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Reviews
Disappearance (2002)
NOT your run of the mill made for TV movie
I caught this film today on a slow Sunday before Bank Holiday and was pleasantly surprised. For the bulk of this film you go along expecting run of the mill Stephen King-eseque 'clone' fare, then Disappearance suddenly hits you with a curve ball ending that is very enigmatic and gives you absolutely no answers. (never-mind answers on a plate). In an age where identi-kit movies trundle off the Hollywood assembly line, thats a brave step for any film, for a made-for-TV effort its positively audacious.
**MIld Spoiler Alert**
Having perused the comments already made here, the almost brutal way the writers curtailed this movie seems to generate considerable ire and indignation in some viewers, resulting in, IMO, harsh scores. At the end of this film the family are caught in the middle of an on-going mystery and atypically the viewer is caught there with them. More so, the intentionally vague final scene when the daughter feeds the crow, leaves you feeling you now know even less than they do. You almost expect the continuity voice-over to announce part II next week. It's unsatisfying and vaguely irritating and in an almost perverse way, I kind of like it all the more, for it. It lifts the movie from the hum-drum and fits very well with the understated unease that pervades the film throughout.
If you're the kind of person who hated the 60's TV series 'The Prisoner' for failing to conclude with pat-answers then you're going to abhor this film for the same reason. If you're the kind of person who enjoys the prospect of having their imagination stimulated by a made-for-TV movie you fully expected was going to be the usual 2nd rate pap, then you're going to enjoy this film. A far from perfect movie, but one deserving of more credit than it garners on these pages.
Whistle Down the Wind (1961)
"T' aint Jesus, its just some fellah"
An absolute gem of a movie, that will appeal to both the religious, & atheists alike, since it intelligently sides with neither side. WDTW is a beautifully crafted study in "belief", faith and innocence.
Reminiscent of Ken Loach's 1969 film Kes (although the two are very different films) in so much that it accurately portrays a time & place, by using genuine locals as a supporting cast, thus giving a true sense of authenticity because of the genuine regional accents.
Little Alan Barnes's natural lancashire dialect is a pure delight in the opening scene with "The sally army lady", and his loss of "faith" in "Jesus" ("T' aint Jesus, its just some fellah") is a poignant counterpoint to Mills's stoic acceptance of the fugitive hiding in the family barn as her saviour.
Highly recommended viewing.