Waterland1992
Waterland (1992)
Waterland Photos
Movie Info
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Cast
as Tom Crick
as Matthew Price
as Mary
as Scott
as Judy
as Young Tom
as Young Mary
as Crick
as Henry Crick
as Freddie Parr
as Peter
as Terry
as Shirley
as Maggie Ruth
as Ernest Atkinson
as Publican
as Helen Atkinson
as Publican
as Rebecca Scott
as Guest at Dinner Party
as Guest at Dinner Party
as Guest at Dinner Party
as Guest at Dinner Party
as Guest at Dinner Party
as Guest at Dinner Party
as Guest at Dinner Party
as Guest at Dinner Party
as Stan Booth
as RAF Man 1
as RAF Man 2
as Senior Police Officer
as Baby's mother
as Barman
as Martha Clay
as Joe
as Leroy
as Stephen Bates
as Alison
as Julie
as Marshall
as Sara
as Angie
as Vanessa
as Girl
as Boy
as Boy
as Boy
as Boy
as Other Pupil
as Other Pupil
as Other Pupil
as Other Pupil
as Other Pupil
as Other Pupil
as Barman
as Other Pupil
as Other Pupil
Critic Reviews for Waterland
All Critics (13) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (7) | Rotten (6) | DVD (1)
A talented but terminally parched piece of literary cinema.
It's a brave endeavour, held together by Robert Elswit's poetic photography, and by Irons' authoritative impression of the crumbling desperation behind the chalk-dusted facade of a pensive history man.
With a dazed, frightened expression and the keen sense that his life is coming undone, Mr. Irons's Tom becomes a rivetingly sad figure, and a sharp focus for the film's many reveries.
Swift's elegant, descriptive phrases coexist inelegantly with classroom vulgarisms. And there almost making it all work as a portrait in despondency and realization is Irons, a walking requiem to lost innocence.
The strange fact about "Waterland" is the way the performances and the dialogue are worthier than the story itself.
The adaptation doesn't quite hold. But in this flashback narrative, set in England's beautiful eastern wetlands, there are many passages of filmic -- and geographic -- beauty.
Audience Reviews for Waterland
Based on the novel by Graham Swift - a wonderful British author - Waterland tells the story of a history teacher who tells his students as much about himself as he does history. What is strong about the novel is what is weak about the film. The novel explores a post-modern conception of history that suggests we get stuck in these endless spirals of ironic happenstance, and in order to understand it all, we must go back, and in order to understand what we see when we go back, we must go back farther and farther. There's a little bit of this in the film, but certainly not enough for the audience to understand Swift's point. Instead of a complex exploration of post-modern theory and history, we're left with a fairly basic film about a man dealing with the events of his childhood. And how does that story fair? Not badly. It has its moments of affecting drama, both in the present and the past, but it's devoid of any grand significance. Additionally, the ending is too intentionally vague. We're given to understand certain conclusions about these characters' futures, but we can't figure out how they get from the point A, when the credits roll, to the point B, which we are told will happen. What is more, the plot-line between Crick and Price ends in a disappointing cliche. Overall, I think I should like this film less than I do. In the end, I think the source material, Swift's book, is so good, and the performances by Irons, Cusack, and Warnock were good enough to make up for the failings of the screenwriter and director.
Super Reviewer
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