Film Reviews by JO

Beuatifully shot magical forest in which the child learns about life. Set in a 1920s more fairy tale than real, wholly delightful

A documentary of a collaboration between two artists separated greatly in age whose project to record rural France in portrait photographs becomes something much wider, about understanding, creativity, humanity and history. The device of printing huge portrait images and pasting them on the buildings with which the subjects were associated - their workplaces, derelict homes etc - becomes a way of presenting passing time, memory, or political statement.

I found the filming extraordinarily intense, up close to the farm and the mud and the hardship, with wonderful performances from Kendrick and Troughton going to the heart of father-daughter relationships, both characters vulnerable yet armoured in their own way, not always to their advantage. The director I think wrote the script, very intelligent writing and direction, and the photography picks up the waterlogged environment illuminating it with occasional moments of joyous landscape.

A clear and engaging account of a struggle against the odds that changed many people's lives, in this case in the treatment of polio victims, recommended.

A strangely involving film, the main character self destructive and vulnerable in a knowing way. It isn't a romantic comedy, hard to see why it was suggested as that. The music is very well chosen and subtle. Emily Beecham has strong talent.