Dreaming of Joseph Lees

Another transcendent performance from Samantha Morton (she was also the female lead in Woody Allen's "Sweet and Lowdown").

This is a truly lovely film, "small" in the sense that only a few characters and their lives are affected by the love triangle, but "large" in the sense that it will strike a familiar chord for many viewers. Morton's face seems to show every thought or feeling that passes through her.

Eva (Morton) experiences both ends of an obsessive love relationship. She has been dreaming of her glamorous-seeming second cousin Joseph Lees (Rupert Graves in a fine performance) since a girlhood visit. A neighboring young pig farmer (Lee Ross)adores Eva; his attentions are charming but uninvited.

I had truly never heard of this film when it came on TV late one night - and was delighted that I stayed up late to see it through to the end. I recommend you seek it out to do the same.

Beautiful cinematography in a quiet film, written and directed with a restrained, well-modulated hand.

What is the right thing to do? Follow your fantasy mate while destroying one who loves you, or staying behind and sacrificing yourself so that the one who loves you will stay alive?

Many people have had to make such a choice: the person of your dreams appears, and there is a real possibility that you can establish a relationship with that person. However, you've established a relationship with another, an uneven relationship, where he loves you more than you love him. But he is a good person, and devoted. Handsome, a good lover. But the person of your dreams (in this case, Joseph Lees) is also real, and could take you to a place where your life can be miraculous and sublime. What to do?

I enjoyed this film tremendously, and easily related to the characters and situations.

I have recently seen the movie on television, and after the first time, I found myself compelled to rent the movie, so I did. I find the characters Joseph and Eva to be utterly captivating. The cinematography of the film perfectly captured their passion, their desire, their unextinguishable love. Lee Ross perfectly played the character Harry Flite in regards to capturing the character's desperation, and maddening obsession. Ross captured the character so perfectly that it made me despise the character. With all this said and done, I found the ending to be one of two things, thus bringing me to an undecisive state. Other than that, the movie is a must see for the melancholic ambiance of the film is undeniable.

Again, the Brits show off their capacity for quality adult drama, story lines not dummied down for public consumption, and actors whose ability to shine in roles without special effects, gratuitous nudity, and oversize lips makes this film a viewing delight. Rupert Graves is an actor whose face reflects emotional pain and sensuality in equal amounts. He is a treasure in this film. Stories of human dilema, period costumes, and location interiors add to the brilliant presentation.

"Dreaming of Jospeh Lees", a good, earnest and artful shoot, tells of the coming of age of a rural English girl and her conflict over a tentative romance with a close friend while yearning for a less available kissin' cousin for whom she's carried a torch since childhood. Over all a good film, this story lacks substance, spends its time poorly, toys with the audience in a fraudulent attempt to whet interest in the absence of a solid story, and is too far out of the mainstream to be popular. Nonetheless, for those patient few who can buy into the characters, "Dreaming..." will be a very satisfying watch.