Wah-Wah

The most striking aspect of this film is the sheer honesty of the whole thing. Certainly this must have been a heart wrenching assignment for Richard E. Grant. To showcase one's own life through the most traumatic of circumstances, is both noble and humbling. The moral double standards of Colonial Britain at it worst, coupled with what must be emotional scars etched into Richard's soul, produce a film of compelling proportions. The back drop of a breath-taking Swaziland landscape, is almost missed as the emotions sweep you away into a numbing sensation, constantly reminding you this is FACT not fiction. Adolescence for most is traumatic enough without the aid of a dysfunctional family at a time when this just "wouldn't do", and the worst anyone could be was a "divorcee". The portrayal of relationships with his parents, step-mother, and all his "uncles" and "aunts" is complex and exhausting for the viewer. There are raw and frank accounts of Richard's personal "demons", and how he attempted to overcome these during these difficult years of his life. The film showcases some wonderful acting. In particular, Gabriel Byrne as the father, Nicholas Hoult as 14 year old Richard, Julie Walters as Aunt Gwen, Emily Watson as the step-mother, and Celia Imrie as Lady Hardwick. All are exceptional in their roles. Rather than "hush hush" Richard has literally blown the whistle on British "properness"! Make it a short-listed film to see, you will not be disappointed.

Wah-Wah (Richard E. Grant, 2005) is a delightful film about writer-director Grant's childhood during the final throes of colonial Swaziland. Balancing fraughtness - as his alter-ego's mother (Miranda Richardon) leaves and his father (Gabriel Byrne) descends into alcoholism - with superbly judged comic passages, it transports the viewer into the head of the young protagonist, perfectly articulating his feelings without the need for speechifying or voice-over. Such a feat is testament to the economy and precision of the script, Grant's subtle but expressive direction and Nicholas Hoult's excellent performance as the 14-year-old Ralph Compton. That Hoult can hold his own against Emily Watson, the most gifted dramatic performer of her generation, is as high praise as I can think of. Watson is ideal, as ever, playing the boy's ballsy American step-mum, who's threatening to turn high society on its ear if she can stand the scotch-swilling company long enough. The film does suffer from a dearth of geographic context in the mid-section and has some structural problems in the second half that seem to saddle it with several false endings, but it's clever, subtle and formidably unsentimental, with superb acting across the board. Its more painful exchanges have the unmistakable ring of truth and grim memory, and there's a great set of scenes in which Hoult sees A Clockwork Orange and starts idly apeing McDowell's eyeliner-wearing sociopath. I really liked it.

Saw Wah-Wah at the Edinburgh International Film Festival – this is a really wonderful film. The story is told from the point of view of Ralph, a child witnessing the breakdown of his parent's marriage and dealing with his father's alcoholism and hasty remarriage. Both the colonial life and the adult relationships are seen, unflatteringly, from Ralph's perspective, and this could easily have been just another caricature of colonial decadence and the end of empire. In fact, despite the sombre story, it has humour and warmth as well as emotional impact. It also looks stunning: it is hard to believe this is Richard Grant's first film. All the cast give strong performances, even if most of them are hardly playing against type: Celia Imry could probably do the "upper-class bitch" and Julie Walters the "blowsy but good-hearted neighbour" in their sleep: but the core relationship between Ralph and his father Harry, played by Gabriel Byrne, is just electrifying. Byrne is totally convincing as the dedicated colonial administrator whose unresolved feelings for his first wife and fears for his future after independence drive him to alcoholism and nearly wreck his second marriage (to the also excellent Emily Watson). According to the press the film has yet to find a distributor: let's hope it is quickly picked up – this is ten times better than any of this summer's blockbusters, and deserves to be seen.

I thought the movie was absolutely excellent. I saw it tonight and it held a very special place in my heart because i'm Swazi and I knew all about what was happening and Grant's family. I thought it was a very accurate portrayal of Swazis and Swazi culture. It was beautifully done because it was just a boy's view of the world around him. He didn't politicize the era, and he allowed the viewer to make his or her own judgments without trying to steer the audience. It was beautifully done. The settings and the scenes were structured beautifully and I felt as if I was in Swaziland. I realize how biased I am and I went to see the film with an American friend and we both appreciated Richard E. Grant's style. It is very obvious that he put a lot into this film and the result is captivating. I cried and I thought it was because i had a personal connection to the film but when the lights went up I noticed that I wasn't the only one shedding tears. I highly recommend this film to people who want to go on a journey. I just loved it!

It was fairly brave of Richard E Grant to 'come out' as a director when acting would be such a secure option for him; particularly now as the role of director, especially of relatively small independent films such as this, involves all the hustling traditionally taken care of by the producer. Although he has been low-profile as an actor for some time, paying the rent by sticking to supporting roles ( lots of them, though), at the same time he has been fighting to get this semi-autobiographical saga up to the screen. A look at a disintegrating family could be set anywhere, but this is specific to Swaziland, where the collapse of the British Empire and the end of Deference mirror the uncertainties of young Ralph Compton's life. As a little boy (Zachary Fox) he finds himself in the back seat while his mother has it off with her husband's best friend; then as an adolescent rebel (Nicholas Hoult of 'About a Boy') he has to cope with mum's desertion and dad's alcoholism while discovering 'A Clockwork Orange' and experimenting with becoming a droog. There are so many concurrent plots that every time you think, Ah, so it's that kind of film, the layers shift again. Coming-of-age, end-of-empire, adults being stupid and cruel, the class system and white supremacy turning sclerotic; these elements weave and thrust against the African landscape and inbred British colonialism. This is the world that the kids will inherit. Celia Imrie and Fenella Woolgar are a joy to watch as they 'do' the snooty dames with such natural outraged dignity, but the surprise is to see the so-English Emily Watson make such a convincing low-class Manhattanite. The old ways are going out the window, serenaded as they go by the kind of lush, romantic soundtrack that also had had its time, and adds another taste of verisimilitude. Comparisons are useful, not odious, and it's fair to relate this kind of breathless well-paced ensemble production to Altman. One last touch of the Old Ways: it stops when it gets to the ... CLIFF HANLEY