THE LAND GIRLS |
| CREDITS: Director: David Leland. Cast: Catherine McCormick, Rachel Weisz, Anna Friel,
Steven Mackintosh, Tom Georgeson, Maureen O'Brien. UK/France 1997. INTRODUCTION: Leland's affectionate portrayal of war time Britain teams up three of Britain's hottest young actresses. SYNOPSIS: Aye times were tough, with even hay in short supply they were reduced to feeding the sheep exotic fruit and with the men-folk away fighting the Second World War in Europe, women of all classes were brought in to fill their jobs in the field, factories and mills. This is the tale of three of those Land Girls. Upper class Ag (Weisz), middle class Stella (McCormick) and working girl Prue (Friel) are assigned to the Lawrence's (Georgeson & O'Brien) farm where they meet the Lawrence's son Joe (Mackintosh) and engage in a bizarre menage-et-quatre. REVIEW: Adapted by Leland and Keith Dewhurst from the novel of the same name by Angela Heith, this is a sentimental portrayal of the good old days that doesn't hide the sexual freedom of the times. It's all been done before, and done better, and by Leland in "Wish You Were Here". Weisz and Friel are wasted in one-dimensional roles while McCormick fares little better with more screen time but no more dimensions. For a character drama the film is woefully lacking in character development and one expects more from the author of Alan Clarke's seminal character drama "Made in Britain". The film seems to owe more than just the name of its farming family to D.H. Lawrence as one is constantly reminded of "Lady Chattersley's Lover" when viewing this tale of cross class friendships and romances at the fall of the British Empire, but Leland fails to make anything of the opportunities. Pretty to look at but lacks anything substantial, the same goes for the film. Mutt's Rating: *** |