Waterland (1992)

Pittsburgh, 1974: A high school history teacher slowly losing it tells his class about his experiences as teenager in England during WWII incl. curious 16 y.o. Mary.

Director:

Stephen Gyllenhaal

Writers:

Graham Swift (novel), Peter Prince (screenplay)

Stars:

Jeremy Irons, Sinéad Cusack, Ethan Hawke

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeremy Irons	...	Tom Crick
Sinéad Cusack	...	Mary Crick
Grant Warnock	...	Young Tom
Lena Headey	...	Young Mary
Callum Dixon	...	Freddie Parr
Sean Maguire	...	Peter (as Sean McGuire)
Ross McCall	...	Terry
Camilla Hebditch	...	Shirley
David Morrissey	...	Dick Crick
John Heard	...	Lewis Scott
Maggie Gyllenhaal	...	Maggie Ruth
Ethan Hawke	...	Matthew Price
Cara Buono	...	Judy Dobson
Pete Postlethwaite	...	Henry Crick (as Peter Postlethwaite)
Stewart Richman	...	Ernest Atkinson

Storyline

Tom Crick, a high school history teacher, is having trouble connecting - with his class, with his wife. He ventures into telling his class stories about his young adulthood in the Fens district in England. The emotional wounds from his younger life wash over him in present day, affecting his work and his relationships with his students and his wife.

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Plot Keywords:

death of wife | king | laundry drying on a clothesline | class | teacher | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality and language, and for an abortion scene

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lena Hadley's film debut.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Tom Crick: Once upon a time, children, there was a history teacher who came home one day, after giving a class on the French Revolution, to find that his wife, the woman he loved since they were children, had herself committed a revolutionary, a miraculous act.

User Reviews

A masterful work

This film is a complex intricate look at sexuality, history, Freud, and superstition all based in the living metaphor of England's fen land, or marshes. It is no coincidence Swift chose to set this incredible story about navigating the labyrinths of jealousy and history- personal and local, using a landscape riddled with secret channels and muddy hidden waters.

The acting is superb, and like Ian McEwan's Atonement, looks unflinchingly at the depths of personal tragedy, and history, and their long lasting effects on us as humans, all in the context of historical events.

The Fenland is an area deeply steeped in history, going back before the Romans.The film touches literally the taboo of early sexual longing ( male and female)and leaves us to look at the costs of opening Pandora's's box.

Swift is a gifted and beautiful writer and I have read this book several times. The film is a credit to the book, which is an unusual statement for films. The film complements the book much in the same way the film of Unbearable Lightness of Being complemented that book.

This is a masterful work.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 October 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Waterland

Filming Locations:

East Anglia, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,100,218

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,100,218

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Screen Productions, Channel Four Films, Palace Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1