Josh O'Connor (Johnny Saxby)
Alec Secareanu (as Gheorghe Ionescu)
After watching the movie, I had a strong urge to write a movie review, but I couldn't find the starting point, so I was thinking about it when I was cooking, when I was taking a shower, and when I was mopping the floor. After thinking about it, I still came up with the housekeeping skills of primary school students' composition, and started from the title.
This movie can have many vulgar names: such as the love story between a manic farmer and a migrant worker, and a gentle stranger using love to warm the hearts of farmers' friends, and so on. However, the director came up with a name that made me feel inexplicable called Gods Own Country. In English, Gods Own Country. What is the kingdom owned by the gods like, I don't know, it depends on how the director tells the story.
The film starts from a winter Scottish farm (corrected by netizens, it should be Yorkshire in northern England, I went to the official website to read the introduction, it is indeed Yorkshire, the same below, no longer correct one by one), and 10 minutes into the film, I I just heard a line of dialogue, a few words from my grandmother to my grandson Johnny, and then a very real cow delivery scene, which was described as very real because when I watched it for the first time, I even suspected that the actor was borrowing to shoot, then But put the whole arm in the plastic bag into the cow, uh, there. This dedicated plot appeared again and again during the film's development. I even thought that the director hired two good veterinarians to act in the movie, and wouldn't it be a bit of a loss for not giving him an Oscar? (laugh)
The dialogue with Shao Bai has actually brought a lot of obstacles to watching the movie, because there is no language to express, and the behavior of the characters cannot be reasonably explained. For example, after 10 minutes, there is a passionate scene in an ox cart. The play was a bit sudden, and there was no explanation or follow-up. The only thing that impressed me was the various actions between Johnny and the auction intern. There was a scene where the auctioneer was about to kiss Johnny, but he quickly turned over and fucked him hard (of course, it was also shot in a borrowed position, lol) . Refusing to kiss was actually my first impression of Johnny, he was a man without feelings, that sex, just sex, no love. We can simply sum it up as Johnny is a man without feelings and desires are just desires. Of course, in the beginning, when Johnny came back from selling cows, he would hand the money to his grandma with a smile, but when he turned around and entered the cowshed, he found that the pregnant cow did not wait for her Johnny boy and gave birth to one that died because of an abnormal shoulder bone. When the calf was born, he was criticized by his father. I think this accusation was very good, because his field battle with the auction intern delayed the best time to deliver the baby, and the calf died. Dad was naturally very angry and didn't say anything harsh, but his mouth was full of denials to his son. After taking the shotgun handed by Dad and ending the calf's life, Dad walked out of the cowshed, and Johnny kicked him hard. The calf with a dead foot, this kick, I think is a kind of venting of anger, like saying, why do you want to die, if you don't die, I will not be humiliated by my dad.
Due to the lack of manpower on the Johnny family's farm, the conflict between the son and the father became more and more serious. The father had to issue a job announcement, and of course only Gheorghe (my name is really hard to write) came to apply. When Gheorghe showed up, I was finally relieved, if the second lead had an ugly version of freckles (the freckles are ugly enough, and I think Johnny's hair is just an ugly version of the freckles, but I personally like the little freckles, and I don't mean to belittle here), I will kill myself (no, I will just endure it and read it). After settling in Gheorghe, Johnny went to the town bar to get drunk, and met an old friend who was in college. He was not friendly to his old friend, and sarcastically killed the day. His words were all ridicule to the outside world, but it was actually his closure to his softest self.
On a sunny day, Gheorghe started his first job, helping a ewe give birth under the watchful eye of his father, another big close-up, with all kinds of mucous membranes and organs and mucus at a glance, the director asked Take my knee and the blade. Gheorghe finished delivering the ewe, our ugly Johnny just woke up from a hangover, bumped into Dad in the cowshed and Gheorghe was at work, got a rightful rebuke from Dad, Gheorghe watched it all , and have a better understanding of this home. In this scene, the intense emotional conflict between father and son reached new heights. Father felt that Johnny was disobedient and did not do things seriously. Johnny felt that his father was trapped here and was a failure. The two generations cannot communicate effectively, and they can only carve various scars on each other.
Soon, our two protagonists had to spend a few days in the mountain hut because they had to repair the stone wall on the mountain. Of course, it goes without saying that if the two did not take advantage of this opportunity to improve their relationship, then this director is indeed enough to make people feel Accident.
The relationship has improved, but the start of the improvement surprised me. Because Gheorghe is from Romania, he was dubbed a Gypsy by Johnny (I didn't find out that Gypsy is a bit insulting after a long time of investigation), the growth environment and psychological state made each other feel strange to each other. have conflict. So for me, I don't usually think bad things about each other when I meet strangers, but the previous relationship made Johnny think that Romanians are backward, and Gheorghe thinks that this farm has no warmth at all, everyone is like Scottish winters are just as icy and prickly. Then working together, there will definitely be conflict, but I didn't expect the first conflict to arise after all kinds of careful wait-and-see. Johnny became curious about Gheorghe because Gheorghe rescued the lamb that Johnny thought was bound to die. He began to observe that Gheorghe put seasonings while eating instant noodles. Insulting each other with a gypsy name (Gheorghe had already made it clear before that he should not call himself that), and was beaten to the ground by Gheorghe (I think it was a good beating, Johnny really needs to clean up).
Since they were all pressed to the ground and scuffled, let's have some passionate scenes. I guess the director thought so at the time. Then the two leading actors ushered in the first passionate scene. I was particularly uncomfortable watching this scene. It was uncomfortable for two reasons. First, they rolled around in the mud with their clothes half undressed. One dared to face the mucous membrane and The director of animal production painted the bodies of two people in black to "work", which made me, a little clean freak, uncomfortable; secondly, it happened a bit funny. At first Gheorghe got up to pee in the morning, and Johnny followed behind to make Gheorghe think he was going to fight, and Gheorghe, who would have misunderstood, fought with Johnny like this, and rolled into the mud (because there are no sheets to roll outside).
Like many great love stories, after the two people lost their kidneys, they began to have heart-to-heart conversations, talking about each other's life and views of their hometown, and talking about each other's parents and family life, (here I know that Johnny's biological mother is very Left the family long ago, and now it should be the stepmother). During the day, Johnny moved a stone and cut a big hole in his palm. Gheorghe came to look at it with concern, but was rejected by Johnny, but Gheorghe pulled his hand to look at it and helped him apply saliva to sterilize it. Gheorghe was domineering and warm in silence. The image of a man is thus established. The stone pierced not only Johnny's palm, but also his hard emotional shell, and Johnny's expression seemed to tell the audience that no one had ever been so kind to him.
There was a scene where my aunt laughed the whole time. The two were eating instant noodles around the fire. Johnny reached out for Gheorghe's condiment bag for the first time. After Gheorghe gave it to Johnny, Johnny was embarrassed to enter the house. After that, the first official bed-scrolling (the blowjob in the mud doesn't count), I think it's especially worth writing. The reason I think it is worth writing is that the two of them were very uncooperative at first. Johnny came up and greeted each other three times as usual, but was stopped by Gheorghe several times, and then Gheorghe did not say a word and told our Johnny with body language. Boy, rolling the sheets is not like this, take it slow and have a kiss. Who is our Johnny boy? He is a master who does not kiss and only "work". Fortunately, we met Gheorghe who can train. This scene went from being in a hurry at the beginning to resisting kissing, to being unable not to kiss. It was so well done, why don't you consider giving it an Oscar?
Days passed, and Gheorghe's plan to stay for only a week was getting closer and closer, but Johnny's father was hospitalized because of a stroke. This accident made it more difficult for Johnny to manage the farm, and indirectly kept Gheorghe. The extension of Gheorghe's work on the farm made Johnny feel the joy of love. He wanted Gheorghe to stay forever, but Gheorghe pointed out the cruelty of reality. There were too many problems to face when he stayed. His father's serious illness and Gheorghe's understanding of reality Johnny couldn't bear his worries, so he went to the bar to get drunk, and did indescribable things in the toilet of the bar with others, but Gheorghe saw it, and the angry Gheorghe chose to leave that night.
Without Gheorghe, everything became twice as difficult, and after thinking about it day and night, he decided to get Gheorghe back. Before I left, my grandma gave Johnny a note with Gheorghe's address, which moved me a bit. I never wrote about my grandma because she didn't have much of a role, but she should have been the first to find out about the relationship between the two (through contraception). set), like all conservative parents, she was panicked and disturbed, so when she handed out that note, it meant she released her best kindness and understanding in support of Johnny in his pursuit of Gheorghe When she came back, although she felt that this kind of feeling was wrong, she wanted her children to be happy. She had experienced family changes. This was the greatest recognition she could do, and it was also the best thing she could do.
In the last part of the film, I saw this clip at station B before. When I first watched it, because there was no cause and effect, I watched this clip alone, and I was just obsessed with the strange appearance of the two leading actors and the inexplicable plot. But when I watched it again, I was as moved as the barrage that filled the screen at that time. Johnny's clumsy apology, promise, pleading, and confession seemed very crude at all. Who knew Johnny more than an hour ago , or a man like a stone. But love is like that, and clumsiness and roughness also win love.
Of course, I'm willing to give five stars, not only because of the ending of HE, but also because of the empty Scottish countryside, the soundtrack with almost no melody, the slow pace of the plot, and the real acting skills. Would you really consider giving it an Oscar?
Finally, I want to say that many people say that this is the British version of Brokeback Mountain, or the HE version of Brokeback Mountain. After watching the movie, I felt that this description was very inaccurate, the kingdom of God sent out the delicate and silent love between two men, Brokeback Mountain, I have to say that aside from the sex scenes, it is also very accurate to say that he is a brotherhood. In terms of emotional expression, the emotional volume of the Kingdom of God is not an order of magnitude with that of Brokeback Mountain.
Say something off topic. About my personal feelings. I always feel that when two people are together, they need to be the right match, and the match may not be accurate, but that the emotional intelligence should be matched. It's not that education, family, background, and economic conditions should be equal, but that each person's control over emotions should be matched. Although everyone is happy at the end of the film, I personally do not support such a combination. One is gentle, delicate and respectful, and the other is reckless, ignorant, rough and dull. I also know that it must be the one with high emotional intelligence who is more likely to be hurt. This is the truth. People often say that they want to be treated tenderly. I think this phase is mutual. People who don't know how to love should study hard to love someone, otherwise, such people will only be unworthy of love because they wantonly express themselves and hurt others. A gentle and warm man shouldn't waste his goodness on people who don't know this kind of goodness. At the end of the film, people with huge differences in emotional intelligence come together, probably to illustrate that in the kingdom of the gods, love is the greatest. But if it is real, I think it will inevitably end in tragedy.
In any case, the acting skills of the two actors are superb. I don't think they are acting at all. They are real farmers who are inconspicuous on Scottish farms. They build fences, deliver animals, drive motorcycles, hold fodder, Skinning sheep, everything is so natural. I went through the resume of actor Josh O'Connor who played Johnny, and it turned out to be some achievements. I think British actors, who have grown into this series, are all very good at acting. What does it mean to grow into this series, such as curly blessings and small freckles, is the ugly and handsome line. As for Alec Secareanu who plays Gheorghe, please make more gay movies, I like you so much.
Here is some information I found from the official website
FRANCIS LEE Writer/Director
Francis was brought up on the Yorkshire Pennine Hills, UK. After training at Rose Bruford College he worked extensively as an actor in theatre, television and film including Topsy-Turvy, Me Without You, The Young Americans and Clapham Junction.
God's Own Country is Francis' first feature film project and received funding from BFI and Creative England. God's Own Country premiered at Sundance Film Festival 2017 where Francis was awarded the World Cinema Dramatic Jury Award for Directing. The film had its European premiere at Berlin International Film Festival 2017 where Francis was awarded the Männer Readers Jury Award at the Teddy Awards for best film.
Francis wrote his first short film, Bantam in 2010, which was commissioned and funded by North West Vision and the UK Film Council. The Farmer's Wife , Francis' 2012 directorial debut, premiered at Palm Springs International Film Festival and went on to screen at many international film festivals, winning several awards including best film and best screenplay. His second film Bradford-Halifax-London (2013) extensively toured the international film festival circuit including Slamdance Film Festival, Encounters and BFI London Film Festival receiving numerous awards for best film, best screenplay and best actor. His third film The Last Smallholder(2014), a meditative documentary about the last working farmer on a Yorkshire hillside (and Francis' father), has screened at many international film festivals including Hot Docs, Sheffield Doc/Fest and Palm Springs International Film Festival.
JOSH O'CONNOR, John Saxby
Josh trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Josh made his feature debut in 2014 playing the role of Ed in Lone Scherfigs film, The Riot Club . Since then he has worked with Stephen Frears on two occasions, both in The Program and Florence Foster Jenkins . He starred in Edinburgh Film Festival winner Hide and Seek and in Jeppe Rønde's 2015 Festival favourite Bridge End. He is best known in the UK from his performances as James in Peaky Blinders and currently the literary hero Lawrence Durrell in ITV's hugely successful The Durrells .
In 2016 Josh was named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow.
ALEC SECAREANU, Gheorghe Ionescu
A graduate of the Romanian University for Theatre and Film, Alec made his first appearance in a series of shorts in 2007. While he continued to also play in independent theatre, he debuted in 2008 in a successful TV series and in 2011 in his first movie .
God's Own Country is Alec's first English language film role.
Key Creatives
Writer & Director Francis Lee Cast Josh O'Connor, Alec Secareanu, Ian Hart, Gemma Jones Producers Manon Ardisson, Jack Tarling Executive Producers Anna Duffield, Diarmid Scrimshaw Director of Photography Joshua James Richards Editor Chris Wyatt Music A Winged Victory For The Sullen
Funny pictures of the official ins of the movie
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