NZ IFF 2020 Day 6

A light day; I spent most of it hanging out with a friend who is having to leave the country in a few months, which seemed more urgent. Nevertheless I managed to slip a cheeky movie in for the evening, and it was a good ‘un.

Wendy

A retelling of the Peter Pan story, I greatly enjoyed this film; set in a modern-ish small-town US, Peter snatches children away via the local train.

The film spends more time exploring the relationship between the pirates - lost children who have grown up - and is more willing to examine the degree to which Peter is a troubling, but also sympathetic, character. There is no Tinkerbell; rather, the source of magic is “The Mother”, a faintly Lovecraftian entity.

Well-executed, the work poses questions about abandoment and the tension between our desire for safety and adventure and how we should relate to our dreams.

I found this a moving, enjoyable meditation on childhood, and rattling good fun besides.

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