Wish You Were Here (1987)

In a staid English seaside town after the Second World War, young Lynda grows up with her widowed father and younger sister. Rebellious Lynda has been swearing constantly from an early age.... See full summary »

Director:

David Leland

Writer:

David Leland

Stars:

Emily Lloyd, Trudi Cavanagh, Clare Clifford

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Trudi Cavanagh	...	Tap Dancing Lady
Emily Lloyd	...	Lynda
Clare Clifford	...	Mrs Parfitt
Barbara Durkin	...	Valerie
Geoffrey Hutchings	...	Hubert
Charlotte Barker	...	Gillian
Tom Bell	...	Eric
Chloe Leland	...	Margaret
Charlotte Ball	...	Lynda (aged 11)
Pat Heywood	...	Aunt Millie
Abigail Leland	...	Margaret (aged 7)
Susan Valentine	...	Lynda's Mother (as Susan Skipper)
Geoffrey Durham	...	Harry Figgis
Sheila Kelley	...	Joan Figgis
Neville Smith	...	Cinema Manager

Storyline

In a staid English seaside town after the Second World War, young Lynda grows up with her widowed father and younger sister. Rebellious Lynda has been swearing constantly from an early age. At sixteen, she becomes more exhibitionist and seeks out sexual encounters challenging the prevailing lower-middle class attitudes to sex. She eventually becomes pregnant by an acquaintance of her father.

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Plot Keywords:

center of attention | woman flashing her leg | insult | loss of mother | verbal abuse | 

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Taglines:

Some people march to the beat of a different drummer. Lynda's got her own brass band.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

The meaning and relevance of the film's "Wish You Were Here" title is, according to Hal Erickson at website 'Allmovie', that it "refers to her [Lynda Mansell (Emily Lloyd)] feelings concerning her late mother, whilst Janet Maslin of 'The New York Times', says that the film, like its title, "is about longing", whilst website 'Wikipedia' states the title "is a sigh Lynda makes because of her dead mother".

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Goofs

The U.S. flag on the bandstand during the dance has fifty stars. The U.S. flag in 1951 had only 48 stars.

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Quotes

Lynda Mansell: Up your bum!

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Connections

Referenced in Unmasked Part 25 (1988)

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Soundtracks

The Hokey Cokey
(uncredited)
Written by Jimmy Kennedy

User Reviews

Wish you were here, but I'm doing just fine, actually

With another actress in the lead, this film could have been another entry in the long, venerable line of British films about the misery of working-class life, a genre that stretches from "kitchen sink" classics like "Room at the Top" and "A Taste of Honey" (wonderfully ironic titles, of course) to such Mike Leigh bleakfests as "Meantime" and "All or Nothing." However, this film stars Emily Lloyd. Her character of Lynda seems written as a fragile, wounded creature driven to extreme behavior by emotional neglect (her mother died when she was young and her father is a stern, distant dope) and a rigid, oppressive social hierarchy (she suffers after being used and abandoned by a series of heartless men who are either older or wealthier than herself). As played by Emily Lloyd, however, Lynda is a joyful nymphomaniac who delights in offending people, kind of a "Happy Hooker Goes to Liverpool." Her outrageous behavior seems less a symptom of willful self-destructiveness than an animating demon impulse. In her dalliances with men, she seems to be seeking sexual satisfaction ("it's very nice, but is that all there is?") instead of love and security. Which makes her a distinctly post-feminist heroine out of "Sex and the City" instead of a victim of injustice out of a Theodore Dreiser novel. Which makes her completely out of sync with the rest of this gray, deterministic film. It doesn't help that Emily Lloyd, at least here, is so beautiful that she's literally luminous -- she seems to glow with a light that isn't shining on anything else in the film. Plus she's so vital and boisterous that we don't believe the circumstances which should be destroying her would even slow her down all that much. The key scene, which will either delight or disgust you, comes midway through the movie when lovely young Lynda takes a midnight stroll in her garden and ends up gamboling about, waking the neighbors (neighbours?) by screaming "up your BUUUUUUUUMMMMM!" at the top of her lungs. Is she a wounded soul begging for love and tolerance? A free spirit kicking against the pricks? A brat who needs to be spanked? Your answer to this question will determine your view of "Wish You Were Here."

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 July 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Wish You Were Here!

Filming Locations:

The Esplanade, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$43,611, 26 July 1987

Gross USA:

$3,283,832

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,283,832

Company Credits

Production Co:

Channel Four Films, Working Title Films, Zenith Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1