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Films

Brimstone and Treacle

Thomas R. Morgan notes a diabolical, and angelic, case of anti-realism.

Having always been intrigued by this controversial tale by the British playwright Dennis Potter, it’s interesting to me to notice how my appreciation of its meanings has altered since I first watched the film in 1982.

Changing interpretations is a phenomenon common to all forms of art. With maturity, new levels of meaning are discovered within what initially appeared straightforward – even if the artists weren’t conscious of those meanings during the act of creating it! There is danger of course, in imposing meanings that aren’t really intended, but I have come to believe that in the case of Brimstone and Treacle, layers of meaning are available in a full appreciation of its plot. For many years, the media’s fixation with the sexual abuse elements in the story, and subsequent censorship, contributed to an overshadowing of the tale’s more subtle and intriguing philosophical and religious aspects, some of which I want to explore here. Although Brimstone and Treacle can be most obviously analysed in terms of its moral messages and ethical implications, here I want to focus on its treatment of reality itself.

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