Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10940 in VHS
• Released on: 2000-05-16
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 92 minutes

Amazon.com
Wispy, pixielike Samantha Morton, who dazzled as an emotionally crumbling teen in Under My Skin and the rock-steady moral center of Sweet and Lowdown, shines once again in Dreaming of Joseph Lees. Set in rural England during the 1950s, the film is the story of Eva (Morton), who since adolescence has pined for her distant cousin Lees (Rupert Graves), an intellectual and well-traveled geologist who's been away since a quarry accident claimed one of his legs. That was years ago; now Eva spends half her time keeping house for her elderly father and two younger siblings, and seemingly the other half fending off--though not too strenuously--advances from Harry (Lee Ross), a charming, hopelessly infatuated coworker at the sawmill. Just when she finally warms to Harry, however, a family wedding (and the well-intentioned machinations of her sister) reunites Eva with the man she's loved since she was a child.

Dreaming of Joseph Lees is not too subtle, and occasionally strains credulity (unlikely that the shy Eva would move in so quickly with Harry), but Morton doesn't have to carry the whole thing on her shoulders. The movie admirably refrains from making anybody either blameless or a monster, and with the dank, muddy fields of the Isle of Man as a backdrop, this makes a fine choice if you're in the mood for gloomy, foredoomed romance. --Bruce Reid

Customer Reviews

Beautifully Photographed
Dreaming of Joseph Lees is the quintessential little movie, British style. It is a beautifully photographed movie played by a cast of genuine actors you probably never heard of. The setting is rural England (actually photographed on the Isle of Man) in the late 1950's. It is a love story with a classic triangle. There is not a wasted scene, not a wasted moment.

Eva is a young woman who dreams romantically of an older second cousin, Joepth Lees, she remembers from when she was a girl. Joseph is a geologist who works in Italy where he lost a leg in a quarry accident. Eva thinks about him a lot, has heard about him from time to time but has not seen him in many years. In the meantime, she has come of age, has finished school and works in a lumber mill while also caring for her elderly father and younger sister. One of the local boys who works at the mill and tends his farm, Harry, is interested in Eva and lets her know repeatedly in a rather crude way. Eventually, seeing no other hope for male companionship, she moves in with Harry. Guess who shows up at that point? The remainder of the movie is Eva's emotional see-saw as she tries to decide between Joseph and Harry. There are hints (some metaphoric, some unexpected, some both) as to outcome along the way. She finally chooses, and the movie ends as it must. Although some things about the movie do not quite ring true (they could not, at least, have happened in rural America during the same time period), it is a good period piece. Someone suggested it is not a subtle movie but neither the sex nor the violence, both are present, are played strongly. By American standards the movie is subtle. Nothing is blown up in a ball of fire. Most of the blood is just from a nosebleed. There are no gimmicks. The movie rides on the photography, the acting and the story, just like any movie should.

And how are those features? The photography is superb. The acting is flawless. The story is good, certainly good enough to make a worthwhile vehicle for the visuals and for the acting.

A powerful, romantic, must-see film
The story is old, and has been told before, but this time is told in a beautiful and refreshing way. Eva (played beautifully by Samantha Morton) is a young woman torn between the distant cousin she has loved since childhood, Joseph Lees (a wonderfully romantic performance by Rupert Graves), and the affection and responsibility she feels for Harry, who has wooed her for years with a love bordering on obsession.

When she finally chooses to follow her heart with Joseph, Harry's obsession turns self-destructive and emotionally twisted, thus bringing out the responsibility Eva feels for him. The film grows slightly dark at this point, but never loses sight of the romantic side - the light at the end of the tunnel.

The cinematography is wonderful and strikingly real, and the actors are all at their best - particularly Lee Ross, who as Harry carries off the vulnerability, obsession, and slight madness with astonishing skill. But by far the most interesting part of the movie is the end, which leaves the viewer to make up their own mind as to how the story ends.

This film grabs you from the very beginning and never lets you go.

Wonderful film!
This movie is great. At some point in a relationship everyone has to make the decision - do I love this person? This film explores that question in depth. If you have ever truly loved someone and yet the relationship was impossible - this is a movie for you. This is a dramatic movie with real characters that make the movie seem very real.