222. Fanny Lye Deliver’d; movie review
Cert 18
111 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong bloody violence, nudity
Maxine Peake really is the darling of the critics, isn't she? And with good reason - she is one of our most consistently excellent actresses.
However, it seems more than a tad unfair to the others in the small cast of Fanny Lye Deliver'd that she seems to have grabbed all of the plaudits for Thomas Clay's film.
The nature of Peake's character means that she doesn't hog the spotlight in the way in which I had expected, based on prior reading.
Freddie Fox and Charles Dance are more to the fore in the verbal and physical clashes which are the bedrock of this drama set in Oliver Cromwell's Britain.
Fox stars as Thomas, a hedonist whose anarchic outlook has lured along his lover, Rebecca (Tanya Reynolds).
They take refuge in the home of the Lyes while on the run from a brutal high sheriff (Peter McDonald), his deputy (Perry Fitzpatrick) and the local constable (Kenneth Collard).
Much against his usual puritanical nature, Fanny's husband (Dance) agrees to take them in and, in the process, changes their lives forever.
Fanny Lye Deliver'd feels like a theatre piece with a small cast and almost the entire movie played out at a smallholding.
It is edgy and violent and probes deep into the presumed psyche of those living in Britain in the immediate aftermath of Charles I's beheading.
Indeed, it made me realise what a huge tumult in which the country must have been, having gone through civil war.
Thomas and Rebecca have picked up the baton of supposed freedoms while the Lyes literally beat themselves up in the name of God.
And then there is law enforcement which seems to have taken the change in regime as a licence for cruelty.
Fanny Lye Deliver'd is a strange movie on several levels with exaggerated characters and an odd mix of sex and violence.
However, it was on the right side of surreal street if not taste boulevard and Mrs W and I found it arresting and entertaining.
It is edgy and violent and probes deep into the presumed psyche of those living in Britain in the immediate aftermath of Charles I's beheading.
Indeed, it made me realise what a huge tumult in which the country must have been, having gone through civil war.
Thomas and Rebecca have picked up the baton of supposed freedoms while the Lyes literally beat themselves up in the name of God.
And then there is law enforcement which seems to have taken the change in regime as a licence for cruelty.
Fanny Lye Deliver'd is a strange movie on several levels with exaggerated characters and an odd mix of sex and violence.
However, it was on the right side of surreal street if not taste boulevard and Mrs W and I found it arresting and entertaining.
Reasons to watch: Memorable and unusual period thriller
Reasons to avoid: Will be too weird for some
Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 7/10
Did you know? Quaker was originally a derogatory nickname, alluding either to the alleged ecstatic fits of the religious branch's devotees or to George Fox's injunction to "quake at the word of the Lord".
The final word. Thomas Clay: "So for a long time I have wanted to make a film about that period in some way, but wasn’t sure how to do it. Then I had the idea of combining that with a western, something I have also wanted to do for a long time, then it all flowed from there." Zavvi
Reasons to avoid: Will be too weird for some
Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: Yes
Overall rating: 7/10
Did you know? Quaker was originally a derogatory nickname, alluding either to the alleged ecstatic fits of the religious branch's devotees or to George Fox's injunction to "quake at the word of the Lord".
The final word. Thomas Clay: "So for a long time I have wanted to make a film about that period in some way, but wasn’t sure how to do it. Then I had the idea of combining that with a western, something I have also wanted to do for a long time, then it all flowed from there." Zavvi
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