Wonderful character development!
... View MoreBest movie ever!
... View MoreAmazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
... View MoreOne of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
... View MoreThe movie of the series of the book! All three are great.The movie runs about 90 minutes and has an awful lot of ground to cover... this is good and bad. The pace is brisk... but it needn't have been. The 5 part series, 30 years prior, was more laid back and did more justice to the book.That said, it's an excellent TV movie and much of that credit should be given to the young cast - especially Keeley Fawcett. She looks and sounds like a young Jenny Agutter (The Railway Children) and gives an extremely nuanced and mature performance. (She was an adult when she played the 12-year old-girl.) I wonder what happened to her. Did she even do anything else after that?There are some memorable moments along the way as two children, Carrie and Nick, are sent from London to Wales to avoid the bombing blitz of the second world war. One of those moments is when Carrie's mother sends her a dress and gushing with joy she tries it on, only to find that it's too small for her. Geraldine McEwan is a treat to watch and when she dances with young Carrie you would swear they are related. Alun Armstrong's Mr. Samuel Evans is perhaps the most complicated of the characters. he's bossy, religious, strict and uncompromising... but not mean or vindictive. He's the sort of man it's easy to despise till you walk a step or two in his shoes. His son is drifting away from him, his sister actually ends up running off with an American soldier to avoid him and he is lonely and confused about his standing with the other members of his family. There's actually a lot of comedy to be found in this telling as well as a couple of heartbreaking moments. They are all played out with dignity and the film is very rewarding to the viewer.
... View MoreAn appealing children's story (but not too simple for the adults) of a brother and sister coming to terms with the dreadful wrench of being shipped hundreds of miles away from home when evacuated from London to rural Wales during the War.Young Keeley Fawcett (the bespectacled downtrodden daughter who bought the winning lottery ticket in AT HOME WITH THE BRAITHWAITES ) holds it all together and does a brilliant job with great sensitivity as the elder sister playing grown-up to her dopey, naive, younger brother.I must admit I had no idea that the poor evacuees were exhibited, on arrival, like slaves at an auction, picked out at random. I had always assumed there was far more care and deliberation to the choice of where and with whom each child was billetted...Alun Armstrong's Mr. Evans stops just short of parody, and shows his tough exterior stiff with pride, does hide a softer side. All the other characters are appealing.**POSSIBLE SPOILER ** But - I hate these sorts of unresolved questions : WHY even in the late 40's and 50's could she not have found out from Evans or anyone else in the village, what had actually happened at Druid's Bottom after seeing it in flames from the train ? Why harbour guilt or assume blame through all those years ? Post and telephone was available! And, she left the scruffy bunny behind. An lovely film, with good location period re-creation and costumes, and sympathetic characterisation. A delight. Great family fare.
... View MoreI remember watching the original children's TV serial back in 1974 (on a black and white set!). Thirty years on, the BBC show this version as a complete full-length film.What can I say? An excellent story set in wartime Britain and revolving around the lives of Carrie and her younger brother, evacuated to a small town in rural Wales. Central to the plot are the strange relationships between members of the Evans family. Mr Evans is a local council member and a strict Methodist. He and his younger sister run the village shop and take in the two evacuee children. His other widowed sister, Mrs Gotobed, also lives near the village, but they have fallen out. Carrie ends up playing 'piggy in the middle' to all the incidents and interludes between the family members. After the death of Mrs Gotobed, Carrie and her brother leave the village to be reunited with their parents.The film has a twist at the end...which I shall not reveal here!
... View MoreA delightful story about two evacuees, has been turned into a nice little film, by the BBC. Most children who like a good story will enjoy this. The characters are played really well by a very good cast. Not sure whether our American friends will appreciate it, but they do get a mention, as Aunty Lou runs off with a gorgeous American soldier.
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