Stage Crush

I started my first post with Josh and that’s how I’ll conclude. I’m a performance oriented person you see. While I like storytelling and quality writing a great deal, the reason I’ve always loved theatre so much is that intimate relationship between me and the actor who is embodying the character. I can get extremely carried away by it; I spend a lot of time in small theatres! 

So one of the things that stood out for me more the third time I watched it was that change in Johnny as portrayed so beautifully and fully by Josh O’Connor. I think I forgot just how much pleasure Johnny gets from his fledgling relationship with Gheorghe. That’s as gorgeously portrayed as the anguish of the emotions Johnny is feeling in the final scene that I highlighted in my last post. A review I quoted recently sums this up really nicely:

[…] once the romance has begun, Johnny embraces it with almost naive enthusiasm […]

Johnny’s wide eyed excitement is really enjoyable to watch. He has gone through this immense change and we’re along for the ride with him. At various points after Johnny has accepted his relationship with Gheorghe we see someone that is almost another man, sneaking erotically charged glances across a room, laughing, teasing and respecting someone for the first time. It’s secret and private and even when Johnny tries to be the man we saw at the beginning - sullen and moody - he’s unconvincing, broken down by a couple of kisses and malleable to Gheorghe’s will.

It’s no surprise really that some of the most stand out scenes are the interactions between the two men. That charged chemistry between the actors is incredibly believable.

I’ve touched briefly on it before, but there’s a scene in the film that is post-coital and it’s really a turning point for Johnny. It’s before he really changes in this way, but it’s probably one of the most important scenes in the film. It’s the only scene in which both characters are completely open both physically and emotionally. As they sit together, semi-naked, but comfortable, Johnny reveals some things about himself personally that it’s quite obvious he hasn’t spoken about to anyone before. This raw nakedness is really touching. He finds it hard to look Gheorghe in the eye as he speaks, picking at a scab on his hand as a distraction, but he draws in the audience, doubling down on our understanding of him.

Gheorghe understands this is a difficult moment for Johnny because he’s just got that empathic personality. And just as Gheorghe understands what a new born lamb needs, so too he knows what a potentially skittish Johnny needs. He stops Johnny picking his scab and licks it, granting us maybe THE most sexy/erotically charged moment in the film. (Your mileage may vary…) Johnny’s face is just the perfect mix of shock and a bit of arousal and a bit of WOW.

Performance. 👍

The other thing I noticed on my third viewing was just how much Gheorghe watches Johnny. I’d been put in mind to look out for Gheorghe’s feelings a bit more by the questions I got on here and it was quite illuminating. Gheorghe is pretty obsessed with Johnny from the start! 😏  His eyes follow Johnny around and they don’t really stop. I was struck by the scene between Johnny and his father early on in the film, where they argue and Johnny gets a telling off. Gheorghe hears all of Johnny’s frustration and disappointments in that scene, following to watch through the window as they continue clashing outside. It seems to me that Gheorghe becomes pretty fascinated by Johnny early on, observing him and understanding some of what he’s going through. While he doesn’t directly address it, his comment about it being lonely there is a tentative attempt at understanding who Johnny is and his sad predicament. His rough insistence on checking Johnny’s hand when he injures it is his way of forcing Johnny to accept his intervention. Johnny’s acceptance shows his openness to being cared for that then gets taken many steps further later on. It’s a prelude to what happens between them later, but I think Gheorghe has probably thought about it before then even.

I’ve written extensively on God’s Own Country now, so I feel like talking about any other scenes is too exhaustive. I’ve mention them all at one point or another! Thanks Josh, Alec and Francis for your wonderful film. I’ll be back in the new year when the DVD is out and we can discuss the deleted scenes and extras that better be on it! 

I may or may not have used Google translate to check �� I really liked the moment, the ferocity of his response showed that Gheorghe was also very invested, which contrasted well with him being level-headed in the pub earlier. I think that moment, when he gets in Johnny's face about the "gypsy" insults, the tussle before the first sex, and the reaction when the asshole in pub is flicking beer at him, all show a man who is tolerant, but has a clear limit of shit he will accept. Fantastic character.

the dialogue is very brief, Gheorghe offers to stay longer to help out until Martin is better, Johnny agrees- they smile at each other... *and eye fuck *

I think Johnny has a bit of a clue, since I think Gheorghe, when he almost hits him, calls him a prostitute/whore (in Romanian, but it's pretty obvious).