 = A Month in the Country ( film ) = 
 
 A Month in the Country is a 1987 British film directed by Pat O 'Connor . The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by J. L. Carr , and stars Colin Firth , Kenneth Branagh , Natasha Richardson and Patrick Malahide . The screenplay was by Simon Gray . 
 Set in rural Yorkshire during the summer of 1920 , the film follows a destitute World War I veteran employed to carry out restoration work on a Medieval mural discovered in a rural church while coming to terms with the after @-@ effects of the war . 
 Shot during the summer of 1986 and featuring an original score by Howard Blake , the film has been neglected since its 1987 cinema release and it was only in 2004 that an original 35 mm film print was discovered due to the intervention of a fan . 
 
 = = Plot = = 
 
 Set in 1920 , the film follows the experiences of Tom Birkin ( Colin Firth ) , who has been employed under a bequest to carry out restoration work on a Medieval mural discovered in a church in the small rural community of <unk> , Yorkshire . The escape to the idyllic countryside is <unk> for Birkin , haunted by his experiences in World War I. Birkin soon fits into the slow @-@ paced life of the remote village , and over the course of the summer uncovering the painting begins to lose his trauma @-@ induced <unk> and <unk> . 
 In particular , he forms a close friendship with archaeologist James Moon ( Kenneth Branagh ) , another veteran , who like Birkin has been emotionally <unk> by the war . Moon is employed in the village under the same bequest , working to uncover a mysterious lost grave , but is more interested in discovering the remains of an earlier Saxon church building in the field next to the churchyard . 
 Birkin becomes accepted into the <unk> family of Mr Ellerbeck the station master ( Jim Carter ) , with whom he <unk> on Sundays ; the hospitality of the chapel congregation is contrasted against the established church , who have <unk> the <unk> Birkin to sleep in the church <unk> . Ellerbeck 's children eventually persuade Birkin to preach a sermon at a nearby Methodist chapel . Birkin also forms an emotional , albeit unspoken , attachment to Alice Keach ( Natasha Richardson ) , the young wife of the vicar . The vicar himself ( Patrick Malahide ) is portrayed <unk> as an obstruction to the work in the church , viewing the medieval painting as symptomatic of the superstition prevalent in the community . 
 
 = = Cast = = 
 
 A Month in the Country featured film <unk> or early roles of several notable British actors . Although it was the third cinema feature film to cast Colin Firth , it was his first lead role . Similarly , it was Kenneth Branagh 's first cinema film , and Natasha Richardson 's second . Conversely , it was the last role of David Garth who died in May 1988 . 
 Colin Firth as Tom Birkin 
 Kenneth Branagh as James Moon 
 Natasha Richardson as Alice Keach 
 Patrick Malahide as the Reverend <unk> Keach 
 Jim Carter as Ellerbeck 
 Vicki <unk> as <unk> Ellerbeck 
 Martin O 'Neil as Edgar Ellerbeck 
 Richard Vernon as Colonel Hebron 
 Tim Barker as <unk> 
 David Garth as Old Birkin 
 
 = = Production = = 
 
 
 = = = Development = = = 
 
 Initially intended to be a made @-@ for @-@ TV film , the film 's producer <unk> <unk> upgraded his original plan to a cinema feature . The original working title for the film was " Falling Man " . <unk> Simon Gray was commissioned to write the screenplay , and Pat O ’ Connor chosen to direct . In contrast to the book , which is narrated as a recollection by Birkin as an old man , the film is set entirely in the 1920s , except for a brief moment towards the end . In initial drafts of the screenplay , Gray had included a narrator , but O 'Connor felt this was not the correct way to present the story : 
 I felt that if I couldn ’ t do it in the present , suggesting internal pain by performance , then I wouldn ’ t really want to do it at all . 
 Funding for the film was scarce , and it eventually fell to <unk> Films ( a subsidiary of Thames Television ) and Channel Four Films , who had had some success with low budget features such as My Beautiful <unk> . 
 
 = = = Filming = = = 
 
 To compensate for the lack of budget , a very tight shooting schedule was planned over 28 days , during which Kenneth Branagh was only available for two weeks and was performing on @-@ stage nightly in London . 
 Despite being set in Yorkshire , the majority of location filming was moved to Buckinghamshire , although <unk> railway station and the surrounding area in North Yorkshire were utilised . The location shooting of the film began on August 18 , 1986 at St. Mary 's church in <unk> . Filming was periodically hindered by <unk> weather — the perfect summer in which the book was set was not forthcoming , and scenes were filmed during breaks in heavy rain . <unk> were shot at Bray Studios in Berkshire . 
 The church , which is a main location for the film , was substantially set @-@ dressed . Despite having several original medieval wall paintings , the largest addition was the creation of the medieval mural by artist Margot <unk> . To create the impression of an austere country church , Victorian stone flags were replaced with brick pavers for the duration of filming and the original wall paintings covered up . <unk> <unk> and other modern additions were covered up or removed . The churchyard had several gravestones added , including the large box tomb which is a focus of several scenes . 
 Several members of the local community were used as extras in the film , and local children were recruited by the director to collect butterflies to be released out @-@ of @-@ shot to create a " summer feeling " . However there was some opposition to the disruption caused by the filming , and also problems involving unwelcome damage to a section of the interior <unk> , which had to be restored after filming had concluded . 
 
 = = = Music = = = 
 
 The soundtrack of the film was written by Howard Blake , and is scored entirely for string orchestra in the style of early 20th Century British music . Blake notes that the style chosen was intended to complement and contrast recordings of classical music during particular scenes : Verdi 's <unk> <unk> <unk> was used during the uncovering of the mediaeval mural and a flashback montage of the First World War which opened the film utilised an excerpt from Schubert 's Deutsche <unk> ( D. <unk> ) " <unk> <unk> : <unk> , <unk> ist der Herr " . 
 Howard Blake recalls : " I went to a viewing and saw that the film was very profound , with a serious anti @-@ war theme , but a certain amount of ' found ' choral music had already been laid in by the editors ... I explained that I loved the film and I thought the choral / orchestral music worked brilliantly but it was very big and rich and I felt a score would have to emerge from it and be very pure and expressive and quite small — and that I could only hear this in my head as done by strings only . " Blake decided to compose his score to match the key of the Schubert Mass , in order for the music to continue seamlessly . However , during the recording session with his orchestra , the Sinfonia of London , he found that the Schubert piece was running slow and therefore flat , and he had to ask the players to tune flat to match his intended key . 
 Due to the small budget of the film , Blake agreed " in lieu of a reasonable fee " to retain the copyright to his music . The score was subsequently arranged into a suite for string orchestra , and is available on CD in a recording by the English Northern <unk> conducted by Paul Daniel . 
 
 = = Reception and awards = = 
 
 Upon its release in 1987 , the film was generally well received by critics . Rita <unk> , writing in The Washington Post suggested " It 's all rather <unk> , with its <unk> hero on his spiritual quest , the atmosphere <unk> , <unk> to dance with once and future truths . " Tom Hutchinson in the Mail on Sunday praised " a script whose delight is in the rounded reality of its characters " . Janet Maslin , writing in The New York Times praised O 'Connor 's direction , suggesting it lent the film " a strong sense of <unk> , as well as a spiritual quality more apparent in the look of the film than in its dialogue . " Desmond Ryan of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote " Rarely has the impossibility of love been more <unk> presented than in the scenes of <unk> hope between Firth and Richardson . 
 However , Nigel Andrews of the Financial Times found it " like a pastoral parable that has been left outside in the <unk> too long , causing its batteries to go flat " and following a 2008 screening , Sam <unk> of The Guardian suggested " even though this film is ( unusually ) faithful to the book ... it is really little better than inoffensive . Somehow the magic that makes <unk> Carr 's book so precious is missing . " 
 The film was the recipient of two awards : Pat O 'Connor won the Silver Rosa <unk> at the <unk> Film Meeting in 1987 and Howard Blake was awarded the Anthony Asquith Award for Musical Excellence by the British Film Institute in 1988 . In addition , Colin Firth was nominated for an Evening Standard Award . The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival . 
 
 = = DVD and Blu @-@ ray release = = 
 
 Following its cinema release , the film was transferred to VHS in 1991 in a pan and scan edition . However , when Glyn Watkins , a poet who had been encouraged by <unk> Carr early in his career , wanted to screen the film at the launch of a poetry book in 2003 at the National Media Museum in Bradford , the museum found that all original 35mm film prints had disappeared . 
 <unk> , Watkins contacted the agents of the cast and director , and eventually the online fan clubs " Friends of Firth " and " Ken Friends " . He discovered that the film had appeared as part of the National Film Theatre 's Branagh season in May 1999 , and that the film 's American distributors , Warner Bros. , had a print in a bonded warehouse . However , it was unclear who possessed the rights to the film . Only after several months it was found that Channel 4 still owned the rights , and the film was eventually released on a limited @-@ edition Region 2 DVD in late 2004 . However , the DVD is now no longer widely available in the United Kingdom . In 2008 , a complete 96 minute print was located in the Academy Film Archive in Los Angeles and a campaign began to have it restored and released on DVD . A limited edition Region A Blu @-@ ray release of the full 96 minute version of the film is planned on 14 July 2015 . 
 
 