Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Eugene Simon | ... | Gerald Durrell | |
Imelda Staunton | ... | Mother | |
Chris Langham | ... | Theodore Stephanides | |
Omid Djalili | ... | Spiro | |
Matthew Goode | ... | Larry Durrell | |
Russell Tovey | ... | Leslie Durrell | |
Tamzin Merchant | ... | Margot Durrell | |
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Kostas Tziotakis | ... | Customs Officer |
Mihalis Giannatos | ... | Porter / Waiter (as Michalis Giannatos) | |
Olga Tournaki | ... | Agathi | |
Dimitris Kaberidis | ... | Rose-Beetle Man | |
David Armand | ... | George - the tutor | |
Antonis Antoniou | ... | Yani | |
George Couyas | ... | Turkish Boyfriend | |
Efi Papatheodorou | ... | Lugaretsia - housekeeper |
Feeling the depressing effects of a gloomy English summer, the Durrell family decides to pack up and move to the Greek island of Corfu in 1935. Lead by their widowed mother, 13-year old future naturalist Gerald Durrell, his two older brothers and older sister move into a series of villas. Gerald indulges his passion for nature by filling his room with local fauna, while his brothers fill their time with writing or hunting and his sister sunbathes and flirts. Written by Ron Kerrigan <mvg@whidbey.com>
I rented My Family and the Other Animals on a friend's recommendation and am happy that I did. I think I'm going to have to own this movie now. I will certainly watch it again - if just to catch all the lines that were delivered (with either Greek or English accents depending on who was speaking) while I was laughing too loudly to catch the dialog! This movie proves that if the story (which is based on real life in this case), the writing, and the acting are all impeccable (which is true of this movie) one doesn't need much more that a nice villa set in a beautiful location in Southern Europe and some local talent to make a fantastic little movie.
I use the word "little" not to take anything away from the quality of the movie, but rather because this movie was never released on the "Big" screen. Aired on PBS television for "Masterpiece Theatre" and now available on DVD, this film is capable of succeeding in movie theaters.
If you are anything like me, you will find yourself smiling, chuckling, and recalling particular lines from this movie for at least a full day after watching it!