Marek Kanievska's 1984 film version of Julian Mitchell's award-winning play is loosely inspired by the early life of Guy Burgess, the British double agent who defected to the Soviet Union. At the center is Guy Bennett (Rupert Everett), an upper-classman at an exclusive British boys' school in 1932 England. Bennett and his friend Tommy Judd (Colin Firth) share a common bond as outsiders in this posh environment: Bennett is gay, while Judd is a committed Marxist. Bennett runs afoul of rigid social codes when a classmate intercepts a love letter written to a younger student, James Harcourt (Cary Elwes). Meanwhile, Judd finds his political obsessions at odds with the ossified class system that governs both the school and the wider British society. The alienation felt by the two young men will ultimately lead to a significant betrayal of their country after they enter the adult world. Although the glossy production values mirror the style of Merchant-Ivory films, Another Country's gritty emotional power comes from its denunciation of hypocrisy and the abuse of privilege. When first released, the film created a sensation for its frank and unapologetic consideration of homosexuality—no American motion picture of the era tackled the subject with a comparable depth of passion or maturity. And while it's mostly remembered for Everett's star-making turn, the real surprises today are the wonderfully low-key performances by two then-unknowns: Firth and Elwes. DVD extras include an audio commentary by Kanievska and cinematographer Peter Biziou. Highly recommended. (P. Hall)
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