GOD'S OWN COUNTRY - GOD'S OWN COUNTRY (1 Blu-ray)

**** This contains spoilers ****There is a review here which states we shouldn’t compare God’s Own Country with Brokeback Mountain. Yes, as stated, God’s Own Country is a good film because it's not like other films with a gay subject - especially the formulaic type mentioned which have sad endings, a female sympathiser . . .But, let me politely say that is why it is interesting to compare God’s Own Country to Brokeback Mountain. BM is a great film, beautifully filmed, strong acting, well-defined characters; but ultimately I was a bit disappointed with BM because it falls into the trap of yep, gotya, doomed-to-tragedy scenario. (****ed again.) I'd also add BM shouldn't be dismissed, it is too brilliant to dismiss.Because of all this, it is VERY interesting to compare BM and God’s Own Country - because they are so similar, and when they are not similar, it is as though GOC was deliberately directed to compare the polar opposite aspects. The comparison for me makes it clear God’s Own Country is the better film – as GOC is the response to the tired formula of Brokeback. GOC is the next stage in the story, making it modern and contemporary.We all know the similarities – both films feature two men in love, at first there is tension in the love, farming, natural surroundings where they are alone and their feelings for each other develop - where there is contact with the public, it adds to the tension and brings out gay political issues which could threaten the relationship . . . Those similarities are so obvious, and I think kind of deliberate: because GOC then grabs this subject as its own, presenting a modern reply to Brokeback. And that is good, because it's a positive reply. God’s Own Country is therefore the necessary response to the ultimately bleak (and tired) negativity of BM.So, the differences. God’s Own Country is different in aspects more important than the similarities. Firstly the obvious: BM is set in the past (when being gay was more tabboo), it seems more fictional because of this temporal distance. God’s Own Country is firmly set in the present NOW, it's less a fantasy gone wrong, and more a story of two real people with issues that concern us today (work, sex, immigration, family, friendship, alienation and being alone). BM being about the past, presents the problem of being gay and demands an answer from the audience. GOC, set in the present actually resolves the sexual tension within the film (!) this is pretty revolutionary. And yes, revolutionary because, worldwide, there are still issues around equal rights in sex.Continuing with differences . . . the style and tone of the films is different, the actual filming of God’s Own Country isn't Hollywood Grand. Remember the initial encounter between the two men in BM where Jake Gyllenhaal is tilting his hat, posing etc – stunning, but it's like a TV ad, then you have the Magnificent US scenery. It all works for BM, but . . . God’s Own Country is far more gritty, naturalistic and I'd say ultimately more relevant / beautiful for that honesty. As well as the human love story, it's a wonderful film about the daily rigours of farming.All films relate to each other in some way, they borrow ideas, copy them. Even exploit them. It can get a bit much when successful stories / styles become a trap. God’s Own Country does what the best of cinema does – carrying a subject into new territory and avoiding trope traps.