Brimstone & Treacle (1982)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

To me, this movie is perfection.

Fantastic!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

British middle-agers with a handicapped daughter invite into their home a strange young man who holds a curious power over the family. Sting (then the lead singer and bassist of The Police) gives a commendable starring performance--his first lead--in this Dennis Potter concoction based upon Potter's own play (originally taped--and banned--by the BBC). Writing like a mischievous child, and aiming for lofty subtext and ironic turns of the screw, Potter doesn't always get the affects he's aiming for, but neither does he disappoint. Director Richard Loncraine doesn't struggle too noticeably getting this peculiar material off the dime (and out from the main set), and his build-up to the foregone conclusion is rife with interesting, twisted bits of business. Not a barn-burner by any means, but a handsome, calculated work in a minor, somewhat derivative key. **1/2 from ****

This is a movie from 1982. Just bought it and thoroughly like it. It is a psychological thriller, which at some level is disturbing, but I found it interesting. The character Martin (Sting) approaches Tom Bates (D. Elliot)and tries to suggest they knew each other in an attempt to get closer to him and extract something, perhaps money. Mr. Bates abandons Martin in town, but later that evening Martin shows up as he has lifted the wallet of Mr. Bates, with his home address, money, credit cards. The money ends up "missing" and Martin portrays himself as the good samaritan to return the wallet. Mr. Bates doesn't trust Martin, but his wife, Norma, takes to the kindly young man who professes to know their sickly daughter, from Art School a few years earlier. Martin, the drifter, or perhaps an escapee from a mental institution, is seen as a devil but ultimately saves the family from its hidden secrets and releases all of them. Sting was great in the role of Martin, in my opinion, sometimes angel and sometimes demented. I looked up the meaning of Treacle in the dictionary - it is a remedy. So Martin ends up saving the family, he is the remedy to their nightmares. Interesting.

Though Sting was cooler as the Ace Face in the movie Quadraphenia, this film was certainly unique as it cast the 32-year old Sting in the role of the devil. The rape scene of Patty was disturbing to say the least but what do you expect from the devil? Most memorable is the soundtrack which I have yet to find on CD format. A notable track is "Only You" which features Jeff Seitz, Stewart Copeland's drum tech on drums. This track was also listed in the liner notes of the Police's '93 box set as being included in the 4-CD set but it wasn't! Nor was the instrumental "Light Changes" from their movie "Around the World" but I digress. Brimstone and Treacle was a dark film and spawned the video for one of its tracks, "Spread a Little Happiness". The video is bizarre as it features Sting in clerics serving tea to a bunch of church ladies. Yet at the very end of the video, he turns to look at the camera and his look is so demonic, so piercing that it actually gave me a fright. If you see the video, you'll understand.

Sting has, throughout his career, been involved in indie filmmaking. This was his second outing on film, his first being "Quadrophenia" by The Who.With a passion towards dark humor, Sting involved himself in this remake of the teleplay that had also starred Denholm Elliot as Mr. Bates back in 1976."Brimstone and Treacle" is a modern gothic tale about the evil that men do and the price that must be paid to make things right. Also about how the actions of evil can still bring about an unintentional good.The film also included an incredibly cool soundtrack of songs by The Go-Go's ("We've Got The Beat"), Squeeze ("Up The Junction"), The Police("How Stupid Mr Bates", "Only You", "A Kind of Loving" and "I Burn For You" and more...)and an irreverently stylish 1930's little diddy called "Spread A Little Happiness", was performed by Sting alone.The song "I Burn For You" performed by The Police, unlike the later incarnation performed by Sting during his solo years, this original version has an almost funeral durge feel to it and adds to the dreamlike, if not nightmarish, quality of the film. This is not unlike the several other songs by The Police that make up most of the "Brimstone and Treacle" soundtrack.If you have or have not seen the film, people who like the songs of The Police or just like the music from the 1980's, the film's soundtrack is something that should be added to your collection. And I do believe it is still available.