Cross posting from "Rate the Last Film . . ."
A Taste of Honey, 1961
Teenager Jo (Rita Tushingham) has a fraught relationship with her mother, Helen (Dora Dryan). When Helen picks up a new boyfriend-then-husband (Robert Stephens), Jo seeks solace in the arms of a soldier who has been wooing her (Paul Danquah). After Jimmy ships out and Helen moves in with her new hubby, Jo discovers she is pregnant. Enter Geoff (Murray Melvin), a gentle, gay young man who takes a liking to Jo. Together they set up house, but as Jo's pregnancy progresses, their domestic set-up begins to strain.
What a fun little film!
The best part of the film is the way that it captures the complex emotions of moving from childhood to adulthood. I so identified with Jo's misery as she both wants to be looked after by her mother in one moment and yet treated like an adult in another. Dora Dryan, as Helen, perfectly portrays the slightly baffled, slightly irritated reaction of a mother who can't do anything right, though she is very aware that she hasn't made the best choices herself or set the best example for her daughter. As she says "Why can't you learn from my mistakes? It takes half a lifetime just to learn from your own." While Jo is the central character, the film carves out a nice little space for Helen, who wants to do right by her daughter, but also finds herself at the mercy of her own decisions and her marriage to a man who seems to be her best option for future security.
Also interesting are Jo's relationships with the two male characters her age. Having read the plot description, it was a pleasant surprise to see how the relationship with Jimmy was portrayed. The two of them have a pretty sweet little romance. Sleeping together is obviously a huge mistake, but it's an understandable one even as you're going "No!!!!!!". At first, Geoff feels like a bit of a contrivance. This gay angel swoops in and cleans up Jo's apartment and provides her with stability and companionship while asking nothing in exchange. But as Geoff himself later makes clear, he was in a bit of a depression and having someone to care for was a way to give himself purpose. The film never really addresses what Geoff's future might look like. He obviously cannot openly seek out his own romantic partner, and the film lets that hang there. If anything, it seems plainly tragic that such a caring person will never be able to openly pursue love and the domestic partnership he has with Jo.
The film ultimately leaves a lot of elements up in the air: Jo's relationship with her mother; whether Jo and Geoff will continue their partnership; whether Jimmy will ever return. But the character arc is all about Jo coming to terms with how her pregnancy is going to change her life.
On the downside, the scenes between Helen and Jo are so good, that the rest of the film sort of pales slightly in comparison. Dryan is just so good, that I found myself wishing that I was spending more time with Helen. And while it's nice seeing a film portray a gay character in a positive and productive light, it does fall into that trap of the "asexual gay" character. Geoff is coded as being super gay---people seem to just take one look at him and clock him as homosexual--and yet we see no signs of desire. It's tragic that Geoff can't pursue love, and yet the film leaves this as just an implicit thing. It would have gone a long way, in my opinion, to have even a single longing glance at a man.
Good pick--thanks!
A Taste of Honey, 1961
Teenager Jo (Rita Tushingham) has a fraught relationship with her mother, Helen (Dora Dryan). When Helen picks up a new boyfriend-then-husband (Robert Stephens), Jo seeks solace in the arms of a soldier who has been wooing her (Paul Danquah). After Jimmy ships out and Helen moves in with her new hubby, Jo discovers she is pregnant. Enter Geoff (Murray Melvin), a gentle, gay young man who takes a liking to Jo. Together they set up house, but as Jo's pregnancy progresses, their domestic set-up begins to strain.
What a fun little film!
The best part of the film is the way that it captures the complex emotions of moving from childhood to adulthood. I so identified with Jo's misery as she both wants to be looked after by her mother in one moment and yet treated like an adult in another. Dora Dryan, as Helen, perfectly portrays the slightly baffled, slightly irritated reaction of a mother who can't do anything right, though she is very aware that she hasn't made the best choices herself or set the best example for her daughter. As she says "Why can't you learn from my mistakes? It takes half a lifetime just to learn from your own." While Jo is the central character, the film carves out a nice little space for Helen, who wants to do right by her daughter, but also finds herself at the mercy of her own decisions and her marriage to a man who seems to be her best option for future security.
Also interesting are Jo's relationships with the two male characters her age. Having read the plot description, it was a pleasant surprise to see how the relationship with Jimmy was portrayed. The two of them have a pretty sweet little romance. Sleeping together is obviously a huge mistake, but it's an understandable one even as you're going "No!!!!!!". At first, Geoff feels like a bit of a contrivance. This gay angel swoops in and cleans up Jo's apartment and provides her with stability and companionship while asking nothing in exchange. But as Geoff himself later makes clear, he was in a bit of a depression and having someone to care for was a way to give himself purpose. The film never really addresses what Geoff's future might look like. He obviously cannot openly seek out his own romantic partner, and the film lets that hang there. If anything, it seems plainly tragic that such a caring person will never be able to openly pursue love and the domestic partnership he has with Jo.
The film ultimately leaves a lot of elements up in the air: Jo's relationship with her mother; whether Jo and Geoff will continue their partnership; whether Jimmy will ever return. But the character arc is all about Jo coming to terms with how her pregnancy is going to change her life.
On the downside, the scenes between Helen and Jo are so good, that the rest of the film sort of pales slightly in comparison. Dryan is just so good, that I found myself wishing that I was spending more time with Helen. And while it's nice seeing a film portray a gay character in a positive and productive light, it does fall into that trap of the "asexual gay" character. Geoff is coded as being super gay---people seem to just take one look at him and clock him as homosexual--and yet we see no signs of desire. It's tragic that Geoff can't pursue love, and yet the film leaves this as just an implicit thing. It would have gone a long way, in my opinion, to have even a single longing glance at a man.
Good pick--thanks!