Another Country Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Another Country Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Stephen Larson June 15, 2023

Spying and collecting intelligence on his fellow Brits by Guy Burgess and others, who shared their secrets with the Soviets, is one of the most infamous and well-publicized espionage cases in history. Several books have been published on Burgess and English traitors, including The Fourth Man: The Definitive Account of Kim Philby, Guy Burgess, and Donald Maclean and Who Recruited Them to Spy for Russia (Dial Press, 1979). A couple years ago, author Jonathan Bolton wrote an anthology titled The Blunt Affair: Official Secrecy and Treason in Literature, Television and Film, 1980-89 (Manchester University Press, 2020). Bolton penned a chapter on Julian Mitchell's 1982 play, Another Country, which ran for nineteen months in London's West End. Mitchell adapted his work into a screenplay for the rising firm, Goldcrest Films International. The picture co-stars Rupert Everett and Colin Firth, each of whom played Guy Bennett (inspired by Burgess) on stage. In a 1984 interview with Katherine Tulich of The Sydney Morning Herald, Mitchell divulged that Bennett’s (Rupert Everett) best friend Tommy Judd (Colin Firth) is based on Winston Churchill's nephew, the socialist Esmond Romilly, and John Cornford, an English communist at his school beginning when he was 14.

Mitchell's script opens up his play of two acts and ten scenes by adding a prologue and an epilogue. The movie Another Country starts in 1983 Moscow where American journalist Julie Schofield (Betsy Brantley) visits a seventies-something Guy Bennett in his dim apartment. (Bennett defected to the USSR in the early 1950s.) The spy tells Schofield about his time in a British boarding school during the early 1930s, the period the film flashes back to. This elite and all-male upper middle-class school, which fathers have paid handsomely to send their sons to, has a strict caste system for the students who attend. Barclay (Michael Jenn) is head of the house and, along with Delahay (Robert Addie), members of Twenty Two. They are considered "gods" because they have top hierarchical rank. Menzies (Frederick Alexander) and Fowler (Tristan Oliver) are below them as the house "prefects," monitors who have the clout and authority to enforce discipline. Guy, Tommy, and Donald Devenish (Rupert Wainwright) subordinate them on the ladder. Guy and Tommy each hope to become prefects their senior year. They still don't fit in well with the school's order, which incorporates military rituals and ceremonies, because they are non-conformists. Tommy is a Marxist-Leninist who believes the capitalists and ruling classes (i.e., the entire bourgeoisie) continue to exploit and unfairly take advantage of the proletariat. Guy isn't yet a communist like his close friend but, as an already committed homosexual, he subverts the established social system of heteronormativity. Homosexuality is actually relatively common around the school at least partly because the boys are away from any females for much of their four years enrolled. However, being gay at this school is considered only a passing, temporary phase. Guy is unlike the others. He has a crush on the blond Harcourt (Cary Elwes), who he lunches with and has a secret tryst with on a boat. Guy knows, however, that he must be very careful because if caught, he could face expulsion. Guy was shaken by an earlier incident where a professor or administrator (unannounced) opened the door to a room where Martineau (Phillip Dupuy) and Robbins (Ralph Perry-Robinson) were having sex. Martineau probably knew that he wouldn't be able to live as an openly gay man in a heterosexual-centered culture. So, most unfortunately, he hung himself. Both Tommy and Guy feel as if their nation's mores are going against their ideological beliefs and preferred ways of life.

Best of friends.

Queer film scholar Nick Davis wrote in a 1999 review of the movie adaptation of Another Country on his website: "It is astonishing the way the film makes no effort to bridge in terms of story or even narration how the disillusioned adolescent became a notorious secret-trader." Several of the original reviewers of director Marek Kanievska's film echo with the same criticism. In defense of the picture, Guy's decision to become a political turncoat has a lot to do with Tommy reading or reciting passages by Marx and Lenin to his best friend. This undoubtedly has an influence in shaping Guy's political philosophy. In addition, because the audience does not see Tommy in his post-school days, it can be argued that Guy is belatedly a mouthpiece for him. He transformed into the disillusioned person that Tommy already had become. One of my own criticisms of the picture is that it could have developed the romance between Guy and Harcourt more. To the movie's credit, it is developed better than it is in the play (which I have read).

Another Country received largely warm reviews both at home and when it reached the US. Richard Williamson of the Sunday Mercury (Birmingham, UK) deemed it, "Quite definitely one of the top films of the year and not to be missed." In a four-star review, the San Francisco Examiner's Michael Heaton called it a wholly successful work that has a knowledge effect: "The film combines cinematic beau­ty with exceptional writing and out­standing performances. Beyond this, Another Country keeps you think­ing about the very real and complex characters portrayed long after you’ve left the theater." The Philadelphia Inquirer's Desmond Ryan announced Kanievska as a major new talent: "There is little doubt here that Mar­ek Kanievska is a significant new arrival on the scene. His film about traitors and treason is the best Brit­ish production since Betrayal [1983]." Likewise, Janet Trinkaus of The Berkshire Eagle (Pittsfield, MA) lauded the director and also its two leads: "Everett is a powerful actor, bring­ing to his role strength of presence as well as a photogenic seductive­ness....Firth is properly derisive, cynical and quixotic in his role as the Marx­ist sympathizer....director Marek Kanievska has done a superb job of taking his audience inside Another Country....an example of fine, careful and powerful film making."

Another Country Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shout! Factory gives Another Country its global debut on Blu-ray on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50 (feature size: 28.10 GB). The film appears in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, which opens up its native 1.85:1. This very well could be the same HD master that Japanese video label Happinet used for its DVD in 2010. I own the R1 BBC Video/Warner Bros. 2004 DVD, which is displayed in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. I've assembled a handful of identical (or near) shots from both editions. Even though the Shout! is struck from an older scan, it still looks very good with vibrant greenery shining on the landscape shots. There's only minimal wear in the form of small specks and dirt, which thankfully don't appear often. The Palm Beach Post's film critic Kathryn Buxton commented on the colors of the school's architecture: "[Cinematographer Peter] Bizou captures Mitchell's tale of re­pression in spectacular tones of brown and gray edged by the aged stonework of the school." You can see those two colors on the buildings' interiors and exteriors. Shout! has encoded the feature at a mean video bitrate of 34.00 Mbps, with an overall bit rate of 44.50 Mbps. My video score is 4.25/5.00.

Screenshot #s 1-15, 17, 19, 21, 23, & 25 = Shout! Factory 2023 BD-50
Screenshot #s 16, 18, 20, 22, & 24 = Warner Bros. 2004 Twentieth Anniversary Special Edition DVD

Shout! provides its usual twelve scene selections for the 90-minute movie.

Another Country Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Shout! has supplied a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround remix (3378 kbps, 24-bit) and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo track (1740 kbps, 24-bit). I focused on the 5.1 track, which I feel does a fine job of opening up nature sounds and outdoor ambiance to the rear channels. Dialogue is pretty clear and comprehensible throughout. Much of Michael Storey's score represents the longing Guy feels for Harcourt. The score does a commendable job of conveying this yearning that Everett's character possesses.

There are optional English SDH for the feature.

Another Country Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Shout! has licensed most, but not all, of the bonus materials that initially appeared on the 2004 BBC Video/Warner Bros. DVD. Not transferred over to the Blu-ray is a "Film Scrapbook". This is a slide show of thirty-four black-and-white and color images presented inside of a small picture frame that someone is holding on the screen. These comprise photos from the production, publicity snapshots, and stills of Rupert Everett on a press junket. The DVD also has thirteen cues from Michael Storey's score that the user can listen to independent from the film. The tracks can be played individually or consecutively by pressing "Play All".

• Audio Commentary with Director Marek Kanievska and Director of Photography Peter Biziou - this feature-length track with Kanievska and Biziou finds the director and his DP looking back on filming Another Country. Both are low-key and soft-spoken. They discuss the locations and the actors' performances. There are several gaps throughout. In English, not subtitled.

• ANOTHER COUNTRY: A Discussion with Kenneth Branagh, Rupert Everett, and Julian Mitchell (7:09, upconverted to 1080i) - prior to the piece beginning, the following prefatory text is displayed: "Newsnight is a British news magazine show discussing current topical subjects. As Julian Mitchell's play Another Country opens in London's West End, the team talks to the play's young stars, Rupert Everett (who later reprised the role in the film version), Kenneth Branagh and playwright Julian Mitchell. This program was broadcast on BBC Television on 2nd March 1982." A scene featuring Everett and Branagh from the play Another Country at Queen's Theatre is shown. The two thespians give their thoughts on the characters they portray to the interviewer. Mitchell also offers brief remarks. In English, not subtitled.

• 1984 Cannes Film Festival News Report (5:16, upconverted to 1080i) - before the segment starts, the following text appears: "James Lee, at the time Chairman of Goldcrest Films, the company behind Another Country, is interviewed on BBC news about the state of the British film industry. This bulletin was broadcast on 11th May 1984 shortly before the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival." Lee talks about the resurgence of the British movie industry, prospective sales for Another Country at the then-upcoming festival, and his high hopes for The Killing Fields, another Goldcrest production. In English, not subtitled.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:27, 1080p) - a nice-looking original trailer for Another Country that's been restored. It appears in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen.

Another Country Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Another Country (1984) is a quite good English period drama about Brits' experiences in an oppressive boarding school in the early Thirties. It marks star-making turns for Rupert Everett and, to a lesser extent, Colin Firth, each of whom make their big-screen debuts here. If you enjoyed Merchant-Ivory's most excellent Maurice (1987), you're sure to enjoy this picture, too. My fingers are crossed that we can finally get a Blu-ray of Marek Kanievska's second feature, Less Than Zero (1987). Shout! Factory delivers a very good transfer from an older master that looks clear and sharp. The main extras from the BBC/Warner DVD have been brought over to the Blu-ray. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.