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Director John Stephenson shows that even without too much of special effects, one can narrate an absorbing fairly tale, writes Ervell E. Menezes IN
today’s world of magical cinema, special effects, Harry Potters and
Lords of the Rings why should one resurrect an ancient World War I
story of five children separated from their parents is hard to
comprehend. May be to show that even without too much of razmatazz FX
(special effects) one can narrate an absorbing fairly tale which is 5
Children and It. "It" does not stand for information
technology you can bet you bottom rupee. It stands for the "sand
fairy."
It is the summer of 1917 and during World War I when five children are temporarily orphaned because their dad has been drafted into the Royal Air Force and their mother opts to be a field nurse. The youngest child is not even two years old. How could parents do such an inhuman act only E. Nesbit, the writer of this children’s classic would know. But these kids are entrusted to the care of their eccentric uncle Albert (Kenneth Branagh) and his ill-tempered son Horace (Alexander Pownall) in a ramshackle house which is like a castle by the sea. There is only one place forbidden to the kids and that’s the greenhouse. But it is when they break this "forbidden fruit" law that they come upon the sand fairy and there follows a cute, simple fairly tale in the ancient tradition of fairly tales. In a way modelled on Enid Blyton’s adventure books like for example The Castle of Adventure this story moves along typical kids’ happenings. Their cousin is quite a pain and the elder brother Cyril and the younger brother Robert are always fighting, the girls Anthea and Jane get along better but the last one Lamb is quite lost in the milieu. It is a case of "if wishes were horses`85." And here the kids not only ride but even fly, thanks to the powers of the sand fairy (a puppet well dressed up) and it is fun and games. But the focal point is getting to their parents. No prizes for guessing right but director John Stephenson weaves a neat, even engrossing story around these children and their circumstance to end with a convincing and heart-warming climax which may not match the whizcraft of modern fairy tales but is as interesting as any. Wonder if today’s kids find it too simplistic?
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