''Intimate Relations'' is a 1996 Canadian-British film, the first movie by writer and director Philip Goodhew. It stars

Rupert Graves Rupert Simeon Graves (born 30 June 1963) is an English film, television, and theatre actor. He is known for his roles in ''A Room with a View'', '' Maurice'', '' The Madness of King George'' and '' The Forsyte Saga''. From 2010 to 2017 he star ...

Julie Walters Dame Julia Mary Walters (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a B ...

and a fifteen-year-old

Laura Sadler Laura Ruth Sadler (25 December 1980 – 19 June 2003) was an English actress. She played pupil Judi Jeffreys in the children's school drama series ''Grange Hill'', and nurse Sandy Harper in the BBC One hospital drama series ''Holby City'' f ...

, the only feature film in her short career. The film is a drama and

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to disc ...

about a young man who has an affair with the middle-aged housewife he is lodging with. Matters are soon complicated when the housewife's teenage daughter gets involved after developing a crush on the young lodger. The film takes place in the 1950s in the

suburbs A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separa ...

of London. The film depicts the hypocritically prudish residents of a seemingly respectable household who, behind closed doors, indulge in the sort of sordid goings on they would publicly sneer at.

Plot

Marjorie Beaslie (

) is a housewife in her forties who takes in a lodger named Harold Guppey (

), who has just stumbled into town to look up his long-lost brother ( Les Dennis). Although seemingly prudish (she no longer sleeps in the same bed as her husband, for "medical reasons"), Marjorie takes a liking to Harold despite him being a good twenty years her junior, and they begin to have a clandestine affair. Marjorie insists that Harold refer to her as "mum", giving more than a little

oedipal The Oedipus complex (also spelled Œdipus complex) is an idea in psychoanalytic theory. The complex is an ostensibly universal phase in the life of a young boy in which, to try to immediately satisfy basic desires, he unconsciously wishes to have ...

slant to their lustful antics. Marjorie's youngest daughter is fourteen-year-old Joyce (

), a precocious,

Lolita ''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Hum ...

-like girl who alternates between trying to act grown up by putting on

make up Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

and smoking

cigarettes A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the opp ...

, and acting childish by disturbing people with tales of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

punishments and giggling at rude words. Joyce is fascinated by Harold and with her teasing behaviour she cunningly turns him from being apathetic towards her to being intrigued. When Joyce catches Harold and Marjorie in bed together, she seemingly does not realise what they are up to and merely thinks they're having an innocent "bunk up". She talks her way into getting into the bed with them. Harold and Marjorie continue their intimate relations whilst Joyce pretends to be asleep, realising what is actually going on. A few days later, Joyce blackmails Harold into taking her to a hotel for the night, where he turns the tables on her with every intent and purpose but actually diverts his attention by doing much the opposite as he seduces her before spurning her. Marjorie's much-older husband, Stanley (Matthew Walker), is a one-legged World War I veteran who sleeps in a separate room and is oblivious to Harold's relationships with either Marjorie or Joyce, as is the rest of their suburban community. Sick of being caught between a mother and daughter, who are too old and too young for him respectively, Harold tries to get out of the house and move away by joining the army and getting a new girlfriend. However, Marjorie manages to emotionally blackmail him into coming back. One day, Harold takes Marjorie and Joyce out for a picnic, although things are tense between the trio. Having sent her daughter Joyce away to play, Marjorie begins to ravish Harold, but Joyce returns and hits her mother with an

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

. Harold panics and attempts to get Marjorie into the car to take her to hospital but, with blood streaming down her face, Marjorie manages to pick up a knife Harold drops and attacks him with it. Harold fights Marjorie off and stabs her to death. Joyce then tries to attack Harold and he stabs her to death too. Finally, Harold stabs himself in the stomach in an attempt to emphasise that his actions were out of self-defence. It is said in a post-script that he, the real Albert Goozee, was sentenced to death for Joyce's murder.

Cast

as Marjorie Beasley *

as Harold Guppey *

as Joyce Beasley * Matthew Walker as Stanley Beasley * Les Dennis as Maurice Guppey *

Amanda Holden Amanda Louise Holden (born 16 February 1971) is an English actress, media personality, and singer. Since 2007, she has been a judge on the television talent show competition ''Britain's Got Talent'' on ITV. She also co-hosts the ''Heart Brea ...

as Pamela * Michael Bertenshaw as Mr Pugh * Elsie Kelly as Enid *

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as Bobby

Inspiration

The film is based on the true story of Albert Goozee, who was put on trial in 1956 in England. He was arrested after his 53-year-old landlady, Mrs. Lydia Leakey, and her 14-year-old daughter, Norma, were found murdered. Goozee was tried only for the murder of the teenaged girl (Joyce, in the movie), convicted and imprisoned for life. The movie follows Goozee's own version of events, portraying him as an increasingly desperate young man caught in a love triangle between a mother and daughter, although as the only survivor there is no way of verifying if his version of the events was entirely truthful. Goozee was released from prison in 1971 but was imprisoned again in 1996, the year ''Intimate Relations'' came out, for unrelated sex offences.

References

External links

* *
Archived interview at Rupert Graves' own site about the film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Intimate Relations 1996 films 1996 comedy-drama films 1990s black comedy films British comedy-drama films British black comedy films Canadian comedy-drama films English-language Canadian films Films set in the 1950s Fox Searchlight Pictures films 1990s English-language films 1990s Canadian films 1990s British films