Evengyny Thanks for the memories!

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

allyse67-234-997100 Turning 13 is never easy, but for Leo it's far more than his own burgeoning puberty that entangles him. His curiosity about the ways of love is confounded by his lack of father, so he turns to a young farmer on the estate where he is summering. His lower social status already makes him a fish out of water at the sprawling English estate, so the eldest daughter's attention and care for him is most welcomed. As the story progresses, his burgeoning feelings for her and curiosity about the unspoken mechanics of "spooning" begin to take a heartbreaking turn. He is caught in the midst of a Romeo and Juliet tale that leaves him feeling torn by his friendship with all the parties involved. Leo is a heartbreaking character, but also relatable. A beautiful movie to watch, definitely recommend.

Rupert Munn The fragile fabric of memory that engages us in the novel is entirely lost in this highly disappointing and ham-fisted adaptation, which mistakes simplification and over-dramatisation for subtle adaptation.The opening ten minutes glide artistically through the first third of the novel in a strangely muffled and demure fashion which, whilst capturing something of the surreality of Leo's past world, entirely loses the tension and careful character dynamics that the novel develops so fluidly. By the time we come to the sight of Ted's peachy buttocks disappearing into the lake, therefore, we have been handed a rather muddy and crude palette. The basics of the story are there, but we reach them strangely isolated from the charming and sympathetic naivety of Leo's perspective. We feel entirely too privileged as an audience. This is because, in skipping over the opening exchanges, the film has had to make its narrative rather too obvious. Marian and Ted never attempt to disguise the purpose of their letters, meaning that Leo's eventual discovery of their supposed secret seems empty. Leo's interactions with both, hampered as they are by stale dialogue and half-obscured by a profusion of lens-flares and abstract music, loosen his emotional attachment to the situation, and so we lose our sympathy for his innocence. Consequently, by the time of the cricket match, the action has descended into posturing, empty one-liners, and dirty looks between Hugh and Ted, whilst Joanna Vanderhamm's hilariously half-bleached eyebrows wriggle more and more desperately in an attempt to retrieve some emotional depth.I didn't reach the end - the damage had already been done.

Prismark10 'The past is a foreign country: They do things differently there.'What a great opening line and it belongs to the novel which this is adapted from. It got me immediately hooked.What also helped was an astonishing performance from actor Jack Hollington who played Leo.The film starts with Leo as an old man (Jim Broadbent) going back to revisit the summer of 1900 which had a profound effect on his life.As a 12 year old boy he went to stay with a well to do school friend Marcus and his family, it becomes apparent that Leo is from a more modest background and has to adjust to a society of privilege and wealth.Leo is struck by the beautiful Marian who is due to be engaged to Viscount Trimingham (Stephen Campbell Moore) and therefore set herself up for life. However he has been disfigured in the Boer War and Marian has been having a passionate affair with tenant farmer Ted Burgess (Ben Batt smoldering like a younger Rufus Sewell for all his worth.)Leo is used by Marian and Ted as a go-between carrying secret messages between the two, yet he also used to convey messages between Trimingham and Marian.Leo realises even at his tender age that the affair between lowly Ted and Marian is doomed and also he has been used by Marian. Her kind acts to get new clothes for him had ulterior motives.It was a fast moving adaptation, very much cut down from all the flab. It kept the class divisions subdued, even Trimingham a war veteran aims to have cordial relations with his tenants in the estate but definitely wants to win the cricket match against his farmers.Lesley Manville gives an icy performance as Mrs Maudsley, Marion's mother who suspects what she has been up to but hell bent on her marrying Trimingham. Even Trimingham suspects she is not entirely his hence why he would like Ted to join the army.I have not seen the 1971 film version but I guess seeing Julie Christie and Alan Bates together again would probably had taken my mind back to their earlier pairing in Far from the Madding Crowd which kind of has a few superficial similar plot elements.There is a coda at the end as the older Leo encounters the older Marion (Vanessa Redgrave) which rounds off the story. Leo however is still haunted by the past.

1bilbo The acting of Jack in this movie is outstanding - he should be at the top of the credits.I also found this adaptation to be far superior to the original, much more attention grabbing.There is a danger of believing that originals are always the best but this is not always the case.Lesley Manville portrayed the mother superbly and captured the horrible nature of many women of her age and position - people who did absolutely nothing for a living.10/10