Man in an Orange Shirt is a beautiful, two part series. While I would have loved to have seen more of the middle between the two time periods, even just knowing how Adam's parents died would have been nice. However, it doesn't take away from the story. We know that, Flora has raised Adam for a long time and has felt she's done better than with his father.
Part one is perfect casting between Oliver Jackson-Cohen and James McArdle (and even Joanna Vanderham as the younger, Flora is marvelous). Oliver (Michael) and James (Thomas) have a great chemistry and one instantly believes the two deeply care for each other. While many productions of the past which dealt with this matter focused on the two men and made the wife a plot point, Man in an Orange Shirt makes, Flora just as much a developed character as Michael and Thomas. I rarely find a film that gets me invested so emotionally that, when a sad moment occurs, I weep with/for the character. This series manages that, especially in the dinner scene between Michael and Flora after she discovers the truth. The ending of episode 1 leaves one in tears too for three people who's lives were ruined because of social norms and prejudice. I also loved Frances de la Tour in her brief scene, playing the mother of Thomas. You see a woman, who is meeting the man her son loves, and you see in her the hopes a loving mother has for her child to be happy. When she offers her place in France to Michael and Thomas, after Thomas is released from prison, and Michael informs her he's married with a child, the look she gives is heartbreaking.
Episode 2 has more of the stupendous, Vanessa Redgrave doing what she does best. Considering her father came out as bisexual when Vanessa was in her 40's, I feel that this story meant a lot to her since it was similar to her mother, Rachel and father, Michael's life. Julian Morris and David Gyasi don't have the same chemistry as Oliver and James, but also their story is different.
Julian's character, Adam is in the closet to his grandma. His closest friends know and we even learn he dated one of his female friends before coming out, so we can guess there are internal struggles with him. However, living in his grandmother's basement so he can take care of her, Adam lives a closeted life. Instead of bringing dates home, he using dating apps which, in today's society, usually equates to hookups. Since Adam can't take his dates home and have a proper courtship, he hooks up with strangers. Used to just the physical, Adam struggles with true intimacy and will bolt the moment a hook up tries to get to know him.
Then he meets Steve (David) who has feelings for him. When Steve tries to kiss him, Adam responds with grabbing Steve's crotch and kissing passionately. Steve pulls back and tells him this isn't a porno, he's a person. Thus we get the unique problem between Adam and Steve.
Vanessa Redgrave is at her best during the scene in which her grandson accuses her of being intimately cold. Through the eyes of this god among actors, Redgrave brings all the repression, guilt, mistrust, and shame that Flora has kept bottled up for over 7 decades and declares to her grandson that she loved his grandfather- -with PASSION! A wave of sympathy comes to Flora who has been just as much a victim as Michael and Thomas were.
Part 2 ends on a happier note, but ultimately Redgrave and Morris help make this chapter worth watching.
Part one is perfect casting between Oliver Jackson-Cohen and James McArdle (and even Joanna Vanderham as the younger, Flora is marvelous). Oliver (Michael) and James (Thomas) have a great chemistry and one instantly believes the two deeply care for each other. While many productions of the past which dealt with this matter focused on the two men and made the wife a plot point, Man in an Orange Shirt makes, Flora just as much a developed character as Michael and Thomas. I rarely find a film that gets me invested so emotionally that, when a sad moment occurs, I weep with/for the character. This series manages that, especially in the dinner scene between Michael and Flora after she discovers the truth. The ending of episode 1 leaves one in tears too for three people who's lives were ruined because of social norms and prejudice. I also loved Frances de la Tour in her brief scene, playing the mother of Thomas. You see a woman, who is meeting the man her son loves, and you see in her the hopes a loving mother has for her child to be happy. When she offers her place in France to Michael and Thomas, after Thomas is released from prison, and Michael informs her he's married with a child, the look she gives is heartbreaking.
Episode 2 has more of the stupendous, Vanessa Redgrave doing what she does best. Considering her father came out as bisexual when Vanessa was in her 40's, I feel that this story meant a lot to her since it was similar to her mother, Rachel and father, Michael's life. Julian Morris and David Gyasi don't have the same chemistry as Oliver and James, but also their story is different.
Julian's character, Adam is in the closet to his grandma. His closest friends know and we even learn he dated one of his female friends before coming out, so we can guess there are internal struggles with him. However, living in his grandmother's basement so he can take care of her, Adam lives a closeted life. Instead of bringing dates home, he using dating apps which, in today's society, usually equates to hookups. Since Adam can't take his dates home and have a proper courtship, he hooks up with strangers. Used to just the physical, Adam struggles with true intimacy and will bolt the moment a hook up tries to get to know him.
Then he meets Steve (David) who has feelings for him. When Steve tries to kiss him, Adam responds with grabbing Steve's crotch and kissing passionately. Steve pulls back and tells him this isn't a porno, he's a person. Thus we get the unique problem between Adam and Steve.
Vanessa Redgrave is at her best during the scene in which her grandson accuses her of being intimately cold. Through the eyes of this god among actors, Redgrave brings all the repression, guilt, mistrust, and shame that Flora has kept bottled up for over 7 decades and declares to her grandson that she loved his grandfather- -with PASSION! A wave of sympathy comes to Flora who has been just as much a victim as Michael and Thomas were.
Part 2 ends on a happier note, but ultimately Redgrave and Morris help make this chapter worth watching.