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Tom's Midnight Garden
R2 - United Kingdom - Second Sight Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (13th October 2011). |
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The Film
 In 1958, Philippa Pearce's novel "Tom's Midnight Garden" was released to great acclaim, winning the the Carnegie Medal. In 2007, it was selected by Carnegie judges as one of the ten most important children's novels of the last seventy years and is currently read in many schools and looked upon as a modern British literary classic. The success of the book has resulted in several adaptations, including no less than three by the British Broadcasting Corporation (1968, 1974 and 1988) for television, a play adapted by David Wood in 2001 and this feature length movie in 1999. This 1999 adaptation was directed by Willard Carroll for Hyperion Pictures with much of the filming taking place in the Isle of Man. The synopsis from Second Sight reads: Tom’s Midnight Garden is the magical tale of a young boy who is transported to a mysterious world of times past. 14-year-old Tom is sent to stay with his Aunt and Uncle for the summer to avoid catching measles from his brother. One night, on hearing the grandfather clock strike 13, he sets off to explore and discovers the house has been transformed. He investigates further and opens the door to a magical, sunlit garden of a bygone age where he meets Hatty, a young orphan girl, and begins an incredible adventure. Based on Philippa Pearce’s timeless fantasy, Tom’s Midnight Garden stars Greta Scacchi, James Wilby and David Bradley who later starred as Argus Filch in the Harry Potter series. So let's start with the bad... First of all, the script. Despite the source material, the screenplay by director Willard Carroll features some horribly clunky dialogue. Veteran cast members Greta Sacchi and James Wilby seem to get the worst of it as Aunt Gwen and Uncle Alan Kitson but they have the professionalism to just about carry it off. Unfortunately, the less experienced cast members have a harder time dealing with the dialogue. The second, and final bad thing about this production, is the truly horrible casting of Anthony Way as lead character Tom Long. A former choirboy, Anthony not only looks far too old for the role (he was seventeen during filming), but he also looks completely out of his depth, struggling to show the surprise and drama his character requires. Needless to say, this was his first, and last, role in film. The good stuff starts with an underused actress who puts in her usual great performance, Joan Plowright. She plays Mrs. Bartholomew and does a fantastic job in doing so. The settings that were used for the film are perfect, especially the colourfulness of the garden and the contrast with the stately home. The special effects are reasonably good for a low budget production, particularly the scene where the furniture constantly disappears and re-appears in the house. Although the dialogue is clunky (as I said above), you can't completely ruin a classic tale when you try to stay faithful and the ending is extremely satisfying. With a more experienced lead actor and more thought put into the scripting process, this could've been a classic. Because the lead is so poor, yet a vital part of the film, it's just an average, but solid and faithful adaptation that is just a tad disappointing in its end result.
Video
IMDB state the original aspect ratio to be 2.35:1, yet this DVD, at 1.33:1 doesn't look as though it is missing any information or lopping any people off at the side. Credits are also perfectly visible inside the frame making me believe the image is either open matte or that IMDB is wrong. The fact there doesn't appear to be that much additional footage at the top and bottom, I believe IMDB to be wrong in this case. Quality of the picture is very good. There was the occasional bit of grain but colours were vivid and had good clarity.
Audio
Only one audio option here, English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. Seperation is minimal and the music is so subtle during the film, it doesn't make much of a prescence through the film. Volume levels are consistant and there was no noticeable damage or hiss. No subtitles are included.
Extras
None at all...
Overall
A faithful adaptation let down slightly by poor dialogue and a horrible casting of the lead. Thankfully, little is lost in the story and the ending still works very well. Picture is of good quality and sound is certainly adequate. Unfortunately there are no extras. If you're a fan of the story, this DVD is worth purchasing.
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