Tumbledown

There is a serious problem with TUMBLEDOWN and that is with the way Charles Wood has structured the script . The story opens with no hook and becomes very irritating as the events cuts back and forth in time with the climatic battle happening not until the very end of the story

There are also other problems with the script in what is it actually trying to say to the audience ? That war is bad ? Thanks but I think everyone knew that , and it does lead to a problem for any writer to set an anti war drama ( Though be it a drama based on actual events )against the background of The Falklands conflict . The number of war dead from the conflict was in the region of 1,000 ( 255 British with around 750 Argentine dead ) but only three of the people killed ( All Falkland civilians killed by a shell from a British warship ) can in any way be described as non combatants . Can anyone name a conflict where 0.3 % of the dead were innocent bystanders ? Compared to all the other wars , genocides , democides etc of the 20th Century The Falklands conflict was almost certainly the " cleanest " war of the last century therefor there`s little opportunity to make angst ridden statements of mans inhumanity to man . It`s also hard to make anti war statements when you`re on the winning side . Why do you think the best anti war films from Hollywood like PLATOON feature Vietnam as a back drop or CROSS OF IRON and ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT show conflict through German eyes ?

As has already been mentioned Lt Robert Lawrence isn`t a sympathetic character on screen either so it`s very difficult to sympathise with a character who switches from self pity to arrogance back to self pity again , but at least writer Charles Wood hasn`t tried to modify or embellish Lt Lawrence into the boy next door and now that I come to think of it Wood should be congratulated for not making any overt political statements with the script which the more I think about it comes across as being anti war but pro soldier . But I have to stick with my original conviction that the script to TUMBLEDOWN is very flawed down to the confusing and irritating manner the story is told

Some background information; in 1982 2nd Bn, the Scots Guards were pulled from public duties (sentry-mounting in London) and sent to the Falkland Islands as part of the Task Force sent to recover it from Argentina. Unprepared as they were, they fought a savage and decisive battle to capture a vital hill, Mount Tumbledown. During the fighting, Lt. Richard Lawrence was very severely wounded.

This film alternates sequences from before and after his wounding; the battle, and his long and difficult recovery and convalescence. It has to steer a tricky course around the major pitfalls of british public opinion. There are on one hand, the tabloid-fuelled jingoism of a country involved in a major fight, and on the other hand the subsequent revulsion that such losses were suffered in a squabble for some barren islands several thousand miles from home.

The film does highlight the callousness and indifference with which the war's casualties were sometimes treated.

The overall story and moral are not new, but their treatment here, with hardly any bad language or earth-shattering battle effects, strikes a more thoughtful note than, say, "Saving PRivate Ryan".

I am ex soldier of several combat tours, I found this film pathetic very disappointing, I suppose I was expecting more of action war film, I have to be honest I found it disappointing .

"Tumbledown" is yet another film in the list of some of Colin Firth's early works that needs to be made available for viewing in the US, in some fashion, now. I was able to get a copy and it was a revelation to me. Various reviewers here have given excellent account of the entire film and its historical context, so I would like to zero in on the acting of Firth, as Robert Lawrence.

Anyone who has an image of Firth only as Mr. Darcy, both "Pride and Prejudice" and "Bridget Jones" versions, being the essence of his acting really needs to try to see this amazing early work of this actor. There are plenty of other examples of the great potential that led to the pinnacle of his success as an actor in "A Single Man" and "The King's Speech", but in this film, he is simply a force of nature. You forget completely that he was not actually a partially paralyzed man. The viewers also need to have conveyed to them the emotions and feelings that can only be done so through the eyes and facial expressions of the actor, and not every actor is as accomplished as Mr. Firth in this regard. He showed, even in his twenties, that not just a great actor was in the making, but was already fully formed.

There are wonderful supporting performances in this as well, particularly the Lawrence parents, played by David Calder and Barbara Leigh-Hunt. Their love for their son, mixed with the emotions of needing to let him be in his life, along with the frustration at his circumstances, is beautifully and poignantly portrayed.

Note must also be made of a fine performance by Paul Rhys as the good friend of Lawrence, often helpless in the hurricane of emotions that make up his blustery, gung-ho, and eventually badly damaged friend and fellow officer.

If one is any sort of fan of Colin Firth, "Tumbledown" is a must-see. Simple as that.

I believe this film is still available in the UK on DVD, and US Region copies exist. This viewer is wishing this, along with several of Firth's other films, could be made available in the US. The deeper talents of this actor need to be on equal display with to the lighter fare that originally brought him success in the US.

This is a movie not often shown or seen. It is a gripping study of the aftermath of war and battle. Filmed in a realistic fashion, with dream-like flashback sequences, it keeps the viewer deeply enmeshed in the struggles of the principal hero. It is an adept adaptation of a particular battle fought in the Falkland Islands, 1982. If you are looking for immense battle scenes or action, it will not be found here. Instead brace yourself for a realistic portrayal of the ravages of war, the apathy of governments and personal strength and heroism.