Beautiful Thing (film)

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Beautiful Thing
Beautiful Thing (1996 film) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Hettie MacDonald
Written by Jonathan Harvey
Produced by Tony Garnett
Bill Shapter
Starring
Music by John Altman
Production
company
Distributed by FilmFour Distributors
Release date
  • 14 June 1996 (1996-06-14)
Running time
89 minutes
Country United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$3,072,738 [1]

Beautiful Thing is a 1996 British romantic comedy coming-of-age film directed by Hettie MacDonald and released by Channel 4 Films. [2] The screenplay was written by Jonathan Harvey based on his own original play of the same name. The film stars Linda Henry, Glen Berry, Scott Neal, Tameka Empson and Ben Daniels. The film was the cinema debuts of Harvey, MacDonald, and actors Berry, Neal and Empson.

Contents

The film was originally intended for television broadcast only, but it was so well-received that it was subsequently released in UK cinemas on 14 June 1996. The atmosphere of the film is heavily influenced by a soundtrack consisting almost entirely of the music of The Mamas & the Papas and Mama Cass Elliot.

The movie received "generally positive" reviews, and is often ranked as one of the best LGBTQ films. In 2016, British playwright Fin Kennedy, said that twenty years later, the story told is still held in "near-universal affection among audiences." [3]

Plot

Jamie (Glen Berry) is a teenager who is in love with his classmate, Ste (Scott Neal). Jamie's single mother, Sandra (Linda Henry), is preoccupied with ambitious plans to run her own pub and has an ever-changing string of lovers; the latest of these is Tony (Ben Daniels), a neo-hippie.

Sandra finds herself at odds with Leah (Tameka Empson), a sassy and rude neighbour who has been expelled from school, takes a variety of drugs, and constantly listens and sings along to her mother's Cass Elliot records. While Jamie's homosexuality remains concealed, his introverted nature and dislike of football are reason enough for his classmates to bully him.

Ste, who is living together with his drug-dealing brother and abusive, alcoholic father in the flat next door to Sandra and Jamie's, is beaten by his brother so badly that Sandra takes pity and lets him sleep over one night. In the absence of a third bed, Ste has to make do with sleeping 'top-to-toe' with Jamie. On the second night that they share the bed, the boys change sleeping arrangements and Jamie kisses Ste for the first time.

The next morning, Ste leaves the flat before Jamie has awakened, and avoids him for days. Jamie works up the nerve to steal a Gay Times from a newsagent, apparently starting to accept his sexuality and affection for Ste. Jamie finally spots Ste at a nearby party and confronts him about his feelings; they prepare to leave together. The party ends badly, with Sandra taking vengeance on Leah for gossiping. Leah then threatens to 'spill the beans' about Ste and Jamie and confesses to having covered up for Ste in front of his father and brother. Ste reacts by angrily rejecting Jamie and running away.

Slowly, Ste accepts Jamie's love. Their relationship develops as they visit a gay pub together, but Sandra follows them and discovers their secret. The film reaches its climax as a bad trip by Leah (on an unnamed drug) precipitates Sandra's breakup with Tony, the news of Sandra's new job comes out, and Sandra confronts Ste and Jamie about their relationship. Sandra comes to accept her son's sexuality.

The film ends with the two boys slow-dancing in the courtyard of their council flats to the Cass Elliot song "Dream a Little Dream of Me" while a protective Sandra dances defiantly at their side with Leah as the local residents look on. Some onlookers are shocked, some strongly disapprove and some enjoy the moment.

Cast

Background and production

Jonathan Harvey, who wrote the script, said a substantial portion of the story was based on his own memories of growing up gay, and his goal with the film was "to have a hopeful, happy-ending story about being gay, being working class, and coming out." [4] His writing was also motivated by the knowledge that at the time, a heterosexual teenager could watch the "gorgeous guy taking the gorgeous girl to the prom" on television, but there was really no role models for gay teenagers in film or on television. [4] [3] Harvey said he had to face an issue of the boys ages in the film, because initially the two boys were supposed to be 15 and 16, but those ages were below the age of consent in Britain, so they auditioned 17-year-olds for the roles. [5] He said the lawyers had to scrutinise the project, due to the scene where Jamie and Ste were having a "snog on screen." [5] Harvey said they eventually decided to take out any references to specific ages, but not for any legal reasons, instead, it was because Gay Times objected to using their magazine in the film if there was going to be any mention of the boys being under age. [5]

Producer Tony Garnett thought the play was better suited for the screen, so after Channel 4 greenlit the film production, David Aukin, Channel 4's head of drama, hired the play's stage director, Hettie MacDonald, to helm the film, because the subject matter was "foreign" to Garnett. [6] [7] He also recalled the letters that poured in after the film was released from young men, "who thanked us for saving them: they now knew they were not alone, they were not freaks." [6] First assistant director Susie Liggat recalls that electricians refused to work on the scenes that were shot after Jamie and Ste leave The Gloucester, and are seen kissing in the woods, so there was a compromise that the electricians would set up the lights, and then they left before the scenes were shot. [8] Liggat and Harvey both had uncredited roles in the film, with Liggat portraying a woman at the newsstand when Jamie steals the copy of Gay Times, and Harvey was "Wheelchair Queen" in the Gloucester scene. [8] Dave Lynn, who portrayed the drag performer at the Gloucester that flirts with Jamie and Ste, said he was already an existing act at the Gloucester, and was asked on site if he wanted to appear in the film. He donated the dress he was wearing in the movie to be put on display at a bar in Brighton, along with a copy of the script. [8]

The film was Hettie MacDonald's directorial debut, and she recalls her first day on the set, as being "really scary". MacDonald said she had never even seen a film set, much less been in charge of one before and "suddenly there were 100 faces peering at me waiting for me to yell: Action!" She went on to say that although she was "totally unprepared for what I had to do", the film crew she was working with were so experienced, like a well-oiled machine, you really couldn't do anything "drastically wrong", and they just "get on with it." [9] Besides being MacDonald's debut at directing, it was also Harvey's film debut for writing a screenplay, along with actors Berry, Neal and Empson making their first appearance on the big screen. [7]

Film locations

Harvey said he decided the filming location would be in Thamesmead, a working-class area in the eastern part of South London, that is dominated by post-war council estates, because he had taught school there for three years. [5] The principal photography took five weeks to complete. [5] In the opening, the film shows a gang of teenage boys playing football in a grassy area in Thamesmead; the blocks of flats seen in the background are located on Yarnton Way in Thamesmead. [10] [11] The estates that are frequently seen in Thamesmead, are notable for being featured in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange , and Anthony Simmons' The Optimists of Nine Elms as well. [10] [8]

Production designer Mark Stevenson said he found three adjacent Thamesmead spaces for shooting locations, with one that was being renovated, another one was a burned-out shell, and the final space had previously been a radio station. He recalls that he spent most of his budget restoring them to look like the flats that Jamie, Ste and Leah lived in. [12] The pub where Sandra was employed, was the former Lakeside Bar on Southmere Lake. [10]

A key scene was shot on location in Greenwich; when Jamie and Ste begin to accept who they are, they go to a gay pub called The Gloucester in Greenwich, which the pair of teens saw advertised in an issue of Gay Times . [13] In 2023, a rainbow plaque was installed at the location, denoting it as a significant place in LGBTQ history, due to the film. [14] [15] Another filming location in Greenwich is the tavern that Sandra is aspiring to run called The Anchor, which is actually the Cutty Sark. [10]

Themes

Beautiful Thing telegraphed to its mid-1990s audiences something they hadn’t heard before:

Gay people are just people. [16]

The narrative of the film includes themes of gender, human sexuality, race, homophobia and child abuse. [4] [6] [13] There is also the themes of societal pressure and prejudice, that Jamie and Ste face surrounding their same–sex relationship, and the stigma that gay teenagers have to confront when they are coming out. [4] [13] Additionally, there are elements of the adult characters in the film feeling like they are trapped on the fringes of a two-tiered Britain, because of their position in a working-class life. [4] [13]

Release

The film premiered at the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in March 1996, after initially being rejected by the Berlin Film Festival. [17] After a successful run at the London Festival, where it was awarded Best Film, it was then screened at the It's Queer Up North Festival in Manchester in April 1996. [18] [19] In May 1996, it was shown at the Warwick Arts Centre, and later that month it was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was one of only two British films to be shown in the festival's Diretor's Fortnight. [20] [9] It had a general release in UK cinemas on 14 June 1996, [21] [22] [23] and by 16 June 1996, it was ranked at number 5 in the "top films around the country" list compiled by The Observer ; a position it held steadfast for a month. [24] [25] In the United States, the film had its general release in October 2009. [26] [27] The film grossed $3,072,738 at the box office. [1] In material sent out advertising the film, it was promoted as "an urban fairytale." [18] [28] [29]

Home media

The film was released on VHS in 1997. [30] The movie had its television premiere on the Sundance Channel in June 1998, [31] and was released to DVD in May 2003. [32] In March 2024, the British Film Institute released a special Blu-ray version of the film, which includes: commentary with Jonathan Harvey, Hettie Macdonald and Susie Liggat, a short film called Living at Thamesmead and a short titled Crashing Waves. There is also footage of the films rainbow plaque unveiling at the Greenwich Tavern, and a booklet is included with the set. [8]

Soundtrack

The Mamas and the Papas, Mama Cass second from left, circa 1968 The Mamas and the Papas Ed Sullivan Show 1968.JPG
The Mamas and the Papas, Mama Cass second from left, circa 1968

A soundtrack for the film was released by MCA Records on 15 October 1996. [33] The film's soundtrack primarily consists of the music from the The Mamas & the Papas and Mama Cass Elliot. Producer Tony Garnett recalls that Channel 4 was insistent they obtain the rights for the music, which he said was cost prohibitive. Garnett went on to say that "the film depended on this" (obtaining the rights). [6] He said the negotiations for the rights extended beyond the deadline for cancelling the film, but "at the last minute we made a deal." [6]

Brandon Tensley from The Atlantic , opined that the music "conjures up a sort of escapist synergy with counterculture, and optimism, from other eras," [16] while film critic Stephen Holden says the soundtrack "plays a crucial role in setting the tone of a likable little film whose mixture of working-class realism and feel-good fantasy resurrects the spirit of 1960s movies set in swinging England." [34]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)ArtistLength
1."It's Getting Better" Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil Mama Cass2:59
2."One Way Ticket" Bruce Hart, Stephen J. Lawrence Mama Cass2:46
3."California Earthquake" John Hartford Mama Cass3:22
4."Welcome to The World"Martin Eagle Siegal, Scott English Mama Cass2:19
5."Make Your Own Kind of Music"Barry Mann, Cynthia WeilMama Cass2:19
6."Creeque Alley" John Phillips, Michelle Phillips The Mamas and The Papas3:48
7."Dream a Little Dream of Me" Fabian Andre, Wilbur Schwandt The Mamas and The Papas3:13
8."Move in a Little Closer, Baby"Robert O'Connor, Arnold Jay CapitanelliMama Cass2:37
9."California Dreamin'"John Phillips, Michelle PhillipsThe Mamas and The Papas2:40
10."Monday, Monday"John PhillipsThe Mamas and The Papas3:27
11."I Saw Her Again"John Phillips, Denny Doherty The Mamas and The Papas3:13
12."Words of Love"John PhillipsThe Mamas and The Papas2:11
13."Dedicated to the One I Love"Lowman Pauling, Ralph Bass The Mamas and The Papas2:58
14."Look Through My Window"John PhillipsThe Mamas and The Papas3:05
15."Go Where You Wanna Go"John PhillipsThe Mamas and The Papas2:29
16."Beautiful Thing Medley" John Altman John Altman 7:59

Reception

The movie has been mostly commended by contemporary critics. As of August 2025, the film holds a 92% approval rating on the reviewing aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "An engaging slice of life drama that happens to double as a gay coming-of-age story, Beautiful Thing captures its place and time with deceptive depth and skill". [35]

British film critic Derek Malcolm says "the film is held together by the performances of Berry and Neal." He further observed that the film "sometimes lacks a bite of more depressing realities; its comedy is neither unthinking nor uncaring, but it just ends up a little glib." Overall, he opines the film "is intent on giving its audience a good time while quietly persuading them that it takes all sorts to make a world." [36] Geoff Brown wrote in The Times that the "settings and characters put the film squarely in the British realist camp: this is a tale of working-class life." He also complimented the two main characters, Jamie and Ste, for "discovering their tender feelings for each other without wails of anguish." [37]

American film critic Roger Ebert wrote "the most interesting scenes involve the characters around them, who all but steal the movie. The boys' lives contain few surprises, but from the other characters there is one astonishment after another." [38] Liese Spencer from Sight and Sound wrote actors Glen Berry and Scott Neal are "convincingly gauche, combining cheeky laddishness and youthful vulnerability, and Linda Henry exudes a muscular independence as this tough survivor whose conversation has a waspish edge." Overall, she stated "the film is rich in an understated realism, and MacDonald and Harvey have, in fact, produced an 'issue' film with a remarkably light touch." [28]

Doug Brantley wrote in Out Magazine that "this tender tale of two young blokes coming of age in working-class London hits all the right chords (teen angst, suicide, first love, coming out) with star-turn performances and a killer Mama Cass soundtrack." [39] Barbara Creed of The Age opined that "first-time director Hettie MacDonald imbues the story with humor and joy, and tt is a charming, endearing film that never degenerates into sentimentality or melodrama." She stated the movie "makes the most of an intelligent, witty script and an excellent cast, with the best performance coming from Linda Henry, whose wicked sense of humor softens her tough, abrasive manner." [40]

American film critic Stephen Holden praised the acting, observing that "Berry and Neal capture every blush and awkward gesture of two shy adolescents stumbling together in terror out onto some very thin ice, and Ms. Henry is wonderful as a woman whose fighting spirit masks a streak of hard-bitten tenderness." Holden credits the funniest line in the movie to Sandra, when she "assures her son, where gay people can go and live without fear of harassment: 'It's an island in the Mediterranean called Lesbian'." [34]

Accolades

YearAwardCategoryResultRef.
1996 London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival Best FilmWon [41]
Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight Selected [41]
São Paulo International Film Festival International Jury AwardHonorable Mention [42]
European Film Awards Best Young Film Nominated [43]
Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival Best ScreenplayWon [44]
Toronto Film Festival People's Choice Award 2nd place [45]
1997 GLAAD Media Award Outstanding Film – Limited Release Won [46]
Chlotrudis Awards Best Movie Nominated [43]
Best Actress – Linda Henry Nominated [43]

Legacy

It was a snapshot of life about a group of characters who all lived next door to each other, and I don't really believe that 20 years on, those four or five people would necessarily be in the same universe together. I suppose what's interesting is that there's not been a British gay film like it since.

Jonathan Harvey [3]

Philip Kemp of Sight and Sound argues the film is permeated with socio-political significance, in that it was instrumental in making more people accepting of homosexuality, in a post Margaret Thatcher Britain. [6] Kemp further states that the mid-1990s was a crucial time for LGBTQ films, and due to its subject matter, the movie successfully showcased multiple cultural viewpoints. He also notes that the film arose out of the new queer cinema movement, which aimed to get rid of the negative connotations surrounding the term "queer", and instead, show there could be "positive meanings in politics and filmmaking." [6]

Twenty years after the films release, William Connolly, the editor of Gay Times , published a retrospective, stating that the movie was "resonant with the movement towards realism in British cinema", for the way it portrayed the LGBTQ identity. [3] Connolly observed that the story told in the film showed a different side to gay relationships, in that they were no longer viewed as "two guys hooking up on a Friday night and spending their weekend fucking, snorting cocaine and slurring their speech." [3] Connolly contends that the movie was not only a "driving force" for LGBTQ visibility in the mainstream media, it also played a significant role in advancing the cause of equality in filmmaking. [3] Additionally, Connolly argues that the film helped to emphasise that "homosexuality ran through all facets of society." [3] He also highlighted a scene in the movie where Jamie steals a copy of Gay Times from a newsstand, and shops at the time reported that multiple teenagers were also stealing copies of the magazine as a "rite of passage." [3]

Throughout the years, the film has consistently been ranked from various publications as one of the "Best", "Greatest" or "Top" LGBTQ Movies Of All Time. [A] The movie has also been frequently highlighted as being a notable teen coming-of-age story. [B] The movie has sometimes been referred to a cult classic as well. [C] British playwright Fin Kennedy, noted that even though twenty years has passed since the release of the movie, the coming-of-age story told in the film is still held in "near-universal affection among audiences." [3]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Attributed to multiple sources: [39] [47] [48] [49] [50] [51] [52] [53] [54] [55] [56] , [57] [58]
  2. ↑ Attributed to multiple sources: [59] [60] [61] [62] [63] [64] [65] [66]
  3. ↑ Attributed to multiple sources: [67] [68] [69] [70] [71] [72]

References

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  2. ↑ Elley, Derek (10 March 1996). "Film reviews – Beautiful Thing directed by Hettie Macdonald". Variety Magazine . Vol. 362, no. 5. p. 77 – via ProQuest.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Connolly, William (July 2016). "Twenty Years Of Beautiful Thing". Gay Times . No. 460. pp. 42–45. ISSN   0950-6101. 115819367 (accession number) – via EBSCO LGBTQ Database.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Fouz-Hernández, Santiago (2002). "School is out: the British 'coming out' films of the 1990s". New Cinemas: Journal of Contemporary Film . 1 (3): 149–164. doi:10.1386/ncin.1.3.149/0. ISSN   1474-2756.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Harvey, Jonathan (6 June 1996). "In the eye of the beholder". Arts. The Guardian . pp. 10–11 – via Newspapers.com. story continued on page 11
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Kemp, Philip (May 2024). "Beautiful Thing". Sight and Sound . Vol. 34, no. 4. p. 84. ISSN   0037-4806 – via ProQuest.
  7. 1 2 Wolf, Matt (13 June 1996). "In the beginning were the words". The Times . p. 33 – via Gale Research.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Couzens, Gary (20 March 2024). "Beautiful Thing Blu-ray review". Cine Outsider. Archived from the original on 24 July 2024.
  9. 1 2 Massey, Fraser (16 May 1996). "How Hettie hit the film big time". Western Daily Press . p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Scovell, Adam (18 March 2024). "Beautiful Thing: finding the Thamesmead locations for the classic 90s gay romance". British Film Institute . Archived from the original on 18 March 2024.
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  12. ↑ Calhoun, John (November 1996). "Beautiful Thing". TCI. Vol. 30, no. 9. Intertec Publishing. p. 13 – via ProQuest.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Nowlan, Bob (16 July 2006). "The Politics of Love in Three Recent U.S. and U.K. Films of Young Gay Romance: A Symptomatic Reading of Beautiful Thing, Get Real and Edge of Seventeen". Journal of Homosexuality . 50 (4): 141–184. doi:10.1300/J082v50n04_07. PMID   16723344.
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  25. ↑ Courtney, Bernadette (17 July 1996). "Beautiful Thing writer found quick road to success". The Dominion . p. 13 – via ProQuest. His film Beautiful Thing, adapted from his own successful play, has sat in the top five cinema spot since it opened in England last month
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  32. ↑ "DVD Reviews: Beautiful gay movies". The Advocate . 27 May 2003. p. 21 – via Gale Research. The 1996 film Beautiful Thing about two high school boys who fall in love finally comes to DVD this month
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  70. ↑ Seventh Row Editors (25 June 2021). "25 unsung queer cinema treasures". Seventh Row. Archived from the original on 9 November 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2025.
  71. ↑ Savvas, Christina (1 April 2015). "Beautiful Thing at Birmingham Hippodrome review: Lots of laughs and tears shed for this moving play". Birmingham Live . Archived from the original on 3 April 2015.
  72. ↑ Mancusi, Benedetta (24 September 2023). "Beautiful Thing at Theatre Royal Stratford East". The Upcoming. Archived from the original on 19 April 2025. Retrieved 15 August 2025.

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