ANOTHER COUNTRY

RUN TIME: 87 Minutes	AKA: Another Country - La scelta - Italy Another country - Histoire d'une traison - France Guy Bennett: Toista maata - Finland História de Uma Traição - Portugal Histoire d'une trahison - France Inny kraj - Poland Landet uden näde - Denmark Memória de um Espião - Brazil Otro país - Spain Vakoojan tarina - Finland

FILMING LOCATIONS: Althorpe Hall, Peterborough, England, UK Bodleian Library, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK Brasenose College, Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK England, UK

DIRECTOR: Marek Kanievska	WRITER: Julian Mitchell (Play, Screenplay)
PRODUCER: Robert Fox, Allan Marshall, Julian Seymour	CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Biziou

Cast - in credits order Rupert Everett ... Guy Bennett Colin Firth ... Tommy Judd Michael Jenn ... Barclay Robert Addie ... Delahay Rupert Wainwright ... Donald Devenish Tristan Oliver ... Fowler Cary Elwes ... James Harcourt Frederick Alexander ... Jim Menzies Adrian Ross Magenty ... Wharton Geoffrey Bateman ... Yevgeni Philip Dupuy ... Martineau Guy Henry ... Head Boy Jeffrey Wickham ... Arthur John Line ... Best Man Gideon Boulting ... Trafford Llewellyn Rees ... Senior Chaplain Arthur Howard ... Waiter Ivor Roberts ... Chief Judge Crispin Redman ... Prefect Nicholas Rowe ... Spungin Kathleen St. John ... Ivy Martin Wenner ... Batsman 1 Christopher Milburn ... Batsman 2 Tristram Jellinek ... Nicholson Tristram Wymark ... Henderson Ralph Perry-Robinson ... Robbins Anna Massey ... Imogen Bennett Betsy Brantley ... Julie Schofield	Production Companies Castlezone Eastern Counties Newspapers Ltd. Goldcrest Films Ltd. NFFC Virgin Distributors Orion Classics Other Companies Lee Lighting Ltd. ... grip and lighting equipment Technical Specifications Color info: Color Sound mix: Dolby

ORIGINAL SCORE: Opening Titles Martineau in Chapel Cricket Match Martineau's Bed Bennett Pining Note Passing After Dinner Moon Shines Bright Rendezvous Love Scene Bridge to Beating Quad Scene End Credits	Additional Music Jupiter, The Bringer Of Jolity - Gustav Holst, The Planets The Day Thou Gavest Lord, Has Ended Prelude, Raindrop, in D Flat Major, Opus 28, No. 15 - Frederic Chopin

Based on the award winning play by Julian Mitchell, the film explores the effect of Public School life in the 1930's on Guy Bennett (Rupert Everett) as his homosexuality and unwillingness to "play the game" turns him eastwards towards communist Russia.

Another Country

1984 - UK
Reviewed by Vincent Canby

PLOT DESCRIPTION
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, All Movie Guide

Intro: Rupert Everett & Colin Firth, back when they were just young ‘uns, star in this British drama that paints a fictional portrait of the early school days of two men, later involved in a real-life Soviet spy scandal, struggling with the rigid and sometimes cruel English social structure. It is a great looking film with a smart script and terrific performances by the two leads, but it's also sort of slow moving, oppressive and stuffy...often becoming what most folks think when they hear the term “British Drama.” This belated release from Warner Home Video does a fine job presenting the film, with a pretty good set of extras.

Story: The movie opens with Guy Bennett (Everett) as an old man exiled in Russia. The rest of the film is told in flashback, as Bennett recalls his days as a gay student at a British prep school he attends with Tommy Judd (Firth), a Marxist. Bennett is content keep his sexuality a secret as he attempts to climb the school's social hierarchy, while Judd wants nothing to do with it. Later, when two other students are “outed” and disgraced by a member of the school staff (one of the kids ends up killing himself), Bennett becomes fed up with the hypocrisy he sees (especially since it seems a lot of the guys at this school are gay). He himself is later outed when a love letter he wrote to another student (Cary Elwes) is discovered, resulting in Bennett getting terribly beaten. Worn down by the system he exists in, and Tommy's communist philosophy, Bennett begins to embrace socialist ideals.

Another Country, though based on real people, offers the fictional assumptions that Bennett's experiences in school are what led to the spy scandal he was later involved in. Whether or not that's true isn't the point; the movie isn't very successful in offering this cause-and-effect scenario. But that's not really important, either. What is important is, as a movie, Another Country isn't intriguing enough to take such a leap without making the holes in its connections apparent. It's obviously intended as a commentary on British hypocrisy, and it succeeds to a certain extent, but the viewer simply isn't given a convincing argument that what happened in his youth is the reason he becomes a Soviet spy. Still, the movie is very well acted, especially by its two stars, both of whom would go on to do better things (I'm pretty sure this disc was released to capitalize on their subsequent career success), and I have to say this is a great looking film. The script, based on Julian Mitchell's novel and play, is full of sharp, believable dialogue. Some people will fall in love with this film because of that, but personally, I thought it was a chore to sit through. I'd much prefer a true account of Guy Bennett to this.

Summary: In most respects, Another Country is a good film...a great example of strong writing, acting and technical skill. But it isn't a very interesting movie to watch, and the fun quotient is pretty low. Personally, if I hadn't seen it before, I'd rent it first before buying. But those already familiar with it will definitely like the DVD transfer and extras included.

Dave Anderson - dvd corner

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, All Movie Guide .
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