NANNY McPHEE AND THE BIG BANG
UK, 2010, 109 minutes, Colour.
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson, Asa Butterfield, Daniel Mays, Rhys Ifans, Maggie Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Ewan Mc Gregor, Sam Kelly, Bill Bailey.
Directed by Susanna White.
Why are screen presentations of nannies and governesses so intriguing, a Mary Poppins syndrome, perhaps. Governesses seem to be nannies with an education/academic extension to their care and nurturing. Deborah Kerr was a governess at least three times, The King and I, The Innocents (based on Henry James' Turn of the Screw with the sinister side of nannies) and The Chalk Garden. Julie Andrews was also Maria Von Trapp. And there have been assorted nannies (especially in collages of interviews where the least likely and most unattractive candidates were rejected by parents or, sometimes especially, by mischievous children) from Miss Clavel and Madeline to the befuddlement of Margaret Rutherford's Miss Prism in the 1952, The Importance of Being Earnest with her wayward handbag.
And, lately, there has been Nanny Mc Phee - twice.
Nanny Mc Phee is the brainchild of Emma Thompson who wrote both screenplays, Nanny Mc Phee (2005) and Nanny Mc Phee and the Big Bang (2010). She based her screenplays on those of Christianna Brand and her Matilda stories.
Is Nanny Mc Phee the nanny type – or, at least, the British nanny type? And, of course, what is the British nanny type?
Mary Poppins is very precise in her language and articulation, no wasted words (and no wasted syllables in supercalifragilisticexpialidocious), objective at all times, clarifying her use of terms, focused on the here and now (look how she tidies a room with magical Sensing powers), and getting things done in swift spick and span manner. She manages. And, even the lyrics of her songs have this direct quality: 'A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down in the most delightful way; a robin feathering its nest has very little time to rest while gathering its bits of twine and twig...' No frills lyrics. (Compare Julie Andrews Austrian nanny in The Sound of Music, and the cuddly emotional melodies and lyrics of My Favourite Things.)
The other British movie governess is Anna Leonowens who goes to Siam: Irene Dunne in Anna and the King of Siam (1946), Deborah Kerr in The King and I (1956), Miranda Richardson in the animated King and I (1999) and Jodie Foster in Anna and the King (1999). These are determined women who know what they want, are not afraid to demand it of the recalcitrant king, and get their way. Though, it must be said, that the lyrics of many of the songs from The King and I show Anna veering towards her feeling function – take Getting to Know You and all the liking going on and 'doing it my way but nicely' and the Siamese children oohing and ahing in response.
Nanny Mc Phee certainly follows these precedents. She is articulate and clear, quietly spoken but none the less determined. Discipline and the learning of moral lessons are her forte – and she does have the advantage, like Mary Poppins, of being able to invoke magical help when necessary. She lists the lessons by number and wears the medals to prove her expertise. By and large, she brooks no nonsense from children or adults (or from her crow whose name is Edelweis!). She comes when children 'don't want her but need her' and departs when children 'don't need her but want her'. And, it is made clear that she is not one for any emotional show and dislikes goodbyes. However, like the children in Mary Poppins who are made to say, 'isn't she wonderful', when she has been ticking them off and urging them to work and to tidiness, so Nanny Mc Phee's former charges remain very loyal to her.
One endearing symbol with Nanny Mc Phee is her face, warts, buck tooth and all. When she appears (in both films), she looks like a dignified crone and scares the children. However, after each lesson has been learned by the children (not to fight, to share, to be brave...), a disfigurement disappears from her face and she finally emerges, black dress, black bonnet and all as the Emma Thompson we know and love.
The film is set during World War II with children in the country and city boys and girls sent to the farms for safety and avoiding the bombs and any big bang. The setting is rather picture-book quaint, idealising those war days – it is the same kind of situation as for the children who venture into the wardrobe to Narnia. But, rural England is more literally down-to-earth (and in the opening with huge emphasis even with Dame Maggie Smith sitting on a large cowpat because she thinks it a cushion and more comfortable!) and is explicitly 'poo-oriented' for child laughs from both children and adults. But, there are still good formative lessons to be learnt. For anyone wondering about the Big Bang itself, a bomb does fall in the family barley crop because a sneezing German pilot overhead jerks his face on to the bomb lever – but the bang (you had better see it for yourself) will probably make the Guinness Book of Records as the largest break-wind explosion in cinema history and as the most constructive use of such a function on screen!!
Nanny Mc Phee is in the business of coming to the help of harassed parents (here Maggie Gyllenhaal sporting a fine British accent and saying 'jolly well...' and things like that) and teaching children not only to behave but have good motivation for their behaviour (otherwise they could end up with the stiffest upper lip and concealed emotions and awful formality with their children as displayed by Ralph Fiennes as a War Office official, a repressed type).
The British nannies get on with a job well done!
1. The popularity of the books, the character of Nanny Mc Phee? The popularity of the first film?
2. Emma Thompson, writing, performance? Her sense of humour?
3. The World War II atmosphere, settings, re-creation of the period, the farm, family life, the detail? London, military offices? The village and the shop? The musical score?
4. Isabelle, her husband away at the war, trying to manage the children, the cousins coming to stay, the mayhem in the house? The different types of the children? Her needing help? The work on the farm? The pressure from her brother-in-law?
5. Hiring Nanny Mc Phee, her look, and nose, disfigurements – and their lessening as the story went on? Her clothes? The British nanny? Interaction with the children, their performances, trouble? Her influence on them?
6. Phil, his gambling, Mrs Biggles, her henchwomen, the touch of the vicious, pursuing him? His saying that his brother had died in the war? Forging the telegram? Norman not believing that his father was dead? The influence on the other children?
7. The picnic, Mr Docherty, the stories about the bombs?
8. Nanny Mc Phee, taking the children to London, the meeting with Lord Gray, the document that their father had died, not believing it?
9. Lord Gray, the issue of his divorce, the complexities, the children, living with their cousins?
10. Phil, his being pursued, the admission that he forged the telegram? His wanting to get his hands on the property?
11. The papers, the bombs, the bomb falling in the field, Mr Docherty and the dismantling of the bomb? Nanny and her raven?
12. The people in the village, the shop, Mrs Docherty – and the link with the past and the first story?
13. Harvesting, everybody happy – and the emotion when their father returned?
14. A very British family story?
