Swallows and Amazons (2016 film)

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Swallows and Amazons
Swallows and Amazons (2016 film).png
British release poster
Directed by Philippa Lowthorpe
Written by Andrea Gibb
Based on Swallows and Amazons
by Arthur Ransome
Produced by
  • Nick Barton
  • Nick O'Hagan
  • Joe Oppenheimer
Starring
CinematographyJulian Court
Edited byDave Thrasher
Music by Ilan Eshkeri [1]
Production
companies
Distributed by StudioCanal
Release date
  • 19 August 2016 (2016-08-19)(United Kingdom)
Running time
96 minutes [3]
CountryUnited Kingdom [1]
LanguageEnglish
Box office$3.9 million (UK) [2]

Swallows and Amazons is a 2016 British family adventure film directed by Philippa Lowthorpe and written by Andrea Gibb, based on Arthur Ransome's 1930 children's novel of the same name. The film stars Andrew Scott, Rafe Spall, Kelly Macdonald, Jessica Hynes, and Harry Enfield. Principal photography began on 21 June 2015 in the Lake District. The film, which was released on 19 August 2016, is the third audiovisual adaption of the novel; the first being a 6-part BBC TV series in 1963 and the second a 1974 film version.

Contents

Plot

The film is based on Ransome's book, but the script incorporates many changes to the plot. It chronicles the story of the Walker children on their holiday in the Lake District in the summer of 1935. They want to camp on an island in the lake. When they get there in the boat Swallow, they soon discover they are not alone. Two other children, the Blacketts, also known as the "Amazons", have set up camp there, and a battle for the island begins. But with Britain on the brink of war and a "secret agent" looking for the Blackett children's uncle, they have a series of adventures quite different from their plans.

Cast

Production

Principal photography on the film began on 21 June 2015 in the Lake District, North West England. [4] [7] The film was also shot in Yorkshire, [7] at Plumpton Rocks parkland near Harrogate (the location for 'Wild Cat Island'). Other Yorkshire locations include Heptonstall near Hebden Bridge, Oakworth Station on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, and Stockeld Park, all in West Yorkshire.

Arts correspondent for The Daily Telegraph , Hannah Furness, observed,

"The original Swallows and Amazons saw its intrepid children battling the perilous waters of the Lake District summer, a grumpy uncle and, occasionally, one another. The 2016 update, a BBC film of the same name, will add one further foe to that list: gun-toting Russian spies in their midst. The tweaks to the film were inspired by the real life of author Arthur Ransome, who is now known to have been an MI6 spy. At one point, papers in the National Archive reveal, he was under suspicion of being a double agent for Russia. The film plot will use his story as the inspiration for the character of Jim Turner, always thought to have been partially based on the writer himself." [8]

The music was composed by Ilan Eshkeri. [1]

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film received a rating of 94%, based on 32 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. [9] On Metacritic the film received a score of 65 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [10]

Writing in The Daily Telegraph , Lewis Jones noted that Arthur Ransome had written in his diary "Saw the ghastly mess they have made of poor old Swallows and Amazons" after watching the BBC's 1962 series. Jones added, "I think he might have liked Philippa Lowthorpe's forthcoming film, though, which is true to the spirit of his book, and so attentive to period detail that at one point Mrs Walker smokes a cigarette". Jones outlined the film's changes to the book's character Jim Turner, writing: "In the film he is engaged in espionage and pursued by Russian agents, which gives the story some grown-up oomph, and pays fitting tribute to the author's wildly adventurous early life. For Ransome was not merely a boaty old buffer with a walrus moustache who wrote children's books. As a young journalist he reported on the Russian Revolution, was on intimate terms with its leaders and was himself an active player, which led to his recruitment by MI6." [11]

For Alistair Harkness, writing in The Scotsman , the film "serves as a gentle reminder of the value of allowing children to get outside and explore instead of being mollycoddled by fearful parents". He added: "The film adds an espionage subplot that feels a little underpowered to really provide the intended narrative oomph, danger or excitement, but in an age in which the teen heroes and heroines of YA adaptations are routinely given ridiculously proficient combat skills, there's something nice about watching kids mucking about and learning basic wilderness skills." [12]

Geoffrey Macnab in The Independent began by saying: "This new adaptation of Arthur Ransome's novel evokes a long-lost era in which kids didn't just spend their days searching for Pokémon or playing Call Of Duty. Instead, they had rip-roaring adventures in sailing boats and camped on remote islands." He found the "loving Hovis-ad fashion, complete with tweed caps, cardigans and idyllic villages that always seem to be full of bunting" of the filming to be evocative but was less impressed that "[f]or no apparent reason, the filmmakers have grafted on a John Buchan/Alfred Hitchcock-style spy story to proceedings". Macnab concluded, "The film is at its best when the adults are kept at bay. [It] really takes wing […] when the Swallows and Amazons are trying to steal each other's boats, making expeditions by moonlight or are planning just what they're going to eat after dropping their provisions in the lake." [13]

Trevor Johnston in the Radio Times opined: "For today's children, this fresh adaptation of Arthur Ransome's classic Lake District tale must seem as if it's taking place on some distant planet. The brothers and sisters here are allowed to take their dinghy to the waters by themselves and even stay overnight on the island at its middle. They gut fish for dinner, navigate their way round the shores, and even find themselves in a territorial dispute with some cunning local rivals. Not a smartphone or tablet in sight, no social media updates, and no sign of an app to light a campfire when the matches have gone astray." He too remarked on the changes to the plot, deciding: "With more at stake, the drama is intensified, as director Philippa Lowthorpe […] gives everything hands-on credibility while still retaining the nostalgic appeal of bygone days [and] also works brilliantly with the junior cast." Johnston concluded that "All in all, it's an intelligent, involving, beautifully mounted adaptation of material that might easily have seemed an old-fashioned relic. And the grey, blustery Lake District weather could hardly be more British." [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Ransome</span> English author and journalist (1884–1967)

Arthur Michell Ransome was an English author and journalist. He is best known for writing and illustrating the Swallows and Amazons series of children's books about the school-holiday adventures of children, mostly in the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads. The entire series remains in print, and Swallows and Amazons is the basis for a tourist industry around Windermere and Coniston Water, the two lakes Ransome adapted as his fictional North Country lake.

<i>Swallows and Amazons</i> series English childrens book series

The Swallows and Amazons series is a series of twelve children's adventure novels by English author Arthur Ransome. Set in the interwar period, the novels involve group adventures by children, mainly in the school holidays and mainly in England. They revolve around outdoor activities, especially sailing. Literary critic Peter Hunt believes it "changed British literature, affected a whole generation's view of holidays, helped to create the national image of the English Lake District and added Arthur Ransome's name to the select list of classic British children's authors." The series remains popular and inspires visits to the Lake District and Norfolk Broads, where many of the books are set.

<i>Nancy Blackett</i> (cutter)

Nancy Blackett is a 28-foot (8.5 m), 7-ton, Bermuda rigged sailing cutter built in 1931. The boat is now owned and operated by The Nancy Blackett Trust.

<i>Peter Duck</i> 1932 childrens book by Arthur Ransome

Peter Duck is the third book in the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome. The Swallows and Amazons sail to Crab Island with Captain Flint and Peter Duck, an old sailor, to recover buried treasure. During the voyage the Wildcat is chased by another vessel, the Viper, whose piratical crew are also intending to recover the treasure.

<i>Winter Holiday</i> (novel) 1933 childrens book by Arthur Ransome

Winter Holiday is the fourth novel of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1933. In this story, the third set of major characters in the series, the Ds — Dick and Dorothea Callum—are introduced. The series' usual emphasis on boats and sailing is largely absent, as the story is set in the winter. Instead, the children's activities focus on ice skating, signalling with semaphore and Morse code, and sledging.

<i>Great Northern?</i> 1947 childrens book by Arthur Ransome

Great Northern? is the twelfth and final completed book of Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1947. In this book, the three families of major characters in the series, the Swallows, the Amazons and the Ds, are all reunited in a book for the first time since Pigeon Post. This book is set in the Outer Hebrides and the two familiar Ransome themes of sailing and ornithology come to the fore.

<i>Swallowdale</i> 1931 childrens book by Arthur Ransome

Swallowdale is a children's adventure novel by English author Arthur Ransome and first published by Jonathan Cape in 1931. The book features Walker siblings and Blackett sisters, camping in the hills and moorland country around a lake, with Maria Turner, the Blacketts' Great Aunt, acting as an antagonist. It is the second book in the Swallows and Amazons series; preceded by Swallows and Amazons and followed by Peter Duck.

<i>Pigeon Post</i> 1936 childrens book by Arthur Ransome

Pigeon Post is an English children's adventure novel by Arthur Ransome, published by Jonathan Cape in 1936. It was the sixth of twelve books Ransome completed in the Swallows and Amazons series. He won the inaugural Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising it as the year's best children's book by a British subject.

<i>Swallows and Amazons</i> 1930 childrens novel by Arthur Ransome

Swallows and Amazons is a children's adventure novel by English author Arthur Ransome first published on 21 July 1930 by Jonathan Cape. Set in the summer of 1929 in the Lake District, the book introduces the main characters of John, Susan, Titty and Roger Walker (Swallows); as well as their mother, Mary; and their baby sister, Bridget. We also meet Nancy and Peggy Blackett (Amazons); their uncle Jim, commonly referred to as Captain Flint; and their widowed mother, Molly Blackett. It is the first book in the Swallows and Amazons series, followed by Swallowdale.

<i>Secret Water</i> 1939 childrens book by Arthur Ransome

Secret Water is the eighth book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published on 28 November 1939.

<i>The Picts and the Martyrs</i> 1943 childrens book by Arthur Ransome

The Picts and the Martyrs is the eleventh book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1943. This is the last completed book set in the Lake District and features the Blackett sisters, the Amazons and the Callum siblings, Dick and Dorothea, known as the Ds. Ransome's most native character, the Great Aunt also features prominently as do many aspects of Lakeland life. The Dog's Home is based on a small stone hut built in the woods above Coniston Water close to Ransome's then residence.

<i>We Didnt Mean to Go to Sea</i> 1937 childrens book by Arthur Ransome

We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea is the seventh book in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of children's books. It was published in 1937. In this book, the Swallows are the only recurring characters. They are staying with their Mother and baby sister Bridget in a new location, Pin Mill on the River Orwell upstream from the ports of Felixstowe and Harwich and are in Suffolk to meet their Father, Navy Commander Ted Walker who is returning overland from a posting in Hong Kong to take up a new posting at Shotley. (In Swallows and Amazons his ship was at Malta but under orders for Hong Kong.

Nancy Blackett is a fictional character in nine of the twelve juvenile novels in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series of books. She acts as captain of the dinghy, Amazon and usually directing her friends in their various adventures. Nancy apparently has no real-world counterpart as an inspirational source for Ransome but appears to be completely the author's creation. Nancy is sometimes critically viewed as a subversive character for girl readers. The character appeared in a 1963 BBC television adaptation of Swallows and Amazons as well as in the 1974 and 2016 film adaptations of the book.

Philippa Lowthorpe is an English film and television director. She was awarded the Deluxe Director Award at the WFTV Film and Television Awards for the miniseries Three Girls. She recently directed episodes of the second season of The Crown and the 2020 film Misbehaviour.

<i>Swallows and Amazons Forever!</i> British TV series or programme

Swallows and Amazons Forever! is a 1984 BBC children's television series based on two children's novels from the Swallows and Amazons series by Arthur Ransome: Coot Club (1934), and The Big Six (1940). Despite the title, the Swallows and the Amazons children from Ransome's other books do not appear.

Swallows and Amazons is a 1974 British film adaption of the 1930 novel of the same name by Arthur Ransome. The film, which was directed by Claude Whatham and produced by Richard Pilbrow, starred Virginia McKenna and Ronald Fraser, with Zanna Hamilton. Its budget was provided by Nat Cohen of EMI Films who had funded the successful 1970 film The Railway Children.

Swallows and Amazons is a 1963 BBC children's television series based on the 1930 novel of the same name by Arthur Ransome, about the holiday adventures of two groups of children, the Swallows (Walkers) and the Amazons (Blacketts), sailing on a lake and camping on an island in the Lake District in the 1930s.

Swallows and Amazons is a 1930 children's novel by Arthur Ransome.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Halligan, Fionnuala (8 August 2016). "'Swallows And Amazons': Review". Screen Daily . Archived from the original on 12 November 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Swallows and Amazons - Financial Information United Kingdom". The-numbers.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
  3. ↑ "Swallows and Amazons (PG)". British Board of Film Classification . 8 August 2016. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Barraclough, Leo. "'Sherlock's' Moriarty, Andrew Scott, Joins Cast of 'Swallows and Amazons' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 11 December 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  5. ↑ Lowthorpe, Philippa (14 July 2017), Swallows and Amazons (Adventure, Drama, Family), BBC Films, British Film Institute (BFI), HanWay Films, retrieved 18 January 2023
  6. ↑ Singh, Anita (24 June 2015). "BBC changes name of lead character in Swallows and Amazons from Titty to Tatty". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  7. 1 2 Chapman, Stephen (25 June 2015). "Swallows and Amazons film starts shooting this weekend". prolificnorth.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  8. ↑ Furness, Hannah (6 May 2016). "Swallows and Amazons: children's classic gets a Russian spy twist in new BBC film". The Daily Telegraph . London. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  9. ↑ Swallows and Amazons, archived from the original on 4 December 2017, retrieved 15 January 2018
  10. ↑ Swallows and Amazons, archived from the original on 16 January 2018, retrieved 15 January 2018
  11. ↑ Jones, Lewis (7 August 2016). "From MI6 to tea with Trotsky: the secret life of Swallows and Amazons author Arthur Ransome". The Daily Telegraph . London. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  12. ↑ Harkness, Alistair (19 August 2016). "Film reviews: David Brent, Swallows and Amazons, The Childhood of a Leader". The Scotsman . Edinburgh. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  13. ↑ Macnab, Geoffrey (16 August 2016). "Film reviews round-up: David Brent, Nine Lives, Swallows and Amazons, Childhood of a Leader" . The Independent . London. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  14. ↑ Johnston, Trevor (12 August 2016). "Swallows and Amazons review: "an involving, beautifully mounted adaptation"". Radio Times . London. Archived from the original on 28 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
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