Posted by Ed Kiser on May 31, 2016 at 08:59:17 user Kisered.
In Reply to: New S&A film (again & again) posted by Peter Hyland on May 31, 2016 at 03:38:15:
The fascination I felt as a child reading SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS
was in feeling the excitement of their being "on their own."
They set up their tents, gathered firewood, made a fire and
boiled water for tea and for boiled eggs. They pan fried
fish they had caught themselves. They were able to get away
from the immediate presence of the adults.
Of course, the adults played their part, on certain occasions,
as when Mom rowed down to the island with additional cargo that
did not fit in SWALLOW on her first trip to the island. They
had daily contact with Mrs Dixon to get their daily supply of
eggs. Although not all that blatantly stated, there was that
likelihood that there was communication between Mrs. Dixon an
Mom back at Holly Howe. The children sent written notes by
"native post" to Mom, mainly to say all was ok. Mom did come
by and visit the evening Titty was found to be alone on the
island and shared the cooking with her as "man Friday." The
day after the storm, the natives swarmed in to see how their
young people managed, with Mrs. Blackett, Captain Flint, Mr.
and Mrs.Dixon, Mr. Jackson with their mom. To me, it was
significant that with the storm pending, the adults did
not come to take them home before the storm, but let them
stay - and then of course immediately afterwards come to check
out the results.
But for the most part, it was the children doing for themselves,
and it that was the delight of the adventure that I felt as
a young reader of the story.
Then, I saw a photo of the four actors that are to play the
roles of the SWALLOWS. I was disappointed. There were two
ADULTS with two young children. That ADULT presence takes
away the whole point of the adventure. They are not the
"John" and "Susan" I knew from the story.
As for Nazi Spies? That just is not a part of the story. That
would be just as meaningful as a visit by Harry Potter flying
to the Wildcat camp on his broom. And how about getting a WWII
Sunderland flying boat to land on The Lake.
But there is a worth while change yet to be considered,
and that would be to call this "movie" any thing else other
than SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS, because that is not what it is.
It is not about the friends I enjoyed in my childhood, and
in the many times I have slipped away to be with them again,
to shed my years, and to once again be young, to be a part
of this wonderful rite of passage to learn to take on
a certain degree of self-responsibility.
Think I'll go watch my 1974 movie again, the one with FOUR
CHILDREN camping out together. As Walter Cronkite used
to say: "And that's the way it was."
Ed Kiser, Kentucky, USA [ kisered@aol.com ]
Post a followup (Only if you agree to the Terms and Conditions)