Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Anna Paquin, Holliday Grainger, Gregor Selkirk, Kate Dickie, Euan Mason, Lauren Lyle, Liam Meghan, Joanne Gallagher, Joni Samson, Isaac Jenkins, Farah Samson, Leo Hoyte-Egan, Emum Elliott, Sarah McCardie, Steven Robertson, Alexa Snell, Michael O’ Connor, Rebecca Hanssen, Tori Burgess, Ben Bradley, Declan Gemmell, Penny Sharp.
The birds and the bees, even in the second decade of the 21st Century we are coy about any sexual act, one of passion and lust, one of caring and hidden; and yet for all our advancements as a society we still have the thoughts of repression and the unhappiness of how those who paved their own way in love were treated by society at large.
That perhaps is the point, whether you see yourself in what some members of society deem to be the typical, appropriate relationship structure, or those that are bold in their choices and true to their souls, there is still a debt to those that fought against stigmatism, against horrific abuse and the damnation of others; whether it is to women or to men to whom we love, nobody should feel ashamed for wanting to feel and need affection.
It is to the post second world war era that much of the thinking towards the homosexual and lesbian community raised its head, a hangover perhaps of the way society became entrenched in its desire for so called normality after years of conflict against a regime that took every opportunity to destroy ordinary people. In the 2018 film Tell It To The Bees, what comes across is a beautifully filmed story but one that really does not get to grips with the wider implications of the two women involved and their relationship with community at large.
A film that relies upon its own discretion is often to be seen as skirting the issue, and whilst it is refreshing to see a relationship played out with innocence, it nevertheless means that the euphemisms portrayed by the backdrop of the bees themselves become lost, muddled and in the end losing some of the danger that could have played a more prominent part in the film, especially with the idea of such staunch Calvinism being betrayed by the lies and behind closed drama of male aggression and illegal abortion.
With that in mind the two leads of Anna Paquin and Holliday Grainger are complete, persuaded with intelligent acting and a truthful sense of adoration which is so often missing in any romantic situation.
A delightful film which refuses to cross a boundary in the name of salaciousness, Tell It To The Bees maintains a perfect balance between drama and the real experience.
Ian D. Hall