The setting for this movie is a vast and rather
splendid English country estate on the brink of World War 2 where an
aristocratic family are enjoying their very privileged lives. Anne, the eldest of the three grown up
children discovers in an outhouse a record that plays government
secrets, and she starts to suspect all is not quite so perfect in their world
after all.
What she uncovers is a conspiracy of
ultra-conservative British elite who are desperate to stave off war with Germany
and will do anything and everything to stop it happening. Even if it means murdering some of their own.
Anne who had been the main ringleader in playing happy families now finds
herself trapped in a deadly game where she may be the only innocent one.
The problem with this movie is that what starts out as cloak and
dagger story of the dastardly deeds of British upper-class hell bent on appeasement,
somehow dissolves into a psychological thriller about Anne thinking she is
going mad. The fast moving but very
confusing plot cannot decide which way to turn, which is a great pity after such a promising start.
The movie is written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff
who was/is a major figure in serious British TV Drama, and I believe that the
whole concept of such a conspiracy actually happening back in 1939 is more than a mere
possibility. Pity then that he didn’t
just stick to that aspect especially as he managed to assemble a dream cast of
British acting stars that included: Bill Nighy, Julie Christie, Eddie Redmayne,
Jeremy Northam, Christopher Lee, Corin Redgrave, David Tennant, Juno Temple,
Hugh Bonneville and Charlie Cox. Anne
was played by the beautiful Romola Garai in a first rate performance.
The movie went straight to DVD in the US earlier this year, but is worth
looking out for that cast alone. Not
just for Ms Garai, but to see Miss Christie show us that she can be a magnificant
snobby aritsicrat every inch as regal as Dame Maggie any day.
★★★★★★
★★★★★★
