The Wind in the Willows, directed by Terry Jones

After finishing the book, I was quite keen to watch this particular adaptation. After all, it had performances from all the surviving Pythons bar Terry Gilliam, who after all was never all that often in front of the camera.

After seeing it, I have mixed opinions. In some ways, it was a very good adaptation, taking the episodic book and making a coherent single story, with strong performances and a powerful directorial voice. But at the same time, this last part was the problem – making it The Wind in the Willows with Jones’ sensibilities changed the tone in rather the wrong direction. There’s a gentleness and dignity about Grahame’s world and a frenetic hectic quality to Jones’ that don’t sit well together. Grahame’s animals have strange but somewhat inspiring spiritual experiences and bond over the rescuing of little children, while Jones seems to think weird talking suns and clocks and weasels who for some reason can detach and swap around body parts will sit well between pleasant scenes of riverboating and picnics. Especially towards the end, with huge explosions poorly shoved into the plot and giant automated meathooks, it’s clear that Jones is simply trying too hard, and while there’s something rather odd about the way the book’s final crisis is resolved by a show of violence, it retains a certain sense of heroism and dignity. Jones, unfortunately, tries far too hard to be zany and to amuse the kids, and ends up just seeming desperate.

There are some messy points in the plot, too. Toad not actually needing to dress up as a washerwoman at all is a trifle odd, as he is after all such a coward that the idea he wants to escape with panache rings somewhat false, and the fact that the weasels more or less sorted themselves out meant that the heroes’ presence was pointless.

The courtroom scene, oft-played as a clip because of Cleese and Fry, is a real highlight, though.

The casting wasn’t quite perfect. Steve Coogan is just too skinny, young and clever-looking to be dumpy, friendly, humble little Mole, and Williamson didn’t have the bulk or gravitas for Badger. Jones himself as Toad worked at times but others did not, capturing his pride and pomposity perfectly but not his manipulative wheedling or his genuine childish enthusiasm. The part where he convinces himself to steal the motorcar is simply creepy, and while Grahame specifies that the toad has hair, I think Jones had a little too much, which oddly did a lot to stop him looking very toad-like. The only time he looked spot-on was in his large driving goggles.

And then there was Eric Idle as the Rat. I must confess that my mental image of Ratty is actually Idle, or very like him. Visually and vocally he is perfect. But…the performance seemed off to me. He was too brash, too forceful and too dominant for contemplative, poetic and earthy Rat. If he’d just seemed a little more thoughtful…

But these are rather personal thoughts. It’s not a classic adaptation and certainly not definitive. But still fun.