Man in an Orange Shirt (Frameline)

Patrick Gale's brilliant, two-part story - loosely based on his own parents' marriage of compromise - is by far the best part of the BBC TV's excellent Queer Brittania series that screened in the UK earlier this year. "The Man in an Orange Shirt" consists of beautiful tales of love across two interconnected films, highlighting the very different challenges that face the couples. With Michael and Thomas it was the 1940s, just after WWII; with Adam and Steve, it is the present day.

Part one tells the heartbreaking secret romance between soldiers Michael (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and Thomas (James McArdle) returning to London after the end of WWII. What starts out as a blissful romance (complete with an English country cottage with roses around the door) sours when Michael lets slip he is about to marry his childhood friend Flora (Joanna Vanderham).

He explains that he will wed her simply because that is what society expects. "You didn't think we could set up home together like man and wife," splutters Michael after Thomas takes umbrage at being asked to be best man at the wedding.

When the innocent and rather naive Flora discovers the truth of where her husband's affection really lies, she stays in the marriage rather than leaving him, intent instead on making his life hell.

All three seemed inexplicably trapped. An uptight Michael is unable to move beyond the life that is expected of him, whilst bohemian Thomas is unwilling to toe the line. Flora, meantime, is stuck in a marriage without either love or sex.

The second part of the story is set in present-day London. Flora's gay grandson Adam (Julian Morris) is staying in her basement. Despite the fact that he is addicted to gay hookup apps (and what they subsequently lead to), Adam is still not out to his grandmother (Vanessa Redgrave).

Despite this, the pair of them have quite a lot in common, as neither of them are able to come to terms with the truth. Adam risks losing his charming architect boyfriend Steve (David Gyasi) because of his secret liaisons; Flora, meanwhile, is still unable to accept the reality of her past.

With the relationships between Flora and her grandson, and Adam and Steve, at their breaking points, the sudden discovery of a painting and words of love never sent becomes the only possibility for them to find peace.

In these two rather old-fashioned love stories, Gale beautifully captures the English upper-middle-class refusal to accept homosexuality on any level, even if it meant destroying lives and making people as miserable as sin. The generations-spanning story is beautifully played out by his talented cast, particularly the veteran actor Vanessa Redgrave.