Another I regretted missing in
the cinemas, but had another chance to see! And also quite my favourite of the
films I saw on the flight. I’m not sure how true the story is – presumably at
least the story of her being prickly giving the rights away and making
extraordinary demands was based on reality, especially given the real tapes
played at the end, but I think much of the backstory was likely embellished.
It’s very popular to claim that an author’s best-known work must be entirely
based on real, harrowing elements of their life, so I’m sceptical that was
genuinely the case.
On the other hand, this is a
marvellous story, essentially with three parts – Pamela’s life growing up in
Australia with an alcoholic father, which is done sensitively; the story of
Walt Disney trying to get an insight into this difficult woman’s hangups; and
the story of the creative team, including the Sherman Brothers, trying to
understand the writer’s bizarre requests. The implication is that Marry Poppins
is really about the attempt to save a self-destructive, alcoholic bank
manager father, which I don’t really buy – but which works very well as a film.
Peripherally, there is also the rather nice relationship between Pamela and her
driver, probably my favourite of the roles that Paul Giamatti has ever done.
This film is both much heavier
than I expected and much more artistic. The different eras and locations are
expertly evoked through subtle filmmaking techniques and the performances are
top-notch. Emma Thompson is perfect for the role and Tom Hanks has the slightly
oily charisma of Walt Disney beautifully. I was engaged throughout and there
wasn’t a character I didn’t find interesting. Very enjoyable!
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