Strong and Moving!

Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

...not only for story - nostalgic, seductive, bitter and soft - but for atmosphere. for an England who , for a Eastern European like me, is almost mythological. for Samantha Morton giving a beautiful performance. for the poetry of images . for something who is real personal. memories, crumbs of memories, gentle change of a young man, family, a village life and unique forms of joy. and something more. out of words. but great and usefull and protective.

I couldn't agree more with Adams 5905's review. This is the first time I've ever seen a TV drama recreation that brings the original novel to life in such a remarkable way. Everything about this production was simply perfect - from the beauty of the rural landscape to the capture of the feel of the time, the eccentricities of the characters, the dialogue, the accents, the sense of timelessness - the teenage angst, and the fact that everything was not just idyllic - i.e the murder in the village and the hunting down of the deserter... And Tim Spall's reading of the original poetic ramblings from the novel - Spall just goes from strength to strength! I read this book around 1964, when I was 12. I was dimly aware of the two sequels, and have just dug out my paperback original, and ordered the other two books online. Nostalgia-fest 'till Christmas and beyond!!Thank you BBC!!

I'll try to submit a balanced review, having read through the other reviews submitted here I can see where both are coming from. Post first world War and life was slowly returning to normal, many families were left with no fathers, and life was tough. The story focuses on young Loll, seeing his transformation from a child into a young adult. The best element was Samantha Morton, she gave a terribly sweet, caring and sincere characterisation of Loll's mum Annie. She did well by her children, and remained desperate for the return of her absent husband. The acting was a little school play at times, but I'll applaud young Georgie Smith. It is a little slow in parts, but having read the book several times it was very much intended. I'd imagine it will be the feature of many a GCSE pupils project for years to come.

I'm sorry to be at odds with the other reviewer, but what a total shambles this was. I've given glowing reviews of An Inspector calls and the excellent go between, as well as a fairly good review of Lady Chatterley, but the final instalment of the Beeb's twentieth Century drama remakes was awful. I love Timothy Spall, but his narration was like scratching down a blackboard, after a while it became really irritating. The acting was woeful, truly the worst I've seen on a historical drama for about 20 years. Thank goodness for the 3 or 4 minutes that June Whitfield and Annette Crosbie were in it, they added a little humour and showed us what acting is. I hate knocking anyone for trying but some of the accents were so bad that at times it felt like all that was missing were The Two Ronnies sat at their allotment. 3/10 a total yawn fest.