Enid

This film is about the life of the famous and prolific author Enid Blyton, who wrote over 750 children books.

"Enid" is very powerful in portraying the character of Enid Blyton. Helena Bonham Carter portrays Enid Blyton to be a detached, phlegmatic, rude and deceitful hypocrite. This portrayal is very powerful, and I do hate Enid so much for her unloving ways towards her family. It is so effective, I feel so sorry for the husband and her children. The production is also of great quality, with high standards of costumes, sets and cinematography.

I used to pride myself for having read all the Famous Five books. If this portrayal of Enid Blyton's life is accurate, that I think I cannot put my hands on an Enid Blyton book again.

I have never seen a biopic with so little sympathy for its subject. Even Hitler usually gets better treatment. Although Helena Bonham Carter delivers yet another great performance, Enid Blyton remains a very one dimensional character not to say that she is portrayed as cold and downright evil. Blyton's writing (more than 750 books) is shown as compulsive escapism from her own adulthood to an idealized childhood because her own childhood ended for her when her father left the family. Blyton seems to love children as a concept but has no emotional bond with her own daughters. As to why she treats her first husband so badly never becomes really clear, apparently it has to do with the fact that to some extent he was a father figure for her who ultimately had to disappoint her as a self fulfilling prophecy. That leaves the question open as to why her second marriage seems to work. There are occasions in that film where the viewer is just appalled by the evil of Blyton's interaction with people she loves but no one can really be evil and cold all the time. So this portray unfortunately misses the richness of any person's character and is more or less the trial of Enid Blyton. We have to bear in mind that this is fiction and not fact. If you research what her daughters say about their childhoods you find very differing accounts and the evil she shows in face to face conversation (e.g. with her driver) does not have any witnesses. My other misgiving about the film is that it is simply too short to allow character development or even orientation so that I got the impression that her children stayed forever in their teens and she was suddenly 47. All in all historic context was missing completely.

This drama, the first in a series entitled 'Women We Loved', has Helena Bonham-Carter portraying children's writer Enid Blyton. Although she is very good, and ably supported by Matthew McFadyen and Denis Lawson as her two husbands, this story suffers by presenting Blyton as one-dimensional, uncaring of her own family, and single-minded about her writing.

Sumptuously shot and accurate to the time in which it is set, 'Enid' is nevertheless strangely unsatisfying, and I really would have liked to have seen a more rounded piece of biography. Yes, Blyton probably did have many faults, but according to this she is only one step back from the Wicked Witch of the West!

Well, that's a childhood illusion shattered.

A look at the life and times of Famous Five novelist, Edin Blyton.

The BBC made some wonderful dramas at the time, exploring Gracie Fields, Hattie Jacques, and a few others, this is no different, it's a quality production.

Beautifully made and acted, I don't know much about her, so I'm not too sure about the accuracy of it, but a little research reinforces a lot of what was seen here.

Blessed with the talent to write children's books, but seemingly not the talent to be a decent wife or mother, she's portrayed as something of a monster for the most part.

The acting is first class, McFadyen and Lawson are great, Helena Bonham Carter puts in a killer performance. Outnumbered fans may recommend a familiar face.

An absorbing watch, 8/10.

This film promulgates the stories spread about that Enid Blyton was a horrible person and a cold mother. This is not factual. If you read Barbara Stoney's very accurate biography - "Enid Blyton, The Biography" with a foreword written by Miss Blyton's own daughter Gillian - you will see that she adored her children and loved both her first and second husbands. She contributed enormous amounts of teaching aids to the teachers and children of the twentieth century, and should be remembered with love and admiration. Do not take this cinematic telling of her life as factual. It isn't. In her daughter's own words - "I was very close to my mother, and talked with her freely from early childhood." which disputes the notion of her having been a cold mother. I have read her biography, and whilst this film captures the atmosphere of the time, it does not capture the true events.