My Family and Other Animals

I caught this movie on PBS at four in the morning and was hooked for the next two hours. It's a funny, original story beautifully shot (one assumes on location in Greece). The focus of the film is on the youngest member of an eccentric British family and his absorbing interest in nature, but the rest of his clan all have their own unique quirks. It's a little bit like James Herriot by way of ALICE IN WONDERLAND. But what impressed me most of all was the assured direction. It jumps from character to character and incident to incident, all vastly amusing, without ever becoming boring or wasting a frame. It makes me want to hunt down the TV series or go read the books. By all means catch this if you ever have a chance.

I rented My Family and the Other Animals on a friend's recommendation and am happy that I did. I think I'm going to have to own this movie now. I will certainly watch it again - if just to catch all the lines that were delivered (with either Greek or English accents depending on who was speaking) while I was laughing too loudly to catch the dialog! This movie proves that if the story (which is based on real life in this case), the writing, and the acting are all impeccable (which is true of this movie) one doesn't need much more that a nice villa set in a beautiful location in Southern Europe and some local talent to make a fantastic little movie.

I use the word "little" not to take anything away from the quality of the movie, but rather because this movie was never released on the "Big" screen. Aired on PBS television for "Masterpiece Theatre" and now available on DVD, this film is capable of succeeding in movie theaters.

If you are anything like me, you will find yourself smiling, chuckling, and recalling particular lines from this movie for at least a full day after watching it!

A favourite story of mine for very many years this translation into a TV movie is sensitively and accurately adapted, much of the dialogue is exactly as Gerald Durrell wrote it. If only the TV writers, producers, directors would do as well with so many other sadly failing efforts! The actors in this are very well chosen and give faithful and often understated performances. In particular the lad playing Gerald is very good indeed, but I only single him out from a splendid ensemble effort because of his youth. If I had to make a criticism it would be that the character of Spiro was somewhat more restrained than I had envisaged from the book. All in all, a little gem. It was screened by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday 8th. April 2007.

The movie is truly a delight to watch. It's full of warmth and humour. It reminds me how wonderful it is to connect to nature, a thing hard to achieve in this modern age of technology and fast-paced life. The scenery is just so beautiful, the characters interesting and lovable, the acting smooth and convincing, the soundtrack I find quite quirky but amusing, and the animals absolutely cute! Imelda Staunton is superb as usual, while Eugene Simon is very good as the inquisitive Gerald. Despite the fact that this movie is not a very dramatic one (no violence, no real romance nor suspense), it is engaging and entertaining. A must-see.

a book. a writer confession about his golden age. and an inspired adaptation. that is all. at first sigh. because , like a dish, in this case, the taste, the flavor, the delicious atmosphere has few little secret ingredients. first - the script who explore the Durell universe with gentle and wise precision. than, the cast and for this slice must see the movie for understand. than - the music. the spice remains British humor but that is the great and magnificent virtue because its rhythm is always the same. the joy, adventure, spirit, curiosity of childhood is on front chair. the craziness, the eccentricity, egotism, strange situations are cages for each kind of public. but something must be more important - the extraordinary performance of two actors as cinnamon of this splendid pie - Eugene Simon and, sure, great Imelda Staunton. it is not really a movie. only perfect bottle for pure form of joy.