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Hayley Mills being in a cinematic and acting family has clearly done wonders for her ease in front of the camera. And she has a fantastic genuine element to her acting style. She is also very at home interacting with the other actors, even her own father. He appears to be more uncomfortable with the situation than she is. To see them both on screen together is amazing. Hayley Mills is truly one of the best child actors there has ever been. I love Horst Buchholz in this, he is brilliant at making ambiguous characters not only interesting, but lovable and compassionate. He and Hayley's love story (platonic) is superbly played out on screen, and is not only plausible, conceivable and magically realised but also compelling viewing. The story is simple enough and falls into thrillerish territory but is none the worse for it and never undermines the heartfelt centre of the film. The cinematography is gritty, dark and strikingly beautiful, the setting is a character in itself, as you'd expect Tiger Bay to be. However this is still a family film, slightly immoral, threatening and dangerous in places, and Hayley Mills' character of Gillie is not the best kid in the world, but children will love it. I know I did when I saw it for the first time. The characters are fully formed, their relationships convey underlying features, and the scenes are intensely powerful. A lot has been said about the ending, and that it is overly drawn-out, but it still remains with me to this day, wrenching my heartstrings and threatening my tear ducts along with the roller-coaster sequence in the church. This film will touch, swell and break your heart, and whatever affects your heart stays with you forever. Watch this film just once and it'll last a lifetime. Guaranteed.
score 10/10
mingsy_sar 28 March 2006
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1327612/ |
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14-3-2021 12:05:13