GILLIES MacKINNON
Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB.
United Kingdom/France, 1998. AMLF, Arts Council of England, British Broadcasting Corporation, Greenpoint Films, L Films, The Film Consortium. Screenplay by Billy MacKinnon, based on the novel by Esther Freud. Cinematography by John de Borman. Produced by Ann Scott. Music by John E. Keane. Production Design by Pierre Gompertz, Louise Marzaroli. Costume Design by Kate Carin. Film Editing by Pia Di Ciaula.
The first of two films in 1999 in which Kate Winslet got a tan and travelled to a hot climate in search of spiritual fulfillment (the other being Holy Smoke) is the inferior of the two, but it still has much to recommend it. Gillies MacKinnon’s uneven adventure has Winslet as a hippy journeying to Morocco in the 1970s with two young daughters in tow, careless about their happiness or education, intent on finding the true meaning of life. The journey she undergoes seems to be going somewhere very important (especially when she meets up with a charming street performer with whom she finds love) but then the film ends so abruptly you feel like someone’s kicking you out of the theatre for staying so long. Other than that, it features gorgeous photography, beautiful locales and the brilliance of Winslet’s performance: she makes a very inconsiderate and unsympathetic woman a hero (I love it when she bawls out her daughter’s nosy and overbearing teacher). Also features two terrific performances by Bella Riza and Carrie Mullan as her insightful and intelligent daughters.
