A girl meets her mother as a child in the woods in a moving jewel of a film about memory, friendship and kin
Céline Sciamma’s beautiful fairytale reverie is occasioned by the dual mysteries of memory and the future: simple, elegant and very moving. I fell instantly under its spell, and found myself thinking of classic English tales such as Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce, or The Child in Time by Ian McEwan. And there is an extra-textual pleasure in wondering exactly what its child stars thought about it during filming – and what they think about it now.
Joséphine Sanz plays Nelly, the eight-year-old daughter of Marion (Nina Meurisse). The latter is under enormous stress. Marion’s mother has just died in a care home, from long-term complications of a hereditary bone disorder, which Marion herself had to avoid with a painful operation when she was about Nelly’s age.
Céline Sciamma’s beautiful fairytale reverie is occasioned by the dual mysteries of memory and the future: simple, elegant and very moving. I fell instantly under its spell, and found myself thinking of classic English tales such as Tom’s Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce, or The Child in Time by Ian McEwan. And there is an extra-textual pleasure in wondering exactly what its child stars thought about it during filming – and what they think about it now.
Joséphine Sanz plays Nelly, the eight-year-old daughter of Marion (Nina Meurisse). The latter is under enormous stress. Marion’s mother has just died in a care home, from long-term complications of a hereditary bone disorder, which Marion herself had to avoid with a painful operation when she was about Nelly’s age.
- 3/3/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Juliette Harrisson Published Date Wednesday, August 31, 2016 - 11:00
The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner is the second volume of short stories for children written by the young Terry Pratchett, following the release of Dragons At Crumbling Castle in 2015. The stories were edited and prepared by Pratchett shortly before his death, and the book includes an introduction from him that must be one of the last things he wrote.
Like the first volume, this book is illustrated throughout by Mark Beech, whose style is clearly influenced by Quentin Blake’s work, especially his work on Roald Dahl’s books – it work very well here, immediately signalling the tone and style of the stories to the reader. His portrait of a waving Pratchett for the Introduction is particularly nice, and his interpretation of a small man in a big black hat is also, touchingly, distinctly Terry-like.
The text is enhanced in places by...
The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner is the second volume of short stories for children written by the young Terry Pratchett, following the release of Dragons At Crumbling Castle in 2015. The stories were edited and prepared by Pratchett shortly before his death, and the book includes an introduction from him that must be one of the last things he wrote.
Like the first volume, this book is illustrated throughout by Mark Beech, whose style is clearly influenced by Quentin Blake’s work, especially his work on Roald Dahl’s books – it work very well here, immediately signalling the tone and style of the stories to the reader. His portrait of a waving Pratchett for the Introduction is particularly nice, and his interpretation of a small man in a big black hat is also, touchingly, distinctly Terry-like.
The text is enhanced in places by...
- 8/31/2016
- Den of Geek
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