Run Wild, Run Free

Mark Lester plays the part beautifully of an autistic child. When the film was made in 1969, little was known about autism. The child is locked inside and unable to communicate or understand the ways of people around. Ahead of it's time, we nowadays accept and understand that animals relate to human vulnerability and judge the true nature of the person. Young Philip is aggravating and irritating to those who he has to live with. The parents try hard to help but are unable to get a satisfactory relationship with the boy. Being accepted by the horse helps the child to communicate and understand the meaning of relationships. When Philip harms the falcon inadvertently, he is stricken with grief. Fiona Fullerton is totally believable in her role. I think all the actors were first class. It's a beautiful and realistic story and a study of life with autism. The scenery is wild and beautiful yet chills the soul when the fog falls. A very enjoyable film for young and old.

I saw "Run Wild, Run Free" only once -- when I was 11 or 12 years old (now 49) and have never forgotten the moving effect it had on me. It was the second movie I had ever seen that brought me to tears -- the first was "Bambi." However, it remains indelible in my mind.

In doing Internet research today, I just discovered that he mute boy (Phillip) in the movie was supposedly autistic (something of I had no knowledge back then). Interestingly however, I ended up participating as a para-professional behavior therapist in the UCLA "Young Autism" program run then by Ivar Lovaas, Ph.D. when I was an undergrad there.

Having recently joined Netflix, I was hoping to be able to rent it and view it again, but to my dismay, it's not considered a classic so not generally available on rental.

I am hoping that someday this movie will be available for rental or purchase on DVD.

Regards,

Cassandra2

I enjoyed this movie, and indeed it was moving. But it was not Mark Lester's performance, good though it was, that impressed me. When one watches movies, here and there one sees a few brief moments in which an actor gives absolutely all they've got, when they just let go and some deep primeval emotion erupts from them. It doesn't happen very often. It happens with Juliet Stephenson's grief in Truly Madly Deeply. It happens with Michael Caine's fear in Sleuth, It happens with Anna Calder-Marshall's desperate passion in Wuthering Heights. In Run Wild, Run Free we see this rare phenomenon for a few moments in the acting of Fiona Fullerton when she fears that Philip will be lost in the bog. Her frantic, desperate attempts to control a child for whom she feels responsibility but who is totally beyond her control are to me absolutely unforgettable. This moment alone makes the movie worth watching.

Mark Lester hasn't spoken a word in years. He and his parents, Gordon Jackson and Sylvia Syms, live by the moors in Devon. Retired Colonel John Mills take an interest in the boy and the moor pony he wanders about with.

Since his starring role in OLIVER!, Lester was the great child actor of the British cinema, a position he would hold through the middle of the following decade. This movie tries to be a bit mystical, but is so obvious about its symbols that it is a bit off-putting. Nonetheless, it held my interest, mostly because of the beautiful cinematography of the foggy moors (thanks to cinematographer Wilkie Cooper), the subplot about the kestrel Mills, Lester, and young Fiona Fullerton are training, and Mills' performance.

The adults in the cast are a sterling lot, and include Bernard Miles in his last screen performance, sporting a stage West Country accent.

Film just cant get more emotive than this. Its scenario may seem dated now, but nonetheless with a vividly atmospheric setting and soul-stirring music its a beautiful and cathartic journey. Mark Lester is fantastic as the autistic Phillip. The story highlights the desperate and frustrating difficulties for parents to communicate with a child with autism. Sylvia Syms as his mother twice says 'I want to love him', truly heartbreaking. The natural (well-meaning) errors of the parents are well delineated as they try to understand what's best for Phillip.

I give nothing away about the ending except to say it left an enormous and yet serenely gentle impression on me watching the first time as a child.

The Colnol played by John Mills (bless the great actor's memory) believes that wild animals may help to unlock the running-wild nature of the boy. Yet the strength of the story, for me, is much more than the love of a boy for a blue-eyed white colt. Most importantly I think the film presents the need of close attention to and understanding of a child who isn't 'normal', rather than thinking out of fear for their well being. The world is more beautiful for people like Phillip. I hope you will enjoy this film.