nekengren-2 Sorry but I did not make it past 60 minutes. Yes, the acting is fine. Yes, the photography is excellent. but............ All the native villagers are dressed in Victorian clothing just as if we were in the middle of a Dickens novel. Their clothing is immaculate clean and hair immaculate quaffed. There is a complete economic embargo but our natives want for nothing. Oh...........and they also speak perfect English and sit enthralled by the Dickens oral reading. These natives apparently understand English much better than I. Sorry but as soon as I started receiving the obligatory moral lessons I had enough. I suppose if you love Dickens this must be a virtual and cinema paradise.

Mike Naughton I have to say at the beginning of this that I was unable to understand some of the dialog and lost parts of the story at times. And I must also say that when it became apparent that we were witnessing the exact same scenarios that we see played out in our evening news coverages of how bullies with weapons can do whatever they want to do I became less interested. (And, the careless and unintelligently provocative behavior by Mr Watts in the face of mindless malevolence seemed more aimed toward "point making" than realism and sense. But that is my POV.)I do suppose that makes me rather superficial. And I do wonder if the way we might actually stop the many injustices wrought by visceral, knee-jerk, gun-toting, undereducated and over-stimulated para-military types is by watching their acts of desensitizing brutalities. But no, I think we then become part of their sickness. There is a part of me that disagrees with my squeamishness. I remember seeing a movie called Africa Addio when I was young. I was a senior in High School and some friends and I went to a drive-in to see this along with Mondo Cane. Mondo Cano (World gone to the dogs) was moving. Africa Addio was nightmarish. Human beings were cold and cruel, and it was real. It was a documentary. We saw things that were removed from our evening news programs. I have to mention how riveting the presence of Xzannjah Matsi as Matilda is in this film. We see more in the goings on by watching her face than if we turned the camera around and watched for ourselves. And she did not use histrionics to display her thoughts and feelings. Her eyes absorbed the scenes and we felt the atrocities like a blow to the most vulnerable parts of ourselves. Hugh Laurie was excellent as well. Healesville Joel as Matilda's mother Dolores pulled my emotions in several directions. The actress was very powerful. Early on in the story Dolores expresses the idea that a belief in a structured theology is necessary in order to know right from wrong. And she implies that to see evil as a metaphor also evil. Kind of puts the act of thinking into an impossible position to exist or function at all. Superstition and fear seem to rule her reasoning mind. We find later that she is a woman of tremendous courage. Both she, Tom Watts and a little boy "poked the bear in the eye" and the lives of others lost the daily benefit of their presence. Probably a greater loss than the impact of their sacrifice.I won't speak more of this movie. It is probably better rated at 8 than the 5 I gave it. I have to rate as I feel after I see a film. I recommend this movie but I think we need to be careful of damaging our view of mankind too much. That is the game of those who want us to play out their sad, sick scenarios of dehumanization. They want to enlist our interest and engage our fear.

Andres Salama This New Zealand production, directed by Andrew Adamson (of Shrek fame) is based on a critically acclaimed book, which I have not read, that apparently takes place on an unnamed island in the Pacific. The filmmakers decided to set the story on the island of Bougainville, which is part of the independent country of Papua New Guinea.There is a war raging, and a hostile military harass the villagers believing they are sheltering the rebels. As this goes on, a young girl becomes fascinated by the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations, which is being read at school by the teacher (Hugh Laurie), the only white man in the village. The causes of the war are never explained in the movie, though a quick internet search tells it involves rebels who want Bougainville to become independent of Papua (happily the war seems to have ended now, with Bougainville becoming an autonomous region). As for the movie, the constant references to Great Expectations didn't do too much for me (and I did read the Dickens' classic, though as a child, so I don't remember it very much). I was more interested in the movie almost ethnographic side, showing the daily lives of the people there with their traditional lifestyle in the midst of a very beautiful place. The movie never convincingly explains why the teacher is there, or why he feels is better to teach them Western literature than practical skills (and frankly, for what it is shown in the movie, he's not much of a teacher). If you come to think of it, the movie is a bit condescending, as it has a Western man teaching the natives how to feel, think, all in the village end up looking up to him, etc.Laurie is lost in the role, but the native actors are very good, especially Xzannjah Matsi as the girl Matilda. The best performance, however, is by the actor playing the evil officer in charge of the Papuan troops (from reading the final credits, I believe his name is David Kaumara). With some unbelievable plot turns, this film is not perfect, but very intriguing and very much well worth watching.

MartinHafer Mr. Pip is an unusual case where I liked the acting and direction much more than the story itself. In fact, in many ways, the story seems like the least important part of the film and it left me, at times, a bit flat.This film is set during the 1990s when the island of Bougainville was locked in a civil war against Papua New Guinea over their copper rights. It's a struggle that we seldom, if ever, heard of here in the States. Because of the war, schools have been closed for some time and there are occasionally periods of extreme violence. However, the lone white man on the island, Mr. Watts (Hugh Laurie), has decided that he'll try to teach the kids—even though he really knows nothing about teaching. Although he's not a trained teacher and is well out of his league in many ways, he is able to instill within the kids a love of literature. When he reads Dickens' Great Expectations, the kids eat it up. Of these, Matilda (Xzannjah Matsi) is perhaps the most voracious. In fact, her love of this story is so great that she longs to one day go to England and see it for herself. Much of the story is about her and her imagining that she is a character within this novel. In fact, I wish MORE of the film had been devoted to this—it was among the best parts of the film.While this is the main plot of the film, there are LOTS of little detours here and there—as if the story itself is secondary. At times, it seemed like the lost track of the Great Expectations theme—and other times, it seemed really important. What is important are the wonderful performances in the movie. Laurie is excellent as usual—and it's nice to hear him speaking with his native English accent. His American accent was so convincing, I am sure many viewers of his hit show had no idea he is a Brit! However, what really impressed me where the wonderful performances by the natives—non-professional actors who did an excellent job nevertheless. They seemed very natural and real. I would attribute this as well as the nice look of the film to the director, Andrew Adamson. Adamson is famous for the Shrek and the Narnia films— movies that really are about as different from Mr. Pip as you can get! So who is the audience for this film? Well, although it sure looks like a family film during much of the picture, it clearly is not and I would definitely not let kids see the film. There is some horrific violence late in the film that just make the movie too intense for younger viewers. It also is quite depressing in places. However, for teens and people looking for something different, it is worth seeing just for the performances. By the way, if you are curious, the story is based on a book by Lloyd Jones and it is available through most booksellers.