I caught this film on 4 on demand. I must say it was compelling viewing but pretty bleak.
Somewhere around two thirds of the way through, I realised I was dealing with a hidden theme.
If you swap the experience of the parent, with that of the child, you can see it's about a societal neglect.
All that the children have done is said "if you can't beat them, join them"; adults do not seem have time for the children "because of their jobs".
Then in the second half of the film, the children themselves do not have time for the adults, because of their jobs.
I suppose you could open this view point up and say, once the need for survival is understood, that is the critical point of departure from family life.
Notice how contemporary London then was full of underage workers, yet 'hidden' in plain sight. The film is sometimes clunky and as I t was PoliKoff's first, I think we will forgive him that, and I wonder if this film were reinterpreted now, what else could be made of the abundant tension and intrigue.
I particularly liked how the father's obsession started to tip into insanity, in the view of outsiders and how that view of desperate hope is a cynical observation of existence.
Somewhere around two thirds of the way through, I realised I was dealing with a hidden theme.
If you swap the experience of the parent, with that of the child, you can see it's about a societal neglect.
All that the children have done is said "if you can't beat them, join them"; adults do not seem have time for the children "because of their jobs".
Then in the second half of the film, the children themselves do not have time for the adults, because of their jobs.
I suppose you could open this view point up and say, once the need for survival is understood, that is the critical point of departure from family life.
Notice how contemporary London then was full of underage workers, yet 'hidden' in plain sight. The film is sometimes clunky and as I t was PoliKoff's first, I think we will forgive him that, and I wonder if this film were reinterpreted now, what else could be made of the abundant tension and intrigue.
I particularly liked how the father's obsession started to tip into insanity, in the view of outsiders and how that view of desperate hope is a cynical observation of existence.