The Railway Children (2002/British Telefilm)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Telefilm: B-

 

 

In the late 1960s, Jenny Agutter appeared in the first TV version of Edith Nesbit’s landmark 1906 novel The Railway Children, only to appear in a theatrical feature film of the book a few years later.  That was just before her breakthrough appearance in Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout.  Now, over thirty-five later, she is back as an adult character in a British TV movie of the book.  The story involves a mother (Agutter) and her three children, forced to move when their father (Michael Kitchen) mysteriously disappears.

 

As the children go on with their lives, occasionally thinking about where their father may have disappeared to, they get caught up in fascination with the railways nearby.  They are having fun at first, but this exposure to the real world eventually makes for interesting contacts and a few may possibly lead to the truth about where their father has gone.  The conclusion is not as far fetched as it might seem and Nesbit became very political in her lifetime, having a permanent effect on British politics to this day.  The program is enjoyable, though when it was over, I wondered if there was more that could have been done with the material.  I’ll have to catch those other versions sometime, but this is well made and worth seeing.

 

The letterboxed 1.78 x 1 image is not bad, though anamorphic enhancement would have been nice, because this is a nicely shot work.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has no surrounds, but is clean and clear, making playback good enough.  The few extras include a weblink that offers more on the film, cast list and poster gallery.  Too bad more could not have been on the DVD itself.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo