Review of Jealous God, The

Introduction

Vincent Dungarvan is a school teacher who is still living at home with his mother. His two brothers are married to differing degrees of happiness. Vincent is a Roman catholic and it`s the mid 60`s, the sexual revolution has passed him by and his mother thinks he might have the vocation for the priesthood. But Vincent has his eye on the local library assistant Laura and more than a passing attraction to his brother`s wife, Maureen.

Driven by the need to quell the fire created by unresolved sexual tension he tentatively courts Laura but is horrified to discover she is a divorced woman and a Protestant. He backs away but is drawn disastrously to his sister-in-law.

Video

It`s the film-maker`s intention to recreates the look of the 1960`s but it seems to have resulted in a low budget Heartbeat effect. There are far too many cars on the road and although its great to see the trains both steam and diesel I felt like I had wondered into Thomas the Tank Engine country.

Audio

There are no problems with the sound.

Features

The only extra other than the trailer is an enlightening short making of documentary in which the director talks about adjustments to the novel`s characters.

Conclusion

I can sum up my deep unease with this film as being overuse of the blue roll-neck sweater. Caught up in counting the appearances of this talented woollie cradling Jason Merrell`s lithe form it distracted me from the narrative. To be honest it didn`t take much.

This film is a depressing reminder of Heartbeat, Born and Bred and other desperate TV series of that ilk. It failed to move me in the way I would expect from a quality period piece.The source material is a little obscure for a modern audiences and even the oh-so clever use of footage from "Life at the Top" when Vincent and Laura are on a date may not ring a bell except in the audience of a certain age.