Category Archives: 1987

1987, Acceptable for teenagers, Amazon Prime, Art appreciation, Art History, Art Treasures, Basically Sad, British, British Drama, Church of England, Classic, Drama, Ethical struggles, Homophobia, Hopeless Love, Love Story, Old-Fashioned, PTSD, Quiet, Sensitive treatement of emotions, Sexual Tension, Slow, Small British village, Small gem of a film, Stuttering, Things Left Unsaid, Vintage Film, Wonderful acting, WWI Veteran, Yorkshire Accents, Yorkshire setting

A Month In The Country (1987)

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From Amazon Prime:

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.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this beautiful but sad classic British film which lasts 1 hour 36 minutes.

Direct quote from Wikipedia:

A Month in the Country is a 1987 British film directed by Pat O’Connor. The film is an adaptation of the 1980 novel of the same name by J. L. Carr, and stars Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh, Natasha Richardson and Patrick Malahide. The screenplay was by Simon Gray.

Set in rural Yorkshire during the summer of 1920, the film follows a destitute World War I veteran employed to carry out restoration work on a Medieval mural discovered in a rural church while coming to terms with the after-effects of the war.

The film was shot during the summer of 1986 and featured an original score by Howard Blake. The film has been neglected since its 1987 cinema release and it was only in 2004 that an original 35 mm film print was discovered, due to the intervention of a fan.

34 years ago Colin Firth and Kenneth Branagh were a mere 27 years old while Natasha Richardson was even younger at 24 years of age.  (Sad note: Richardson died in 2009 from a head injury while skiing.) Has Jim Carter, the head butler in Downton Abbey, always looked the same age his entire life?

For some reason the above quoted summaries fail to mention that the character James Moon (Kenneth Branagh) was also suffering PTSD from World War I.

BEAUTIFUL BUT SAD! (Gooseflesh anyone?)

1987, Anti-Gay Laws, Anxiety Attacks, Based on a Book, Blackmail, Boxing, British Drama, Cambridge University, Church of England, Classic, Drama, Ethical struggles, Explicit sexual discussion, Father-son relations, Friendship, Gay theme, Good Acting, Good Production Values, Government Prosecutions, Happy ending, Homophobia, Kanopy streaming, Love Story, Mostly About Sex, Mother-son relations, Nudity, Sensitive treatement of emotions, Sex Scenes, Uncategorized, Upstairs - Downstairs, Wasp Snobs

Maurice (1987)

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From IMDB:

After his lover rejects him, a young man trapped by the oppressiveness of Edwardian society tries to come to terms with and accept his sexuality.

From Kanopy you can stream this 2 hour 20 minute vintage British film made by Merchant Ivory and  based on the 1971 novel Maurice by E. M. Forster

34 years ago some very young but now well-known British actors made what  has been called Ivory’s best film. In 1987 it got rave reviews and awards everywhere except England.  In the Wikipedia article about the film, the director James Ivory is quoted as saying:

… in England, where almost every important film critic was gay, they came out against the film. Their reactions to it were extraordinary! You’d think that they would have been supportive, but they were afraid to be supportive.

Despite those actors being so young, it is easy to recognize Hugh Grant, James Wilby, Rupert Graves,  Judy Parfitt, Ben Kingsley and others.

If there is a secondary theme, it is the strict division between the upper and  servant classes.

1987, Abduction, Acorn TV, Adultery, British Mystery Series, Brother-Brother relations, Conspiracy, Detective, Divorce, Extramarital Affair, Father-son relations, Missing Person, Mother-son relations, Murder Investigation, Pedophilia, Photography, Plot Twist, Revenge, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Uncategorized, Violent

Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1987)

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From IMDB:

From cold, rock-strewn moors to comfortable suburban estates, award-winning writer Ruth Rendell explores the dark fissures between friends and family members that motivate murder.

Acorn TV offers this series which includes:

Master of the Moor, Parts 1,2,3
Colin Firth as outdoors loving loner.

Vanity Dies Hard, Parts 1,2,3
Newly wed woman searches for her vanished friend.

Simisola, Parts 1,2,3
Daughter of Nigerian surgeon is missing.

The Secret House of Death, Parts 1,2
How exactly did the next door neighbor die?

A Case of Coincidence, Parts 1,2
Surgeon’s wife murdered in the fens.

Road Rage, Parts 1,2,3,4
Young German tourist goes missing.

The Lake of Darkness
Generous lottery winner.

Harm Done
Pedophile,abduction,missing daughter

1987, Cynical, Grim, Military, Violent, Vulgar, War

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

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From NetFlix:

Marine recruits (including Matthew Modine and Vincent D’Onofrio) endure the grueling ordeal of basic training and later face the unrelenting Viet Cong during the 1968 Tet Offensive in this grim Stanley Kubrick drama, based on a novel by Gustav Hasford. One of the most authentic depictions of warfare ever put on the big screen, the film teems with howling madness, stark images and troubling questions about duty, honor and sacrifice.

Vincent D’Onofrio is one of my favorite actors, possibly because he is so quirky. Looking at his IMDB resumé I discovered one of his earliest films “Full Metal Jacket” made in 1987 when he was only 28 years old. Probably he has always taken unusual roles and this film is no exception.

D’Onofrio’s part of the film is the first part involving Marine training in which he plays ‘Gomer Pyle’. His supporting buddy during training was ‘Joker’ played by Matthew Modine. After watching the entire film, I decided that I could have stopped watching after that first part. For the rest of the film we see a succession of war episodes most of which involve Matthew Modine. If you read the well-written and interesting Wikipedia article about the film, you will find that some critics found the second half somewhat formless and disappointing.

Obviously this is an anti-war film, or at least an anti-Vietnam-war film. In fact, it is a little too obvious which is to say almost preachy in its choice of episodes. Nonetheless, all the episodes are gripping in one way or another.

For the sake of film history I am glad I watched the entire story.

1000NYTimes, 100Unknown, 1987, Suspense, Unusual

House of Games (1987)

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From NetFlix:

Psychologist Margaret Ford (Lindsay Crouse) decides to help one of her patients out of a gambling debt. Margaret finds the person to whom the money is owed: slick-talking Mike (Joe Mantegna). Mike, who runs poker games, persuades Margaret to help him look for “tells,” or telltale body language, in a game. She falls for the con and for Mike, becoming deeply involved in his world. David Mamet wrote and directed this psychological thriller.

I was reading an Italian lawyer novel in which the lawyer protagonist mentions that “House of Games” is one of his favorite films. So I gave it a try.

Lindsay Crouse was married to David Mamet. She is a good stage actress. As soon as the film starts you realize that all the actors speak as though they are on a stage, not at all what you expect to hear in a film.

The plot is everything. At the very least you get to learn a few good “cons” just in case you were thinking of going into the business. Eventually it comes down to who is conning whom.

I enjoyed the film, but you are warned that it is very different.

1001BeforeDie, 100Unknown, 1987, Unusual

Withnail and I (1987)

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From NetFlix:

Two unemployed actors — Withnail (Richard E. Grant) and
Marwood (Paul McGann) — take a trip to the British countryside
in 1969. But instead of rejuvenation, they experience a lack of
food, an abundance of rain and a plethora of alcohol. Their host,
Withnail’s gay Uncle Monty (Richard Griffiths), displays a love
for life and a lust for Marwood. This classic art-house comedy
won an Evening Standard British Film Award.

Daughter Kate and boyfriend Nigel (both movie fans) are with us for Christmas. I asked Nigel
to send me a list of films we could all watch together. His first pick was a British cult film
“Withnail and I” whose atmosphere is the alcohol and drug excesses of the sixties. Nigel had
never seen the film. In the film Withnail drinks just about everything and Nigel tells me that
the cult followers as a challenge try to drink everything that Whitnail drinks. Lighter fluid
anyone ?

This is one of the most unusual films I have ever seen. You almost certainly cannot afford
the time to watch this film unless you are retired with a lot of time on your hands or just plain
bored to death. But I don’t regret watching this strange “happening”.

You are warned.

1987, Feel Good For All

Stand and Deliver (1987)

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From Netflix:

Anyone who’s ever been in a classroom will be touched by this
moving, mostly-true story of famed East L.A. math teacher Jaime
Escalante ( Edward James Olmos), who finds himself in a classroom
of rebellious remedial-math students. He stuns fellow faculty members
with his plans to teach AP Calculus, and even more when the mostly
Hispanic teens (including Lou Diamond Phillips as Angel Guzman)
overcome the odds and eventually go the distance.

NetFlix provides reviews by its viewers, all of whom really liked
this feel-good A movie for everyone. Not at all sappy.

1987, Biographical, Drama, Drugs, Explicit sex, Gay theme, Non-physical Violence, Nudity, True Story, Unusual, Violent, Vulgar

Prick Up Your Ears (1987)

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From NetFlix:

Gifted British filmmaker Stephen Frears brings to the screen the troubled life of bold 1960s writer Joe Orton (Gary Oldman) in this portrait of an obsessive, controlling coupling set against history. Orton’s infamous relationship with his tempestuous lover, Kenneth Halliwell (Alfred Molina), fueled but also eventually destroyed Orton — literally and figuratively — at a time when the world didn’t at all embrace or understand homosexuality.

Absolutely not for everyone. Vulgar, explicit, no-holds-barred British film about a possibly talented playwright who was egocentric, cruel, and enjoyed taking chances. Watching this supposedly true biographical exposé was a bit like playing peeping tom. However, it WAS interesting. You are warned!