Home Road Movies (2002)

A sweet reminiscence about a family of four children and their RAF-veteran dad, who knows the timetable of every bus in London, but realizes his large family needs a car. He buys a Peugeot ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Bradbrook

Writer:

Ian Sellar (screenplay)

Stars:

Bill Paterson, Phelim McDermott, Amal Anwar

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 10 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Bill Paterson	...	Father
Phelim McDermott	...	Narrator (voice)
Amal Anwar	...	Child #1 (voice)
Joseph Ariolt-Edwards	...	Child #2 (voice)
Tom Eilenberg	...	Child #3 (voice)
Rob Robinson	...	Child #4 (voice)
Gem Souleyman	...	Child #5 (voice)

Storyline

A sweet reminiscence about a family of four children and their RAF-veteran dad, who knows the timetable of every bus in London, but realizes his large family needs a car. He buys a Peugeot station wagon - license plate GFP831E, and the family sets off for annual holidays exploring every corner of Europe - "adopting local customs but never forgetting who won the war." The narrator is one of the children who, as he ages, sees things he missed as a lad - the car no rocket, dad no speedster. As the years wear on, and the car sits in the driveway, dad keeps it ready for the next great summer holiday.

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Plot Keywords:

summer holiday | camping trip | hamburger | family man | englishman abroad | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 September 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Robert Bradbrook's Home Road Movies

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fine Take Productions, Arts Council of England

Technical Specs

Runtime:

12 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Part of an omnibus of international animated shorts, Nine Nation Animation, released by The World According to Shorts.

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Soundtracks

"Split Level"
Written by Tom Warburton (as Warburton)

User Reviews

Who Wants Children ?

Other reviewers have described HOME ROAD MOVIES as " bitter-sweet " and that's a correct description but despite the story being told from the point of view of one of the father's children all my sympathy was firmly with the dad . He's fought in the war ( And lets everyone know it ! ) and because he wants to give his children some happiness in their lives he buys a car and takes them for holidays in Europe . Unfortunately as the children become adolescents they don't think holidaying with their parents is all that exciting and decide to go on their own holidays . As pointed out this is " bitter- sweet " but am I alone in thinking bitter comes more and more to the fore ? The father looks more depressed and fatalistic as the story progresses until one day he makes a trip to hospital alone , yes alone , the narrator who tells the story lets his father take one last one way journey to hospital alone . Children . Who would have them ?