![]() ![]() And as this guy becomes increasingly scruffy and antagonistic, Graves shows off an impressive range. This love triangle gradually forms a noose around Harold's neck, as both mother and daughter turn to sexual blackmail in order to keep him around.ĭespite Harold's longing to be part of a family, Intimate Relations makes it clear that he is neither a victim nor a saint. Turns out she has a thing for the lodger, too. And after these two begin a nightly routine of pawing at each other like barn animals, the director gets a palpable kick out of revealing that precocious Joyce is lying alongside them in bed-with one eye open. ![]() During a debauched game of spin the bottle at a birthday party for Marjorie's 14-year-old daughter, Joyce (Laura Sadler), the camera takes the dizzy point of view of the bottle as it points to the lodger and "Mum," sealing their fate. Goodhew accentuates this sexual farce with some odd stylistic flourishes. Working part time in a laundromat, Marjorie jumps at the chance to take in a young lodger-Harold Guppy (Rupert Graves), a handsome man with a self-described violent temper-and then wastes little time jumping into his bed and literally begging him for love. She and her older husband, Stanley (Matthew Walker), a machine operator who lost a leg in WWI, maintain separate bedrooms "for medical purposes"-which is her polite way of saying that she can't stand to be near him. Julie Walters plays the bored housewife, Marjorie Beasley, as a middle-aged Englishwoman whose prim and proper manner barely conceals both despair and a ravenous sexual appetite. It's an outrageous, at times nasty, piece of work, humanized somewhat by a cast that isn't afraid to brea down and act up. First-time writer and director Philip Goodhew takes his basic approach from newspaper reports and classic film noir-bored housewife trysts with a lodger behind the back of her boring old husband-and adds all manner of cold sarcasm, camp humor and familial horror. LIKE PETER JACKSON'S Heavenly Creatures, the new British drama Intimate Relations offers a compellingly perverse spin on a true story of twisted family relations leading to murder in a '50s-era small town. 'Intimate Relations' mixes cold sarcasm with heated emotions Congrats to everyone who worked on this film, it's amazing.The Artful Lodger: Rupert Graves takes a room and a whole lot more when he moves in with Julie Walters in 'Intimate Relations.' Julie Walters and Rupert Graves deliver masterly performances, as well as the young girl who is Joyce. The film-maker films each shot so coldly, there never really is any sunshine, and everything seems so 's reminiscent of the relationship Harold and Mum have. I'd suggest this movie a million times over. This movie is sad in its simplicity and we do feel for many of the characters, Harold's brother and wife, Mum's children, Joyce, Mr. All the way to the end, we pity our Harold as everything falls apart. We have compassion for him, as he really needs Mum (it's not as if he ever had one growing up), and he can't escape. We are led to believe that Harold really is a good boy, just a weak one. So here he is again, back in Mum's control. Soon enough Mum has control of him again, saying she'll tell the police that Harold sexually abused Joyce. They are now regularly sleeping together (with Joyce still in the bed) and Harold needs to get out of the situation. Mum has this psychological control over him and it isn't healthy. Their relationship is smooth enough until Harold decides he wants to get out. ![]() Beasley's (or as he calls her, Mum's) daughter Joyce. ![]() Beasley's relationship soon turn sexual (though he's in his 30's and she her 50's), where they even result in having sex in bed with Mrs. Although it's a nice, friendly, relationship at first, Harold and Mrs. Harold is immediately welcomed into a family who are looking to rent a room. This won't be the only time he has such ambitions. He seems like he's had quite a bit of trouble in his life (he lets us know in a discussion with his brother) and he wants to start fresh. Basically, this movie is following Harold Guppy, a man who we want to like but does some pretty despicable things on our road to the ending. The fact that it is based on a true story only adds to it and makes it that much better. ![]()
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