"Tell It to the Bees" is set in an industrial town in the Scotland of the 1950s and tells the story of a lesbian relationship between Jean Markham, the town's doctor and Lydia Weekes, a worker in one of the local factories. Despite its historical setting, the film is not really made in the British "heritage cinema" style. Apart from Jean, who comes from the professional classes and inherited her medical practice from her father, all the main characters are from a working-class background. The film is therefore shot in what might be described as an updated version of the "kitchen sink" social-realist school of the fifties and sixties.
The title refers to the fact that Jean is also an amateur beekeeper, something which fascinates Lydia's young son Charlie. Lydia, originally from Manchester, moved to Scotland during the war after marrying a Scottish soldier, but the marriage was not a success and she is now estranged from her abusive husband Robert, although the two are not formally divorced. When Lydia loses her job, Jean offers her the position of housekeeper.
Unlike male homosexuality, lesbianism was never illegal in Britain, but in the 1950s it nevertheless attracted social stigma, and when the nature of the relationship between the local doctor and her housekeeper becomes known the townspeople are horrified. Jean risks losing her position and Robert threatens to fight Lydia for custody of Charlie. A subplot deals with the relationship between Robert's niece Annie and her black lover, something which also causes controversy; in the 1950s mixed-race love affairs were nearly as unacceptable to public opinion as same-sex ones.
There are two excellent performances from Anna Paquin as Jean and Holliday Grainger as Lydia, and a particularly good one from the young Gregor Selkirk as Charlie. His is an important role as the story is essentially presented to us through Charlie's half-comprehending eyes. He is aware that people in the town have started referring to his mother as a "dirty dyke", and knows that this is intended to be hurtful, but does not really understand the nature of his mother's relationship with Jean or what is meant by this slur. Another good performance comes from Emun Elliott as the brutal and domineering Robert.
The script is an intelligent, literate and compassionate one, but I found the ending flawed. I have never read the novel by Fiona Shaw on which the film is based, but I understand that it has a happy ending for Jean and Lydia. The film reverses this; Lydia and Jean make plans to emigrate to Canada to escape the narrow-minded prejudices of small-town Scotland, but then Jean changes her mind. She nevertheless allows Lydia to leave for Canada in the mistaken belief that Jean will soon be joining her there. No reason was given for Jean's change of heart, and we are not allowed to see Lydia's reaction on discovering that her lover has effectively abandoned her in a foreign country. A voice-over from the adult Charlie talks about his mother having given Jean "the strength to stop running", but we are left with a nasty taste in the mouth and a feeling that Jean is by no means as attractive a character as she at first appeared. 7/10, which would have been higher had the film-makers kept the original ending.
The title refers to the fact that Jean is also an amateur beekeeper, something which fascinates Lydia's young son Charlie. Lydia, originally from Manchester, moved to Scotland during the war after marrying a Scottish soldier, but the marriage was not a success and she is now estranged from her abusive husband Robert, although the two are not formally divorced. When Lydia loses her job, Jean offers her the position of housekeeper.
Unlike male homosexuality, lesbianism was never illegal in Britain, but in the 1950s it nevertheless attracted social stigma, and when the nature of the relationship between the local doctor and her housekeeper becomes known the townspeople are horrified. Jean risks losing her position and Robert threatens to fight Lydia for custody of Charlie. A subplot deals with the relationship between Robert's niece Annie and her black lover, something which also causes controversy; in the 1950s mixed-race love affairs were nearly as unacceptable to public opinion as same-sex ones.
There are two excellent performances from Anna Paquin as Jean and Holliday Grainger as Lydia, and a particularly good one from the young Gregor Selkirk as Charlie. His is an important role as the story is essentially presented to us through Charlie's half-comprehending eyes. He is aware that people in the town have started referring to his mother as a "dirty dyke", and knows that this is intended to be hurtful, but does not really understand the nature of his mother's relationship with Jean or what is meant by this slur. Another good performance comes from Emun Elliott as the brutal and domineering Robert.
The script is an intelligent, literate and compassionate one, but I found the ending flawed. I have never read the novel by Fiona Shaw on which the film is based, but I understand that it has a happy ending for Jean and Lydia. The film reverses this; Lydia and Jean make plans to emigrate to Canada to escape the narrow-minded prejudices of small-town Scotland, but then Jean changes her mind. She nevertheless allows Lydia to leave for Canada in the mistaken belief that Jean will soon be joining her there. No reason was given for Jean's change of heart, and we are not allowed to see Lydia's reaction on discovering that her lover has effectively abandoned her in a foreign country. A voice-over from the adult Charlie talks about his mother having given Jean "the strength to stop running", but we are left with a nasty taste in the mouth and a feeling that Jean is by no means as attractive a character as she at first appeared. 7/10, which would have been higher had the film-makers kept the original ending.