In the late 1950s it might have been grim up north, but not as grim as Eric
Styles heavy-handed and pedestrian film, Dreaming of Joseph Lees. Despite its class cast, it fails to work on almost any level.
Eva (Samantha Morton) is a secretary in a Yorkshire sawmill. Sweet, kind and
innocent, Eva would be content enough with her lot, were it not for her
burgeoning sexuality and a lingering romantic memory of her second cousin
and childhood sweetheart Joseph Lees, a sensitive and scholarly geologist.
In his absence, Eva is won over by his antithesis, local farmer Harry Flyte
(Lee Ross) who, in possession of considerable charms and finding himself in
the right place at the right time, wins her over with sheer enthusiasm.
As time goes on, however much Eva wishes herself in love with Harry,
at the back of her mind - and in the forefront of her precociously bright
younger sister's (played startlingly well by Lauren Richardson) - is the
thought of Joseph Lees.
And when Lees returns after many years (in the shape of a smouldering Rupert
Graves) and maimed by a recent accident, the attraction
between the cousins is instant and mutual. In attempting to follow her
heart, Eva finds it difficult to extricate herself from her relationship and is
violently torn between the two men.
It is inevitable, given the title, that there will be a certain amount of
dreaming involved in Joseph Lees. Be warned, then, that this gentle film - scant in dialogue and painfully drawn out - dwells heavily on internal turmoil, but fails entirely to convey that inward emotion. When Eva
reflects, it's done literally, into a mirror. A film lacking dynamic action
or plot does not automatically signal disaster. But Joseph Lees acknowledges its failure to communicate inner feeling and intensity by desperately resorting to an intrusive pseudo-atmospheric soundtrack, combined with much grainy slo-mo. It's all too transparent a bid to force-feed the audience into reacting to the on-screen drama. 'Look!' it says clumsily, 'something significant is happening'. But stereotyped characterisation, a feeble script and a pedestrian narrative are not masked so easily.
Despite six thoughtful years in the gestation and making, Joseph Lees will no doubt find its audience dreaming of other things.
Reviewed by Andrea Henry
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