"You'd make a find lad, Chris" a mother kids her tall, strong-backed daughter Christine in Sunset Song. But SunsetSong isn't about gender confusion or fluidity. Gay director Terence Davies (The Long Day Closes) beautifully appreciates what all genders have in common and so has made a film that is a deeply moving masterpiece of empathy. The heterosexual story of Christine Guthrie (Agyness Deyn) growing up in rural Scotland just before World War I, defying her brutish father and marrying ardent Scotsman Ewan (Kevin Guthrie), who looks up to her yet fulfills her romantic needs, is not just universal. It benefits from the humane insight that Davies has learned through his own gay experience. There isn't likely to be a better movie this year.

Before you frown at the idea of a gay director telling...