Relazioni intime

I thought this film was very well acted especially by the lead actors. Julie Walters gives a brilliant performance, as always, and the story was kept tight and interesting throughout.The ending was very brutal but honestly approached, although of course no-one can be sure exactly what really happened as the two main witnesses couldn't testify.

Harold Guppy leaves the navy and lodges with the Beasley family . Before he`s unpacked his case he`s bonking the middle aged Majorie Beasley and before he knows it the daughter , the thirteen year old Joyce Beasley is wanting a shot

Does this sound like a movie with a lot of potential of laughs ? I didn`t think so either but for some reason writer/director Philip Goodhew has gone all out to make INTIMATE RELATIONS a tragic black farce . I have to admit that I didn`t laugh once or even feel like smiling as I imagine was Goodhew`s intention , I just kept saying to myself " Gawd some people deserve to be strung up " , I can`t think of a movie I`ve seen recently with so many unlikable people . It should also be pointed out that the very serious ending jars with the saucy postcard humour of the rest of the film

I will give the director some credit for getting the best out of the cast . Rupert Graves manages to communicate the angst of his character Harold Guppy rather well while Julie Walters is also good as Majorie , but the late Laura Sadler is absolutely superb as young Joyce

But the cast are unable to stop me thinking that perhaps this is a movie that shouldn`t have been made , especially with its comedic feel

I cannot find a copy (DVD or VHS) of this film. I have checked Amazon.com, Movie Unlimited, Sunburst and a couple other less known sources.

It is difficult to imagine a film with such good reviews not being available. If anyone can e-mail (schillings@enter.net) me a lead on where I can obtain a copy compatible with U.S. player/VCR standards I would appreciate it.

Or if anyone knows of any plans to reissue copies of this film, I would appreciate any details. Similarly, any leads on who I could write to for information would be appreciated. Thanks.

Based on a true story, Harold (Rupert Graves) arrives home after a spell at sea and finds rejection at home from his sister-in-law. Forced to seek lodgings elsewhere, he alights on Marjorie (Julie Walters) who shares a room with her teenage daughter whilst her husband sleeps separately for "medical reasons"! Initially all goes well, they all bond nicely and he settles in as one of the family. The applecart gets a bit upset, though, when Marjorie decides that she's got the hots for her new tenant and after some very timid rebuttals, he soon acquiesces to her demands! The daughter, Joyce (Laura Sadler), meantime, is fully aware of her mother's peccadilloes and threatening to tell her father, insists that she becomes part of their games. Not the sex part, no, but she essentially treats him like an indulgent new father - and one with whom she becomes increasingly infatuated. Needless to say, this situation cannot continue but it's only when he tries to end things that he discovers that his older paramour is quite prepared to make his life a criminal misery with some heinous allegations should he try to escape this web of deceit - before a picnic brings things to a tragic and definitive head! Walters and Graves are both fine here, but they don't gel especially well together and that's quite crucial to the addictive nature of this story. The sex scenes are almost comedic at times and the ease with which this menage-à-trois seems to thrive rather robs the film of much of a sense of jeopardy, or even that they might be doing something wrong and immoral. It does look good but the narrative is a bit flat and disappointing, I found.

If you feel that your family isn't quite right, see this movie and you'll be grateful for what you have. This mother is the mother from Hell, seducing the boarder...a baby-faced ex-reform school lad. But he's an angel compared to her and her pitiful completely wierded out daughter. Guess you would be too if you shared a bed with your mama doing the nasty. Then of course, he refused to play on the night he catered inexplicably to this kids' attempt at blackmail.

Loved the English countryside, despite the fact that it was splashed with gore. It's an interesting diversion from what passes as entertainment today. Wonder what the TRUTH was. Glad that the veteran with one leg at least got Christmas cards from the Veteran's Group over there;;;;that's ALL he ever got.