My Life So Far (1999)

Director:

Hugh Hudson

Writers:

Denis Forman (book)
Simon Donald (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 August 1999 (Singapore)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Imagine a summer in paradise with nothing to do except everything your heart desires.

Plot:

Memoir of the lives of a family growing up on a post World War I British estate headed up by a strong disciplinarian...

Plot Keywords:

Estate | Inventor | French | Reference To Louis Armstrong | Dog

Cast

Colin Firth	...	Edward Pettigrew
Rosemary Harris	...	Gamma MacIntosh
Irène Jacob	...	Aunt Heloise (as Irene Jacob)
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio	...	Moira 'Mumsie' Pettigrew
Malcolm McDowell	...	Uncle Morris MacIntosh
Robert Norman	...	Fraser Pettigrew
Tchéky Karyo	...	Gabriel Chenoux (as Tcheky Karyo)
Kelly Macdonald	...	Elspeth Pettigrew
Roddy McDonald	...	Rollo
Daniel Baird	...	Finlay
Jennifer Fergie	...	Brenda Pettigrew
Kirstin Smith	...	Meg
Sean Scanlan	...	Andrew Burns
John Bett	...	Uncle Crawford
Anne Lacey	...	Aunt Eunice

Also Known As:

World of Moss (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content, including some nude pictures.

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Australia:PG | Hong Kong:IIA | Spain:T | UK:12 | USA:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Ardkinglas House, Cairndow, Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

Company:

Enigma Productions

Quotes:

Fraser Pettigrew: [reading from his father's old book] "Dearest Samuel, Forbidden fruit is always the sweetest. I have many things I would like to teach you, if only we can find the opportunity. The very thought arouses me to lubricious ecstasies"
[beat]
Fraser Pettigrew: Probably a golfing friend.

Soundtrack:

Edward Sits Alone

A boy's bittersweet memory of his father

This is a delightful movie. It's based on a man's nostalgic look backward at a slice of his childhood spent on a Scottish country estate in the 1920s. Narrated by the author as a ten-year-old boy, it recounts a period in which both he and his capricious father learn some important lessons about themselves and about each other.

There is little plot to speak of--just life unfolding variously in its sweetness and pain, often tinged with a delicious whimsy. Be warned, though, that much as you may be disposed to like the father, he is a flawed man; his pathetic and childish attitudes are often painfully embarrassing to the viewer. Also, sexual references permeate this film, and there is a strong suggestion that youthful sexual curiosity ought to be given free reign. Parents with a contrary view might wish to give it a look before showing it to their children.

The cinematography is excellent, deftly making the most of the fine Scottish landscape.

But the music--ah! The music is wonderful, from the first folk-tinged strain, through Beethoven and Saint-Saëns, to the Louis Armstrong ending. Few films are so musically satisfying.

The role of the childish and inarticulate father, Edward Pettigrew, is nicely developed by Colin Firth. Rosemary Harris is his aristocratic, but good-natured mother-in-law, who actually owns the estate inhabited by her daughter and Edward and their progeny; Harris handles her part with great understanding and humour. The children are natural and believable, and the servants are well-picked and quirky--their kitchen conversations add much warmth to this work.

For me, the ending credits revealed a lovely surprise: that the reflections of the boy, Fraser Pettigrew, actually come from a memoir written by Sir Denis Forman. I know that name well; Forman is also the author of my favorite opera guide, a cleverly designed, but funny and irreverent book appropriately titled, "The Good Opera Guide." (But don't be put off by the U.S. title, "A Night at the Opera"; it's a wonderful book by any name.)

Small wonder, then, that this movie has such a fine soundtrack.

Rating: 8 for the movie, 10 for the opera book.