FIVE CHILDREN AND IT

UK, 2004, 89 minutes, Colour.
Freddie Highmore, Kenneth Branagh, Zoe Wanamaker, Tara Fitzgerald, Alex Jennings, Jonathan Bailey, Eddie Izzard (voice).
Directed by John Stephenson.

Five Children and It is a popular novel by 19th and 20th century writer, E. Nesbitt, author of the classic, The Railway Children. There have been many television and film versions of her stories.

This film was directed by John Stephenson who had worked for many years in the Jim Henson studios. This is evident in his creation of fantasy, especially with It as well as with the dinosaur.

The setting is Britain during World War One. The five children have to leave London and are billeted with their very eccentric uncle (Kenneth Branagh) and his eccentric but benign housekeeper (Zoe Wanamaker). Alexander Pownall is the uncle’s very, very disagreeable son, Horace.

The children find a sand fairy on the beach and it allows them a wish every day (although the results disappear at sunset). While they wish for things for themselves, ultimately they wish for their flyer father who has disappeared behind enemy lines to be returned safely. The wishes are a challenge to the very outgoing Robert, played by Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Two Brothers, A Good Year, Arthur and the Invisibles). Jonathan Bailey is Cyril, the older brother who has the responsibility for the family.

It is a sand fairy, an ugly concoction with the eccentric voice of Eddie Izzard. This provides an amount of comedy as well as magic.

The story is in some ways parallel to the Narnia Chronicles with the children, during the war, finding a world of magic. However, it is much smaller in scale.

1.An entertaining film for children? Reality, fantasy? Wishing, magic? Growing up and responsibility?

2.The period settings, London and the railway stations during World War One, the scenes of aircraft in the war? The country house, the rooms, the basement and the laboratory, the seaside? Authentic atmosphere? The realism and fantasy?

3.It, the sand fairy, appearance, explanation of his history, the smart remarks, the accent? The possibility of wishes and magic? The conditions? His discussions with the children? His being taken by Horace, tied in the laboratory? Creating the dinosaur? The release – and his finally granting wishes? His explanation that magic was only temporary and that we had to take responsibility for our lives?

4.Introduction to the children, at the railway station, their father and his affection, as a flyer, going off, giving his compass to Robert? Entrusting the children to Cyril? His letter from the front and the warmth? Regard for each of the children? Their mother, her concern, her later coming down to the house, her love for her children? The imagining of the return with the magic? The real return and the final joy?

5.The children: Cyril, his age, sense of responsibility, decision-making, clashes with Robert? The two girls, their age, playing the violin? The baby?

6.Robert as the focus of the children, his age, position in the family, being forthright, love for his father, moody, making quick decisions, challenged at being self-centred? Mischief? His wishes? His wanting his father back? Spoiling the wishes? His change of heart, conceding to Cyril? Listening to his father’s letters? Imagining his father returned? The final game of hide-and-seek and his finding his father?

7.The adventures with the wishes, the pot of gold, going into the town, the car, the salesman, the car getting out of hand, the crashes, the salesman in an awkward position?

8.Horace, the personification of an obnoxious child? Selfish, science, taking after his father? Taking the sand fairy, in the laboratory, his fear with the dinosaur? Binding with the children? Their secret?

9.The uncle, his appearance, Kenneth Branagh’s style, science, unable to relate to children, absentminded, his books, the bird given as a prize with each book? His admiration for the children’s father? Welcoming their mother? His relationship to Horace?

10.Martha, receiving the children, her being mysterious, taking the children’s side, rescuing them after the car episode? Her own brand of magic?

11.The minor characters, especially in the town, the salesman, ice cream, the police? An atmosphere of the period?

12.An appealing story for children, a sense of history and realism? A sense of magic and what if…?