Mr. Pip

Civil war continues on the island of Bougainville. A blockade has cut it off from the world; the school has closed and there are no teachers. Mr Watts, the only white man on the island, reopens it. He has one book: Great Expectations. He reads a chapter a day. Matilda attaches herself to Pip, and the London in her head begins mixing with life in the forest. The subject is not literature but a book being capable of causing real danger. When soldiers see the name Pip written on the beach they take it for a person and order the teacher to hand him over. Nobody can explain that the book is fiction, and the result is terrible. The form sets two worlds side by side: real images of the island and the Victorian London in Matilda's head, staged with islanders playing the parts. That invention is the best thing in the film. It was shot on Bougainville in real locations with most of the cast drawn from the islanders. Xzannjah Matsi, who plays the lead, was not a professional. The source is Lloyd Jones's novel and the story rests on the real civil war of the early nineties. Hugh Laurie plays Mr Watts. Andrew Adamson directs, having been known until then for animated features. Who it is for: viewers who like drama built on literature and are curious about little-seen places. Who it is not for: anyone going in unprepared for violence; the film hardens unexpectedly in its second half.