Queen & Country

It showcases Boorman's great humanity, but (like Hope and Glory, for that matter) it is almost entirely free of the mild derangement that characterises his best work.

This is a deeply personal film which also stands as an intriguing record of a period not often revisited in film -- that drab period postwar and pre-Suez in which the country itself, like the flailing young hero Rohan, is struggling to define itself.

Everything you'd expect from distinctive film-maker John Boorman: a heartfelt story told in arresting visual tones through a melange of conflicting accents and strangely theatrical staging.

While you may not have any strong thoughts or feelings about the Queen, feeling the intimacy of where the late Monarch spent the private moments of her life is at once peaceful and beautiful...