colin Firth |
| Music by | Michael Storey |
| Cinematography | Peter Biziou |
| Editing by | Gerry Hambling |
| Studio | Virgin Goldcrest Films NFFC Eastern Counties Newspapers, Ltd. |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox (UK) Orion Classics (US) |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Another Country is a 1984 British romantic historical drama written by Julian Mitchell, adapted from his play of the same title. Directed by Marek Kanievska, the film stars Rupert Everett as Guy Bennett and Colin Firth as Tommy Judd.
Another Country is loosely based on the life of the spy and double agent Guy Burgess, Guy Bennett in the film. It explores his homosexuality and exposure to Marxism, while examining the hypocrisy and snobbery of the English public school system.
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Contents
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Plot summary
The setting is a 1930s Eton-esque public school, where Guy Bennett (Rupert Everett) and Tommy Judd (Colin Firth) are friends because they are both outsiders in their own ways. Bennett is openly gay. Judd is a Marxist.
One day, a teacher walks in on Martineau (Philip Dupuy) and a boy from another house engaged in mutual masturbation. Martineau subsequently kills himself and chaos erupts as teachers and the senior pupils try their hardest to keep the scandal away from parents and the rest of the outside world. The gay scandal however gives the army-obsessed house captain Fowler (Tristan Oliver) a welcome reason to scheme against Bennett. Fowler dislikes him and Judd and wants to stop Bennett from becoming a "God" - a school title for the two top prefects. Fowler is able to intercept a love letter from Bennett to James Harcourt (Cary Elwes). Bennett agrees to be punished so as not to compromise Harcourt. On earlier occasions, he blackmailed the other "Gods" for their own "experiences" with him.
Meanwhile, Judd is reluctant to become a prefect, since he feels that he cannot endorse a "system of oppression" such as this. He makes a memorable, bitter speech about how the boys oppressed by the system grow up to be the fathers who maintain it. Eventually however he agrees to become a prefect in order to prevent the hateful Fowler from becoming Head of House. This never comes about because Donald Devenish (Rupert Wainwright) agrees to stay at school and become a prefect if he is nominated to become a God instead of Bennett.
Devastated at the loss of his cherished dream of becoming a God, Bennett comes to realize that the British class system strongly relies on outward appearance and that to be openly gay is a severe hindrance to a career as a diplomat.
The film's epilogue states that he defected to Russia later in his life, after having been a spy for the Soviet Union. Judd died fighting in the Spanish Civil War.
Cast
The film features Michael Jenn as Barclay, Robert Addie as Delahay, Rupert Wainwright as Donald Devenish, Tristan Oliver as Fowler, Cary Elwes as James Harcourt, Piers Flint-Shipman (credited as Frederick Alexander) as Jim Menzies, and Anna Massey as Imogen Bennett. Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, the younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, is an extra (with no dialogue) in three scenes.
Rupert Everett also played the role of Bennett in the play's first run.
- Rupert Everett as Guy Bennett
- Colin Firth as Tommy Judd
- Michael Jenn as Barclay
- Robert Addie as Delahay
- Rupert Wainwright as Donald Devenish
- Tristan Oliver as Fowler
- Cary Elwes as James Harcourt
- Frederick Alexander as Jim Menzies
- Adrian Ross Magenty as Wharton
- Geoffrey Bateman as Yevgeni
- Philip Dupuy as Martineau
- Guy Henry as Head Boy
- Jeffrey Wickham as Arthur
- John Line as Best Man
- Gideon Boulting as Trafford
- Nicholas Rowe as Spungin
- Anna Massey as Imogen Bennett
- Betsy Brantley as Julie Schofield
- Earl Charles Spencer (uncredited) as Student extra
Title
The title refers not only to Soviet Russia, which is the "other country" Bennett turns to in the end, but it can be seen to take on a number of different meanings and connotations. It could be a reference to the first line of the second (or third, depending on the version) stanza of the hymn I Vow to Thee, My Country, which is sung in both the play and film, as well as referring to the fact that English public school life in the 1930s was indeed very much like "another country". In the hymn, the other country referred to is Heaven (or the Kingdom of Heaven), although this allusion does not appear to relate to the film in any way.
Another Country is also the title of a novel by James Baldwin, which includes gay and bisexual characters.
The Go-Between is a novel by L.P. Hartley (1895-1972), published in London in 1953. The novel begins with the famous line:
- "The past is a foreign country (often misquoted as 'another country')...: they do things differently there."
The most direct reference is to several well known lines from British literature, originating from Christopher Marlowe's play, The Jew of Malta
Friar Barnadine: "Thou hast committed--"
Barabas: "Fornication-- but that was in another country; / And besides, the wench is dead."
Here "the wench" may refer to Martineau. Most of the students are more interested in covering up a potential scandal than worrying about the actual death. If so, the "adultery" may refer to what is done to Martineau and perhaps all students by the school, rather than his actual sexual liaisons.
Production
Eton College declined the opportunity to be featured as a location for the film.[1] With an additional fountain brought in, the Old Schools Quadrangle at Oxford University became an important location, along with the Bodleian Library, Brasenose College, Brasenose Lane, and Broad Street, Oxford. Many interiors were shot at Althorp, the family seat of the Earl of Spencer.[2] Other scenes scenes were filmed at Apethorpe Hall.[3][4]
Awards
The film was entered into the 1984 Cannes Film Festival where it won the award for Best Artistic Contribution.[5][6]
It was nominated for three BAFTA Awards in film: Editing (1984) Gerry Hambling, Most Outstanding Newcomer to Film (1984) Rupert Everett, and Adapted Screenplay (1984) Julian Mitchell [7]
See also
References
- ^ The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations Film locations for Another Country
- ^ The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations Film locations for Another Country
- ^ Lonsdale, Sarah (2003-07-12). "Stopping the rot". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertyadvice/propertymarket/3315056/Stopping-the-rot.html.
- ^ IMDb Filming locations for Another Country, 1984.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Another Country". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/1182/year/1984.html. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
- ^ Festival de Cannes Awards Database, 1984.
- ^ BAFTA Awards Database Another Country, 1984.
Further reading
- Mitchell, Julian (1982). Another Country: A Drama (First edition ed.). New York: French. ISBN 0-573-64040-8.
External links
- Another Country on YouTube
- Another Country at the Internet Movie Database
- Another Country at AllRovi
- Another Country at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
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