May 20, 2020
Reports: Amazon Axes Sex Scenes in British Gay Film 'God's Own Country'
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
[Editor's note: The filmmaker behind "God's Own Country" has offered an update on the situation. Click here to read the followup story.]
Americans viewing the British gay romance "God's Own Country," which is set in rural Yorkshire and features a love story between a local young man and a Romanian migrant worker, might notice that the film's sheep aren't the only thing getting sheared: The censor's scissors have evidently also clipped out two steamy scenes of same-sex intimacy, an alteration to which director Francis Lee has taken none too kindly, reported NME.
The film quickly became a festival favorite when it was released in 2017, drawing comparisons to same-gender romantic fare like "Weekend" and "Brokeback Mountain."
Lee took to Twitter to encourage American viewers who might be tempted to view the film using Amazon Prime not to do so, because, he tweeted, "It is not the film I intended or made."
Dear friends in USA, God's Own Country appears to have been censored on @PrimeVideo (Amazon Prime). Until this is investigated please do not rent or buy on Amazon Prime. It is not the film I intended or made. I will report back ??– Francis Lee (@strawhousefilms) May 20, 2020
Lee added that he would be looking into the matter, and promised fans, "I will report back."
NMWE reported that users, too, had taken note of the bowdlerization of the film, but noted that at least one user had found a crucial difference between the edition of the film that can be watched for free on the streaming service and the version that's located behind a paywall: If you're willing to pay, the report said, you can enjoy the film uncut.
The film's power derives largely from the talents of its two central performers and the chemistry between them. In an interview with EDGE, Lee recalled casting the two male leads, Josh O'Connor, who plays the emotionally trussed-up local boy, Johnny, and Alec Secareanu, who plays Gheorghe, the Romanian worker hired to help out at Johnny's family's farm.
Said Lee of O'Connor:
I was mesmerized because he totally internalized what this character meant. And I was very attracted to his ears. And I could see he had massive hands, like somebody who worked the land... He was able to come and meet me in London, and I was super shocked because he was the total antithesis of the character. Josh is just the sweetest, loveliest, most open, funny, generous, smiley boy you'd ever wish to meet.
Of Secareanu, Lee said:
And this one. I was sent a lot of self-tapes from Romania and Alec totally pinged out of the pile because this character on the page could be very two-dimensional. Gheorghe is very nuanced, very subtle, in this inner, maternal care that he has - but he's not a pushover. And Alec just totally delivered that...
Watch the film's trailer below.
