Another Country
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DVD details
Actor: Colin Firth, Michael Jenn, Robert Addie, Rupert Everett, Rupert WainwrightBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Special Edition
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-09-07
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: BBC Warner
DVD Reviews of Another Country
DVD Review: Another Country. Another World. Another Place.
Summary: 1 Stars
It is odd what Cannes would allow in 1984. Among them a British film at the cusp of the British Film Movement about a group of closeted homosexual boys, unwilling to leave the comfort of their university, of which one eventually becomes the coveted Russian spy Guy Burgess (or at least a small transgression). On several top ten lists of international critics, this viewer had trouble understanding the overall tones, themes, and relative points to the film. Was this a simple love story? Was this film created to symbolize the unsympathetic, yet hypocritical views of homosexuality? Was this a story about a scorned man and his distaste for what fellow Englishmen made him do? Who knows! Hating the idea of so many questions without answers, I challenged myself to watch this film a second time to ensure that obvious points were not being missed, and it faltered yet again. "Another Country" is a hodgepodge of different ideas, social inconsistencies, and covered with an obscure layer of homosexuality. It is a film about nationalism, about education, about love - but it never even scratches the surface of any of these - it just puts them on the table and expects the viewer to "get it". As an outsider looking in, I was confused by the structure of the school, the intertwined love connections, and the purpose behind the bookends with the aging Everett. "Another Country" was dull, trite, and overly presumptuous of itself without giving the viewer any foresight into the world created. It is a dated film about a culture that doesn't exist everywhere, yet oddly the DVD does.
Insult my intelligence if you must, but what sort of education were these students receiving? For the course of 90 minutes, students read book nonchalantly, played dress up for the guard, insulted little boys, ran out of windows, spent money, yelled about Marxism, and made out with each other. There was no visible structure; outside of being caught doing something wrong would mean lashes by the "Gods" of the House. There were no teachers, there were no assignments, and there were no exams that one could see, merely the openness to allow these students to do whatever they wanted to with rules that seemed as archaic as this film. Twenty-four years later, being an American with a structured University understanding, I was confused by this example. This was a major issue with this film, because instead of focusing on the underlying themes, I was too caught up in the basic structure of this school. It starts with a "teacher" finding two students making out, but from there these "teachers" become mere spirits of the mind - looming in the background as threats, but never seen. From a believable standpoint, I was disappointed. The confusion muddled the point, and the misunderstanding of how anyone could choose to stay longer merely to become a "God" of a house left the central focus lost in my eyes.
With the unexplainable introduction to British education bewildering me at every turn, I must also question the validity of director Marek Kanievska's choice to bookend this film with an aging Everett attempting to explain his reason for being a traitor by using his boyhood school days as an analogy of life and love. Was it necessary to convey the story by using a real historical figure as the narrator? This initially gave me a false impression of what this film would be about. I assumed it would be about his turn to Russia, while instead it focused on his love of Harcourt (a very floppy Cary Elwes) and disgust for hypocritical friends. The use of the bookends felt like it gave the film a more authentic feel at first, but when they were revisited at the end, I felt slightly cheated and still confused. Did the reporter get her story? What story was she after? Should "Another Country" have this many questions upon its conclusion? Perhaps the play was better structured, but as a film adaptation, I must admit it fails.
Leading us through the murkiness of "Another Country" are currently well respected actors in the British community. Colin Firth plays the only strong character in this entire film, Tommy Judd. His hatred for everything really exemplified my feelings about this film, which is why I connected to him the most. He was the Salinger-esque character that was well defined, strong, and understandable. The rest, well, the rest were as disappointing as this film. Everett was as weak as a wet paper towel. His character was unknown, attempting to be himself as well as a character, I kept seeing Everett be Everett - he was never Guy Bennett (Burgess - whatever!). The bewilderment of where Madonna was kept me at bay, but the sure comic genius of the film was that of Cary Elwes playing someone who caught the attention of Everett - somehow. Everett seems to attempt to play a smart, charismatic student that bends the rules and flaunts his homosexuality; Elwes is completely different - if one could even say that. He is awkward, boring, and honestly, a nothing. He is not a character, not Harcourt, not Elwes, nothing. During a first time dinner where Everett attempts to pour out his story about his romantic death of his father, Elwes responds with a grunt of a "No way" or something along those trivial lines. Elwes is reminiscent of a dog in this film, no real motive; he just follows Everett around pushing the plot into another dismal avenue.
Overall, "Another Country" was a disappointment. The lack of a focused direction, informative introduction, and defined characters sunk this film before it even had the opportunity to leave port. The characters were abysmal. A pre-Mr. Darcy Firth was fun to watch, but everyone else played themselves out of character, out of entertainment. This was a film about so many ideas that no real idea was able to surface. The onslaught of homosexuality was impressive to see in a film released in 1984, but midway through the feature it became cliché. Having recently viewed Alan Bennett's "The History Boys" as well as read the play, it was tough to watch "Another Country" sink into the water. Why couldn't there be teachers that understood, students that were less forceful with their homosexuality (perhaps just seeing it as the norm), and loves that broke the barriers, instead of jumping out of nowhere. Being a Cannes Best Film nominee, I had high hopes for this film, but the lack of everything solid soured it immediately. Kanievska's direction was more made-for-TV than worth of film. "Another Country" was just another cliché British schoolboy film that went nowhere, gave us lucid characters, and confused us by being too smart than what it is. Could not suggest it to anyone, nor would I!
Grade: * out of *****
Description of Another Country
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