(Alexander Mackendrick, 1965, PG, Eureka!)
Alexander Mackendrick made several of Ealing Studios' finest films (Whisky Galore, The Man in the White Suit and The Ladykillers among them), but only two of his post-Ealing pictures approach greatness. One is the devastating attack on demagogic journalism, Sweet Smell of Success (1957), the other his neglected version of Richard Hughes's 1929 novel, A High Wind in Jamaica, a book that anticipated Lord of the Flies.
Superficially an exciting nautical adventure yarn, the subtle, psychological fable centres on a party of Victorian children, captured by Caribbean pirates on their way to England, who send their accidental captors to the gallows. Its real theme is a continuing preoccupation of Mackendrick's, the idea of innocence as a destructive force rather than a simple virtue, and the children come over as merciless, unaccountable subversives. As the chief pirates, Anthony Quinn and James Coburn head an excellent cast.
Douglas Slocombe...
Alexander Mackendrick made several of Ealing Studios' finest films (Whisky Galore, The Man in the White Suit and The Ladykillers among them), but only two of his post-Ealing pictures approach greatness. One is the devastating attack on demagogic journalism, Sweet Smell of Success (1957), the other his neglected version of Richard Hughes's 1929 novel, A High Wind in Jamaica, a book that anticipated Lord of the Flies.
Superficially an exciting nautical adventure yarn, the subtle, psychological fable centres on a party of Victorian children, captured by Caribbean pirates on their way to England, who send their accidental captors to the gallows. Its real theme is a continuing preoccupation of Mackendrick's, the idea of innocence as a destructive force rather than a simple virtue, and the children come over as merciless, unaccountable subversives. As the chief pirates, Anthony Quinn and James Coburn head an excellent cast.
Douglas Slocombe...
- 8/13/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Based on a 1929 novel by Richard Hughes, A High Wind in Jamaica was brought to the screen by director Alexander Mackendrick in 1965 but thanks to the lack of a decent home entertainment release it has since been a little off the radar. This has been rectified by Eureka who are releasing the film on DVD with a brand new transfer presented in the original 2.35:1 ratio.
A High Wind in Jamiaca opens with a married couple and their children battening down the hatches at their home in the Carribean in preparation for a particularly nasty hurricane, the high wind of the title. Following the storm, and a little bit of misbehaviour on the children’s part, the mother decides that they must be sent to England to be educated. Her reasoning being that “It’s this place! It turned them into savages!” The idea of savages contrasting with the more...
A High Wind in Jamiaca opens with a married couple and their children battening down the hatches at their home in the Carribean in preparation for a particularly nasty hurricane, the high wind of the title. Following the storm, and a little bit of misbehaviour on the children’s part, the mother decides that they must be sent to England to be educated. Her reasoning being that “It’s this place! It turned them into savages!” The idea of savages contrasting with the more...
- 7/19/2011
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
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