IMDb RATING
7.1/10
5.4K
YOUR RATING
Author Rudyard Kipling and his wife search for their 18-year-old son after he goes missing during World War I.Author Rudyard Kipling and his wife search for their 18-year-old son after he goes missing during World War I.Author Rudyard Kipling and his wife search for their 18-year-old son after he goes missing during World War I.
IMDb RATING
7.1/10
5.4K
YOUR RATING
- Director
- Writer
- David Haig(play)
- Stars
Top credits
- Director
- Writer
- David Haig(play)
- Stars
- Won 1 BAFTA Award
- 4 wins & 10 nominations total
Photos
Rúaidhrí Conroy
- McHughas McHugh
- (as Ruaidhri Conroy)
Lucy Cray-Miller
- Mrs. Carteras Mrs. Carter
- (as Lucy Millar)
- Director
- Writer
- David Haig(play)
- All cast & crew
- See more cast details at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSeveral scenes were shot at the actual Rudyard Kipling estate, Bateman's, where Kipling lived from 1902 until his death.
- GoofsMany of the photos of wounded men that the Kipling family search through clearly show a WW2 pattern 'Brodie' steel helmet. Not only is a WW2 steel helmet wrong, ANY steel helmet is wrong for late 1915 as steel helmets weren't issued to British troops until 1916.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Rudyard Kipling: Have you news of my boy Jack?/ Not this tide./ When d'you think that he'll come back?/ Not with this wind blowing, and this tide./ Has any one else had word of him?/ Not this tide./ For what is sunk will hardly swim, Not with this wind blowing, and this tide./ Oh, dear, what comfort can I find?/ None this tide,/ Nor any tide,/ Except he did not shame his kind-/ Not even with that wind blowing, and that tide./ Then hold your head up all the more,/ This tide,/ And every tide;/ Because he was the son you bore,/ And gave to that wind blowing and that tide!
- ConnectionsFeatured in Masterpiece Classic: My Boy Jack (2008)
- SoundtracksHappy Birthday to You
by Patty S. Hill (as Patti Hill Smith) & Mildred J. Hill (as Mildred Hill)
EMI Music Publishing Ltd
Top review
"Masterpiece" of a war movie
I have been viewing Masterpiece Theatre for many years and I have trouble thinking of one episode that surpasses the excellence of this production.
The main actors all give great performances in this story of how Rudyard Kipling, poet laureate and a member of an important government war committee, persuaded the authorities to enlist his son Jack despite failing two health examinations because of his poor eyesight. The rest of the movie deals with the dilemma that never seemed to cross Kipling's mind: what moral responsibility would he bear if anything happened to his much-loved son?
As we see in the run-up to the declaration of war, Kipling was a fervent supporter of taking on the "Huns". In the commentary following the film, we learn that he never served his country on the battlefield. Instead, he put his expectations on his son Jack. The scenes from the Great War tell the horror of the conditions in the rat-infested trenches as soldiers coped with open wounds in the rain and the mud. Then cutaway to the Kipling home in pastoral English setting...the contrast is vivid.
Kipling's wife (Kim Cattrall) and daughter (Carey Mulligan)are extremely upset at the prospect of John "Jack" Kipling going off to war. Daniel Radcliffe performs the role of the dutiful son who also proved to be more than a capable leader of the young men in his charge. Martin McCann, who plays the soldier Bowe who saw the younger Kipling die in battle, gives an extraordinary performance when he visits the Kipling estate to tell the story of Jack's death.
A very noteworthy scene takes place at the end of the movie when Kipling visits George V, the reigning monarch, and a personal friend. In this scene, the King expresses his sympathy to Kipling and then mentions that his own son recently died. This is a reference to the youngest child of George V and Queen Mary, who was an epileptic, and died suddenly following a seizure. This event was treated quietly by the press at the time. However, whether or not this meeting happened, it is an interesting side-bar to the movie, with the King and his poet laureate sharing their grief.
I have always been interested in the story of Jack Kipling from the time I read a newspaper article about how a Canadian who worked for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission was able to locate the burial plot of Jack Kipling towards the end of the 20th century, many decades after he died. This was something the Kipling family had tried in vain to find.
For me, this movie adds an extra dimension to that story and to the ongoing cinematic treatment of a war that is now almost 100 years ago.
The main actors all give great performances in this story of how Rudyard Kipling, poet laureate and a member of an important government war committee, persuaded the authorities to enlist his son Jack despite failing two health examinations because of his poor eyesight. The rest of the movie deals with the dilemma that never seemed to cross Kipling's mind: what moral responsibility would he bear if anything happened to his much-loved son?
As we see in the run-up to the declaration of war, Kipling was a fervent supporter of taking on the "Huns". In the commentary following the film, we learn that he never served his country on the battlefield. Instead, he put his expectations on his son Jack. The scenes from the Great War tell the horror of the conditions in the rat-infested trenches as soldiers coped with open wounds in the rain and the mud. Then cutaway to the Kipling home in pastoral English setting...the contrast is vivid.
Kipling's wife (Kim Cattrall) and daughter (Carey Mulligan)are extremely upset at the prospect of John "Jack" Kipling going off to war. Daniel Radcliffe performs the role of the dutiful son who also proved to be more than a capable leader of the young men in his charge. Martin McCann, who plays the soldier Bowe who saw the younger Kipling die in battle, gives an extraordinary performance when he visits the Kipling estate to tell the story of Jack's death.
A very noteworthy scene takes place at the end of the movie when Kipling visits George V, the reigning monarch, and a personal friend. In this scene, the King expresses his sympathy to Kipling and then mentions that his own son recently died. This is a reference to the youngest child of George V and Queen Mary, who was an epileptic, and died suddenly following a seizure. This event was treated quietly by the press at the time. However, whether or not this meeting happened, it is an interesting side-bar to the movie, with the King and his poet laureate sharing their grief.
I have always been interested in the story of Jack Kipling from the time I read a newspaper article about how a Canadian who worked for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission was able to locate the burial plot of Jack Kipling towards the end of the 20th century, many decades after he died. This was something the Kipling family had tried in vain to find.
For me, this movie adds an extra dimension to that story and to the ongoing cinematic treatment of a war that is now almost 100 years ago.
helpful•182
- barryrd
- Mar 23, 2009
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Moj sin Džek
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 35 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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