Another Country (1984)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Marek Kanievska

Writer:

Julian Mitchell (play)

Release Date:

June 1984 (UK)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The smash hit London play now a big screen event . . . not to be missed! [Australia theatrical]

Plot:

Based on the life of the young Guy Burgess, who would become better known as one of the Cambridge Spies.

Plot Keywords:

Spy | Communist | 1930s | Fame | Treason

Awards:

Nominated for 3 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

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

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Althorp House, Althorp, Northamptonshire, England, UK

Company:

Castlezone

Trivia:

A very youthful Earl Spencer appears as an extra in several scenes.

Quotes:

Tommy Judd: You know... What I really hate about cricket, is that it is such a damned good game.
Guy Bennett: Ah! Judd's Paradox. Of course, cricket is a fundamental part of the capitalist conspiracy.
Tommy Judd: Of course.
Guy Bennett: One only has to observe the two of them seen. There's the Proletariat forced to labour in the field, while the Bourgeoisie indulges in the pleasures of batting and bowling.
Tommy Judd: Quite.
Guy Bennett: I mean, there's every reason to suppose
[pause]
Guy Bennett: ... that the game ultimately derives from the wholly unjustified right of the medieval lord to the unpaid labour of villains and serfs at haymaking and harvest.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Wanderlust (2006) (TV)

A Lovely Film

I saw this movie again the other day and am impressed at how well it has held up. Though it's a little hard to follow the arcane hierarchies of 1930s British public school life, that is precisely the point-- these people are suffocating in the meaningless rituals of their class. Rupert Everett and Colin Firth give outstanding performances as the openly gay and communist members of their school, and the unfolding of the relationship between Everett and Cary Elwes is some of the most romantic footage I've ever seen. Though very few of us live in such a stratified social climate these days, we would do well to understand the webs of hierarchy and ritual that bind us all in one way or another.