Longe da Guerra (1987)

Five centuries ago, a mural was created in a country church in the north of England, and then hidden under layers of white paint. Looking at it again will be a distraction, the Reverend Mr.... See full summary »

Director:

Pat O'Connor

Writers:

Simon Gray (screenplay by), J.L. Carr (from the novel by)

Stars:

Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh, John Atkinson

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Colin Firth	...	Birkin
John Atkinson	...	Old Man on Train
Jim Carter	...	Ellerbeck
Patrick Malahide	...	Reverend Keach
Kenneth Branagh	...	James Moon
Richard Vernon	...	Colonel Hebron
Tim Barker	...	Mossop
Vicki Arundale	...	Kathy
Martin O'Neil	...	Edgar
Natasha Richardson	...	Alice Keach
Tony Haygarth	...	Douthwaite
Eileen O'Brien	...	Mrs. Ellerbeck
Elizabeth Anson	...	Lucy Sykes
Barbara Marten	...	Mrs. Sykes
Ken Kitson	...	Mr. Sykes (as Kenneth Kitson)

Storyline

Five centuries ago, a mural was created in a country church in the north of England, and then hidden under layers of white paint. Looking at it again will be a distraction, the Reverend Mr. Keach tells World War I veteran Tom Birken, who will spend a month in the country restoring the mural. Another veteran, James Moon, is looking for the grave of an ancestor of the patroness of the church who fought in the Crusades. The rector's wife, Alice, comes to see the mural and later visits Birken's bell tower abode, bringing a basket of apples. Will she open the book in which he has pressed the yellow rose she gave him earlier?

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Plot Keywords:

homosexual | post world war one | period drama | mural | church | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

M/12

Did You Know?

Trivia

Part of the movie is slightly out of focus. This is not due to its age or careless restoration, nor is it intentional. Director Pat O'Connor says in an interview included in the BFI Blu-ray/DVD edition released in 2016 that he was furious about it at the time.

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Goofs

After Birkin alights from the train at Oxgodby in heavy rain and as the train departs you can make out the pine trees in the background in bright sunlight.

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Quotes

Reverend Keach: Mr. Birkin, you should know here and now that you employment here does not have my support. But as the solicitors refuse to pay out the £1,000 bequest to our fabric fund until your job is finished I have no choice.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: Breakthrough Stars of 1990 (1990)

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Soundtracks

All People That on Earth Do Dwell
(uncredited)
Words by William Kethe
Played by Kathy on the organ in the showroom

User Reviews

The last movements of a phantom limb

When an arm or leg is removed, the amputee can continue to 'feel' it for some time afterwards. The phantom limb can hurt, or itch, or feel cold. But nothing is truly the same.

Similarly, the First World War irrevocably altered Britain, but in its immediate aftermath we limped on, unaware (or unwilling to admit) that anything had changed. It's this brief period of denial that Month in the Country illustrates: the moment when we teetered on the edge of the 19th century before toppling into the 20th.

Consequently, while it is a film of great heartbreak and loss, it is also one of great hope and triumph of the human spirit. There is one scene that perfectly illustrates this: a little girl visits her friend, who is sick in bed. She talks about the weather and her new hat and how they'll play together when her friend gets well. Then as she walks back home she says to Colin Firth

'She knows she's dying, doesn't she?'

It is as tragic for the girl to be so knowing and capable in the face of death as it is for young men to have experienced the hell of the trenches and return to indifference and hostility. But because of that tragedy they will go on to experience a more real, and potentially more joyful world, than the other inhabitants of comfortable and conventional Oxgodby.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 April 1992 (Portugal)

Also Known As:

Longe da Guerra

Filming Locations:

Pickering, North Yorkshire, England, UK

Box Office

Gross USA:

$443,524

Company Credits

Production Co:

Channel Four Films, Euston Films, PfH Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1