“God’s Own Country” can be summed up as unexpected; Unexpected in subject matter, unexpected in the complex characterization of the protagonists, and unexpected in the feelings of empathy and understanding on feels for those characters. The movie is truly valuable in that it works, intentionally or unintentionally, to break the negative social connotations associated with homosexuality and characterize those who identify as homosexual as true three-three-dimensional people. This is well executed through the creation of multifaceted natures of both Johnny Saxby and Gheorghe Ionescu with struggles and desires of their own instead of merely treating their characters as simple, one-dimensional portrayals. The intersection of unorthodox social behavior, homophobia, and xenophobia makes this movie an interesting and sobering account of the lives of minority populations.

Before watching the movie I thought this was going to be the protagonist struggle with their sexuality and religious belief, the title also alluded to that but throughout the movie, I failed to find such a correlation.  In the end, the question of what’s “God’s own Country” lingered around? A way to look at is that it means heaven but what I took from it was more the “silence” in the scenes with the movie. The “silence” was, at least to me, when I soaked in all the emotions and the nature of Yorkshire. “Silence” is the place we are closest ourselves or one might say to God. The characters as well seem to be struggling with their own self, sexuality, and struggles of not disappointing the people around them. Thinking about all of these problems in our heads is where the silence comes in. This has been one of the most thought-provoking or “strong” movies I have seen.

The first thing that came to my mind after watching this movie is, “Wow, they actually ended up together and none of them died”. Most LGBTQ movies that I’ve watched usually have a tragic ending, so I was so surprised and satisfied that in this movie the male couple reconciled and stayed together. I thought it was kind of similar to Brokeback Mountain in the sense that the wilderness sort of intensifies this animal sexual behavior.

It was also interesting how the movie displayed this lonely character and that it just takes one person to change your whole life. Gheorghe showed Johnny how to truly be with somebody and this shifted his life forever. Even the relationship with his dad improved once this loneliness was filled with love. Overall, I just think this is such a refreshing and positive movie.

When I first saw the title of the movie, I, for some reason, thought it was a war movie. My assumptions couldn’t have been more wrong. The movie was about a troubled young man who felt unhappy with his life because he gave up his youth to work on his family’s farm after his father suffered from a stroke. He would indulge in alcohol and casual sex with other men. He continued to live this way until he met Gheorghe who showed him how to be in a relationship and care for others, including his farm animals.

When discussing the film, someone mentioned that they initially thought the film was a “porno,” but realized the movie had a lot more depth and symbolism. For the most part, I was very thrown off that the movie wasn’t, in fact, a war movie. The discussion after the movie made me pick up on details and character growth I hadn’t noticed while watching the movie. For example, Johnny’s relationship with men are mirrored by his relationship with his farm animals. When he would just have casual sex, he didn’t care for his animals and let some of them die. Once he fell in love with Gheorghe who taught him how to care for others, Johnny bought antiseptic for the ill animals. The movies also show how relationships vary depending on socioeconomic statuses.

Although this is one of the few LGBTQ films I’ve seen, I realized after the discussion how important representation in media is and how I should branch out when choosing films to watch.

God’s Own Country was really unlike anything I’ve ever seen. There were a number of powerful moments but one in particular affected me the most. The scene that stuck out to me in this movie was the one with the baby lamb and the dead lamb. The tragedy resulted in a stronger chance for life for the runt lamb. It was incredibly powerful and sent a message that rough, horrible things, could result in or contribute to long term positives. I really felt as though it was both a turning point and a reflection of the whole movie. This was followed by their first kiss which cemented a choice of love over aggression which seemed to have controlled the movie previously. The discussion after the movie was really interesting and touched on a lot of points that left me wanting to rewatch the movie and look for them.

The movie takes place in the rural area of England’s county of Yorkshire. Johnny is a young man who unwillingly helps run his family’s farm since his father was left incapacitated after suffering a stroke and his grandmother is of old age. Very early on the film, we learn Johnny’s life in very unstable and unhealthy through different scenes. When he is not being an incompetent farmer, he is having casual sex with other men or drunk at a bar. In other words, Johnny is hopeless of his future and unhappy with his life.

The season for sheep to give birth has come and the family decides to hire an extra worker to provide Johnny temporary help. The worker of choice is a foreign immigrant from Romania called Gheorghe. At first, the two have a terrible chemistry and basically hate each other. This is mainly due to Johnny referring to Gheorghe by the ethnic slur “Gypsy.” However, as time goes they fall in love with each other. Not only did Gheorghe give birth to a lamb, he also helps give birth to a new Johnny. Now Johnny took the farm work very seriously, he took care of his family, drank responsibly, and gave himself to only one man (well almost).

I believe this movie relates to me since many people have touched my life in a positive way. But, more importantly, I believe that it is important for me to take the role of making others the best version of themselves. Moreover, I believe the movie depicts many of the flaws of our society. Such as the hatred towards immigrant, small businesses being replaced by large corporations, and society’s stigma towards homosexual men.

Last Friday, I watched God’s Own Country as part of the Friday Film series. I was immediately shocked by how raw everything was, from the scenes of newborn animals suffering to the violent sex scenes. Not only was this quality impactful (at times I felt disgust, and at others I was left in awe), it meant that the movie eliminated much of the sugar-coating that most movies use. In addition, throughout the entire film, everything was said with as little words as possible; the characters often hid their thoughts (much like real people do) and characters only stated their feelings in the most important or complex scenes. I felt that this enabled the movie to avoid placing labels on anything. The scenes and actions were simply what they were — not a “romantic gesture” or a “coming out scene” and a character’s feelings belonged to the character, not to the viewer. Though each character was definitely a caricature, the situations they are put in and the actions they take are able to more or less shed the labels that society has given them and thereby become simply a blank slate to form thoughts on common modern-day issues.

God’s Own Country, a film about a Yorkshire farm worker and a Romanian immigrant, was an interesting watch. For almost all the movie, characters wouldn’t speak. The few and in between conversations that did occur tended to be combative and angry. I was surprised that Giorgi, who received nothing but insults from Johnny in the beginning, was able to develop a romantic relationship with him. It’s definitely an unconventional approach to entering a relationship, but it worked for the two of them.

A theme of this movie that got me thinking (and reflecting) was that of loneliness and isolation. It’s easy to see that within all of the silences and brief outbursts of aggression in this film, that Johnny is exceedingly lonely and pushes away any connection because of his anger regarding his isolation. Though this is a fictional film, there’s no doubt in my mind that this is a very real state for plenty of young men. I say young men specifically because I feel like this particular state of isolation and loneliness comes from that overbearing standard of masculinity that so many men feel they have to adhere to. Vulnerability and human connection threatens to shatter that image of masculinity, so they shy away from it. In any case, that was my interpretation of the themes presented in the movie.

God’s own country gives a rather vivid description of a rural kid in the England who struggled coping with different aspects/events in his life. The kid was living an unhappy life, disgruntled about his friends leaving for college, uneasy with his father’s expectations from him and so on. His interactions with a Romanian migrant worker, especially the initial hostility towards him, reminded me of the political scenario in the UK during the Brexit vote. I also felt the film was a little too direct for me personally. Scenes like the two being involved sexually outdoors made me slightly uncomfortable. However, I also feel it exposed me to a different kind of cinematic art, and possibly a different life style, a rural and foreign one, which I have had no exposure to.