Summer (The First Time) (The Go-Between (DVD))

Member Name: raehippychick

Product:	The Go-Between (DVD)
Date:	23/08/05 (737 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: True to the book. Beautifully filmed and an absolute joy to watch

Disadvantages: Not an action or comedy movie - could be too slow paced for some

It is rare to find a film that lives up to the experience of the book. The Go-Between is one of those singular treats. Set in the long, hot summer of 1900 a young twelve year old boy visits a Norfolk country house, Brandham Hall. Feeling a little out of his depth, Leo Colston, played faultlessly by Dominic Guard, arrives for the summer at his school acquaintance’s large country resicence with all its attendant rules and mores. Coming from a quiet home of reduced circumstances, his mother having been widowed, Leo is especially sensitive to the conventions of upper middle class life and determined to preserve his dignity by not putting a foot wrong. Unsurprisingly in the effort to do this his discomposure becomes more apparent and his fried and host Marcus Maudsly delights in showing off and telling him how to behave. Richard Gibson gives his role of Marcus a clean innocence with underlying currents of snobbism and bullying

Intrigue seems inevitable when Marcus falls ill and Leo is left to his own devices. Befriended by the tragically wounded Viscount Trimingham (Edward Fox), captivatingly beautiful Marian (Julie Christie) and rough ready farmer Ted (Alan Bates) Leo is soon inveigled in to passing messages between Marian and these two men in her life

A superficially carefree young woman, Marian uses her lovely allure to charm the young boy to further her own ends, but this film shows that she is not as untroubled as she seems on the surface. Being the only young daughter of an Edwardian family of some standing brings its duties and stifling traditions, to counter this suffocating lifestyle she uses the only weapons she has; her charm and beauty. Leo, coming from a cloistered all male boarding school upbringing with its rigid codes of etiquette, naturally falls quickly and easily under Marian’s spell; to him she is almost a goddess. The shots of Julie Christie are enhanced by using a subtle effect that shows her almost glowing to illustrate the influence she has over others. Although it seems that Marian manipulates Leo purely for her own gain, the delicate acting of Ms Christie shows that her character has a genuine fondness for him, albeit overshadowed by her more pressing and possibly selfish cares

Edward Fox plays the upright, quintessentially British viscount, disfigured in the war with his usual aplomb. He treats Leo with a benevolent and slightly amused respect, gently teasing him regarding the correct protocol regarding the way a viscount should be addressed. Trimingham has a central yet seemingly small role to play in the unfolding of events. I couldn’t help admiring and being thoroughly charmed by Fox’s elegant English gentleman

Alan Bates is deliciously rough and ready as farmer Ted Burgess. Although his Norfolk burr is not the most accurate, he radiates such a wonderful animal heat that it does not detract in any way from the pleasure of the film. Like Marian, Burgess’s affection to Leo is eclipsed by his needs and wants. Bates captures his character’s torn feelings beautifully in the way he shows heavy-handed warmth and his frustrated outbursts that scare the quiet Leo. If you have only seen recent performances by Alan Bates looking stodgy and old, don’t be put off, in this he is incredibly, ripplingly sultry

The last main protagonist in this tale is Marian’s mother; Mrs Maudsly is an upright, starched matriarch who is determined her family should be socially correct at all times and that her daughter should make a good match in marriage. She rules the house and its occupants and guests with a quiet, steely determination, that to be frank left me rather grateful she was never my hostess! Her part in the denouement of the story deeply affects the rest of Leo’s life

All the while, the film includes flash-forwards (for want of a better word!) as the grown up Leo narrates certain key points and at the end revisits Brandham and meets with an old friend. The insertion of these scenes is done very skilfully and serves as a counterpoint to the deep story rather than a disruption. I particularly enjoyed the fact that the modern scenes were set on a grey rainy day which highlights the balmy feeling of earlier summer in the main story scenes

The entire film is stunningly shot with gentle affection and humour. The supporting characters have interesting cameos but none so large to detract from the overall story of Leo’s most important summer. The film has also kept true to the story in the book. At times the dialogue is almost identical to the manuscript and also the cinematography has captured the feeling of heat and the separation from the world of grown ups that the narrator and protagonist Leo feels in the book. It is a relaxing and gentle film reminding me of long hot summer holidays as a child, when grown-ups were shadowy figures in the background of the imaginative lives of us children

Summary: An evocative movie of an important summer in one boy's life at the turn of the century