Mr. Pip (2012)
As a war rages on in the province of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, a young girl becomes transfixed by the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations, which is being read at school by the only white man in the village. In 1991, a war over a copper mine in the South Pacific tore the island of Bougainville apart. The reclusive “Popeye” (Hugh Laurie) offers the children in fourteen-year-old Matilda’s tiny village an escape with Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. But on an island at war, fiction can have dangerous consequences.
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I tried to like this movie, I really did. But it was just to implausible. There's no way anyone in what is a VERY backward polynesian society would grok Great Expectations, certainly not a group of young children. Hey! I worked a project in that area of the world and another thing you do not see is the one common thing to that entire area..... FLIES. ENDLESS FLIES. NEVERENDING FLIES. In fact I worked as an analyst on a mining project there, so I DO know what I'm talking about. The one thing they got right.... how brutes (rebels or 'formal military' men) act during 'war' or 'insurrection'. Shooting the man then cutting up his body and throwing it to the pings, then raping the woman and doing the same thing to HER body. THAT was TRUTH, in any third-world (really 'fourth-world') society when 'war' occurs. (I put war in quotes because it really doesn't take much in those parts of the world to cause people to commit horrific acts against their brethren.) Then the ending of the movie, how trite! Of course Mr. Pip left his wife, a civilized white woman, for a jetblack third-world slut. Yeah, that rings true! HAH! I don't usually enjoy anything that Brit actor, Hugh whatisface is in, because he really doesn't seem to have either a good agent or perhaps he's just capable of discerning what's good art and what is not. Anyway he's just a parrot like 99% of the rest of the movie/TV actors/actresses. (Yes, call me a troll, but I used to write for Hollywood and I've never really gotten over the embarrassment of that stupidity.)
The film centres on a young girl, Matilda, who lives with her mom in a Bougainville village in Papua New Guinea. During a time of civil war, all the whites of the village have left, with one, Mr Watts, remaining on the island with his native wife. Mr Watts is brought to the local school in an attempt to teach the children of the village. It is here that the children are introduced to 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens, and find a friend in the central character, Pip. Filmed on location in Papua New Guinea, the director has accurately captured village life throughout the film with colourful scenes and beautiful cinematography, as well as a script that reflects characteristics of New Guinean language and humour. Xzannjah Matsi and Healesville Joel do a wonderful job in bringing their characters of Matilda and Dolores to life with great conviction. Hugh Laurie also does a good job portraying the slightly sad and slightly mysterious Mr Watts who lives on the island with his Bougainvillean wife Grace. Set during a dark time in Papua New Guinean history, some scenes might disturb some viewers, however the violence that is present in the story is approached tactfully in which it is suggestive and the viewer is spared too many visual details.Overall, Mr Pip is an exceptional film which brings justice to the original novel. Stunningly filmed, well written, entertaining and endearing, Mr Pip is a truly memorable film and great achievement in Australasian cinema.
In few words: food for thought! Shocked me in good and bad kinds too. As I watched I cried and laughed at the same time.A beautiful and sad story about both sides of humanity. Good persons with kindness and faith and fantasy, and bad ones with ignorance and malice and guns. Love versus hate. Like many countries in the World. But we need to believe in love. This movie what must see... must see with your loved ones and family and friends! Hugh Laurie was fantastic as always, and Xzannjah impressed me with her natural talent. and I think I want to read the book by Dickens' Great Expectations. Thank you very much for the creators of this movie miracle!
When I first read what this movie was about, I wasn't quite sure what to think about it. Then, from the very beginning, I didn't have to think as I truly FELT every word, every victory, every cruel and unjust act. Hugh Laurie was absolutely fantastic as the teacher and only white man in the province of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, where a war wages on over control of the world's largest open copper mine. It is he who introduces the children to Charles Dickens' novel, Great Expectations. As skilled as Laurie is, the real star of this movie is young Xzannjah Matsi as Matilda. She becomes totally enthralled with the novel and fantasizes herself as part of it. There is great beauty in this movie -- the relationship between teacher and student, the tropical scenery, etc. However, as unsettling as it is, there is also great tragedy and violence as one would imagine. What is truly commendable is the way this director has interwoven the two. I highly recommend this thought-provoking, well-acted, and well-written movie. It will stay with you long after the last scene is over.