The Jealous God Movie Review:


With an even more retro sensibility than Todd Haynes' Far From Heaven, Woodcock recreates the feeling of a 1960s morality tale, right down to the ad campaign. Watching it is like sitting in on a rainy Saturday night with a comforting melodrama on the telly.

West Yorkshire schoolteacher Vincent (Merrells) is a 30-year-old whose devoutly Catholic mother (Warren) still hopes he'll become a priest. But now he's falling for the new, non-Catholic librarian, Laura (Carty). Vincent's older brothers (Dunn and Ilkley) are both married to converted protestants (Welch and Gabriele). But this is worse: although Vincent is prepared to go against his religion in the name of love, there's a barrier to their romance that even he can't ignore. And Vincent has another problem even closer to home.

Based on a book by John Blaine (Room at the Top), the story is filmed in a straightforward style with as few frills as possible. Woodcock immaculately recreates 60s-style filmmaking, right down to a prudish tone that avoids actually mentioning any shocking issues by name and pans to the wallpaper when things get remotely steamy. The camera work is like a TV show--lots of moody close-ups and almost no stylistic flourishes besides a gritty recreation of the period. It's extremely effective--like travelling back in time, but with the added resonance of modern actors who combine knowing sensitivity with the overwrought drama.

Merrells is extremely likeable; we're willing to take his side even when he makes stupid decisions. Although it does seem odd that everyone accuses him of being icily intellectual and emotionless when he's quite clearly the most soulful person in the story. Other performances are more uneven--slightly too wrenching to connect with 21st century audiences, but with moments of real passion. Of the supporting cast, Warren is the most constantly surprising, adding an undercurrent of aching authenticity to an over-the-top, nagging mum. All of this swelling sentiment is a bit silly at times, and the religious conflict seems almost quaint from today's multi-faith perspective, but there's a strongly personal story in here, and the way it's told is remarkably inventive.



Rich Cline

Site Contents Copyright© The Z Review, unless used with permission.This site has no intention to infringe on the rights of the film owners of The Jealous God and intellectual copyright holders of the movies mentioned herein & hold copyright over the movie, characters, merchandise & storyline.