Cambridge Film Festival 2023: Film #10
Someone recently described The Archers' films as being "subversive but not revolutionary" in their politics, and this anti-materialist romance is an excellent example of that. The gender politics are doubtless interesting, but Roger Livesey's rather cold turn as bonnie Scottish laird Torquil prevented me from engaging deeper into this on an emotional level. Especially when I realised he's probably the prototype for Charles Windsor's public schtick.
The films are subversive insofar as they are morally complex, frequently carnal and often downright weird. But they are also secure – even elitist – in their focus on posh ballerinas and righteous squires, blustering colonels and jovial lairds. While the Archers’ work spoke truth to power, it did so in the service of propping up the old order. It was challenging and radical, but it was never bent on revolution.
— Xan Brooks (The Guardian, 2023)
Synopsis: Plucky Englishwoman Joan Webster travels to the remote islands of the Scottish Hebrides in order to marry a wealthy industrialist. Trapped by inclement weather on the Isle of Mull and unable to continue to her destination, Joan finds herself charmed by the straightforward, no-nonsense islanders around her, and becomes increasingly attracted to naval officer Torquil MacNeil, who holds a secret that may change her life forever.