Beautiful Thing
by Hettie Macdonald
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Actor: Glen Berry, Linda Henry, Martin Walsh, Meera Syal, Steven M. MartinDirector: Hettie Macdonald
Brand: Sony
Cinematographer: Chris Seager
Editor: Don Fairservice
Producer: Bill Shapter
Producer: Tony Garnett
Writer: Jonathan Harvey
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-05-20
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Beautiful Thing
DVD Review: Open hearted and tender coming out movie
Summary: 4 Stars
This did not get rave reviews on its original cinema release and while it did respectable business on the art house circuit never made a major commercial splash .Yet this warm ,tender and unassuming movie has lasted long in the popular affection .It is competently directed and has the strong cast and solid support actors that have always been a feature of UK cinema.Yet its popularity is not solely down to these factors but rather to its generosity of spirit.It is not profound.It is not sophisticated .It is the cinema as comfort food and its world is the world of everyday struggles and quiet triumphs over adversity.It affirms in a positive way gay white working class identity and uses humour to project its message ,rather than employing a furrowed brow and pounding the "message" over in broad strokes
It is set in and around a working class housing estate in London and centres around 2 teens-,Jamie (Glen Barry)and Ste (Scott Neal).It establishes in its opening scene,set on the school playing fields, the contrast between the boys.Jamie hates sports and tries to get out of games .He loves old movies (there is a shot of Lucille Ball on his bedside cabinet)and reads celebrity and gossip magazines.He is most assuredly not "one of the lads" and is bullied and labelled as gay.Ste however likes sports and is good at them -when first seen he wears an Arsenal soccer shirt.He fits in and the contrast between the two is reinforced later in a scene where Ste joins in an informal kickabout as Jamie sits disconsolately on the sidelines .Yet we are given non verbal clues that the two boys ,while not bosom pals in school ,get on OK .In both the above scenes Ste gives Jamie a look of sympathy ,a "sorry about these wankers" expression on his face.
For Ste ,home is the problem .He and Jamie are both living in single parent homes but they have wildly contrasting experiences of this .Ste is bullied by his alcoholic father and brutal elder brother ,while Jamie is loved firecely and loyally by his mother Sandra -the excellent Linda Henry.She and Jamie spar verbally but the love and support they give each other is real and unswerving and she is ambitious for a new and better life for them both and wants to run her own pub rather than stay a barmaid
What we get in the movie is a classic romantic narrative but one that just happens to involve two boys as they come to realise,not simply that they are gay ,but are drawn to each other.After one beating too many from his father Ste is taken in by Sandra and invited to "top and tail" with Jamie .The scene that follows is among the most tender and affecting in all cinema. I repeat-in all cinema ,not just gay cinema .The scene is not explicit but tender and loving ,fraught with fumbling and hesitancy (just like so many first encounters )and achingly moving.We then see the contrasting impact of the encounter on the two boys -Jamie growing in self confidence and Ste struggling to reconcile his sexuality with his status as "one of the lads" and frightened of his Dad and brother finding out .
The major motif of the movie is "coming out" and visually the movie is suprisingly subtle.Producer Tony Garnett was a major TV producer and there is a slighly TV feel to the visuals especially the shots of the bleak estate but then the scenes will be brightened up by a rainbow and the attempts by residents to brighten up the area with window baskets etc .This is never just a wallow in social realism and the sense of unreality is quite deliberate at times .
The leading actors are not hunks in the Hollywood sense .They are sweet - cute even- but quite ordinary kids in looks and aspirations ,which makes it an easy movie for gay teens to relate to .Note also the suggestions that Sandra has a gay side -her closest relationship is not with boyfriend Tony but her work partner Louise .She has the reputation as a sexual predator and comes across as quite butch and with a hint of sexual ambiguity.Her defiance of prejudice in the dance that features in the last scene is overt and more than simply a lioness defending her cubs from prejudice .Add a warm feisty performance from Tamara Empson a troubled teen Leah ,whose Mama Cass fixation is the excuse for some glorious soundtrack music.
This is a celebration of coming out .It is open hearted and charming .I have a deep affection for this movie for while not great cinema it is life and love affirming.And that counts for a whole lot in my book .
Seeek it out since it affirms two groups often derided in cinema -gays and blue collar whites .This is a pleasure
Description of Beautiful Thing
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