In the final days of the ICM Nordic cinema viewing challenge,I decided to search for a more rare title to view during the wrap-up. Having enjoyed the books and the various TV shows,I was surprised to stumble on a obscure adaptation, led to me joining the five.
View on the film:
Transferring the English countryside mystery adventures for rural Denmark, co-writer/(with Gunter Ebert-who later wrote Jess Franco's Hellhole Women (1981) )director Katrine Hedman & cinematographer Mikael Salomon (later cinematographer on The Abyss (1989)) bring a whimsical atmosphere to the adventure in long gliding panning shots following the five entering town, and swift whip-pans around streets as the five outwit the baddies.
Along with some terribly filmed outdoor scenes shot in total darkness (!) Hedman poorly tries to alter the reserved origins of the characters, by having them all dress down to their underwear to escape, despite having made it clear earlier that none of the gang would do anything like that in front of each other.
Cycling from Enid Blyton's book, the writers catch the spirit of the book most in the five catching up with relatives as they get set for adventure. Bringing a 4th child into the mix who is a total brat, the writers disappointing offer little sense of unity or friendship between the gang, and the dry mystery/adventure never hitting the can-do fun,which made them the famous five.
