Customer Reviews

An Angel For May

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Feature films are for children, or at least for the child in each viewer, so it always refreshing to stumble across films like "An Angel for May" and "Restless Spirits". Contrary to popular belief, films do not have to be dumbed down for children. Much of the pleasure they get comes from puzzling out complex plot developments and recognizing subtle details. Both these films have a hidden depth to their story and storytelling technique that will interest even the most sophisticated viewer-provided that they retain at least some of their childhood capacity for wonder.

"An Angel for May" is a nice adaptation of Melvin Burgess' critically acclaimed novel of the same title. The themes are the need to find a purpose or direction outside yourself and the recognition of inter-generational ties that exist because we all share the experience of having once been young. The intriguing title is actually a reference to the almost heaven-sent appearance of a 12-year old boy in the midst of WWII Yorkshire, England.

But things are a bit more complicated because 12- year old Tom (Matthew Beard) is from "present day" Yorkshire. Things are not going so great for him there. He is the self-absorbed only child of separated parents, seemingly with no friends, asthmatic, and upset that his mother plans to remarry. One day he follows a stray dog to an abandoned farm in the hills outside town and suddenly finds himself transported to that same spot in 1941.

It was a working farm back then, run by Sam Wheeler (Tom Wilkinson). Sam and his daughter Alison are taking care of 10- year old May (Charlotte Wakefield), an orphaned evacuee whose whole block (terrace) was destroyed in a German bombing raid. The story is told from the point of view of the totally disoriented Tom who runs into town after his arrival and manages to get himself into a lot of trouble. The seemingly confident and resourceful May comes to his rescue.

May has picked up on Tom's dislocation and distress, sensing in him a kindred spirit who needs her help coping with the horrors of wartime Britain. This is where POV in the film becomes important. May is a huge dichotomy, once a spunky and charming girl, her wartime experiences have turned her into a traumatized victim. POV means that viewers must learn about her at the same slow pace it is revealed to Tom. The first revelation occurs as the two make their way back to the farm. When German planes jettison bombs (from an aborted raid on Sheffield) in the fields, May freezes in an exposed position until Tom pulls her to the ground. Later we learn that she has a phobia about being indoors, the result of being trapped for days in the rubble of her Yorkshire home. She takes her meals outside and sleeps in a shed.

But May is protective of Tom who seems to her even more lost. The need to appear strong for him motivates May to overcome her own fears. When Tom discovers a way to return home he elects to do so, believing that Sam will give May a good home.

Back in his own time, Tom's account of his adventures is not believed and he learns that the farm was destroyed by bombs just a few days after he left. The remainder of the film centers on his efforts to return so that he can finish helping May.

The acting for the camera directing is excellent, especially with the two child actors. "An Angel for May" offers an excellent example of the power a filmmaker can discover in the framing of his shots. Director Harley Cokeliss emphasizes the face and eyes of his young actors with multiple close-ups and reaction shots, which bonds the audience to them. This technique can reveal acting deficiencies but Cokeliss gets exactly what he needs from his two inexperienced stars; and the more experienced supporting cast is universally excellent.

Wakefield's role is the most challenging. She must sell not just her character's obvious terror, but also a multi-dimensionality that makes you understand why Sam and Alison see qualities inside her that make it so important to them that she be brought back from the brink.

Especially gratifying is the avoidance of many potential missteps in the climatic scenes. There is a nice and relatively unexpected twist without any overwrought melodrama. If you've allowed yourself to take this journey with Tom, you will be rewarded at the end with one of those extraordinary emotional experiences for which we watch films.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

In AN ANGEL FOR MAY director Harley Cokeliss has assembled a fine cast and production team to bring this 'children's classic' novel by Melvin Burgess to the screen (screenplay by Peter Milligan), and in doing so he has quite successfully transferred a very tender little tale into a full blown motion picture that still maintains the gentle message of Burgess' book.

Tom (Tam in the book - played by Matthew Beard) is a disillusioned young lad, living in a broken home in Yorkshire England, and in need of finding meaning to his brittle life. He happens upon a relic of a structure where he encounters a dog and a 'bag lady', and also the entry port to a trip to the past!

Time traveling to WW II he lands in London during the blitz attacks, befriends a young girl named May (Charlotte Wakefield) and then time travels back to the present where he encounters disbelief in his adventure. He feels he must return to the past to save May from an impending doom and in his attempts in doing so he comes to learn much about life, death, devotion, promises, and the effects of the passage of time.

The actors are exceptional, both Beard and Wakefield as children but also Tom Wilkinson and Anna Massey in roles as adults whose participation in Tom's plight are deeply touching. The cinematography is breathtakingly beautiful and the pacing of the direction is excellent. Stories such as this require a certain amount of fantasy participation in order to be effective, and this is where Cokeliss shines. He does not allow the sentiment to become cloying and he maintains enough reality checks between the adults and the children to make us believe in angels a bit. It is a sweet film, very well made, and worth the viewer's time with its important message. Grady Harp, February 06

My wife and I are a couple of "big kids" and we loved it. Being British we love films of that era whether they be childrens films or otherwise. It brings back memories. Thank you.

Simon Wainwright

Finally, a movie for the whole family, with a lovely story.

"Angel" in the title should suggest to viewers that this really is a spiritual movie. Although at the time they didn't really realize it, after Tom returned to the present those still in the past concluded that he must have been an angel sent to help May out of her trauma from the London bombings. Viewers might want to keep this in mind when they discover what actually happened to May's life.

May had suffered so much pain. Although it is not explicitly stated, might not God have sent an "angel" in the form of Tom to help her because He had other plans for May's life? If not, why would it be that at some point in the movie we find May in church, kneeling in prayer? Had her experience with Tom touched her spirituallly?

What about Tom? After his visit with the vicar, the priest commends Tom for his genuine concern for the unfortunate and elderly. After his experience in another realm, was it just human concern - or was his concern the outgrowth of a spiritual familiarity that others haven't had? Is it just childishness or a spiritual motivation that would compel Tom to forget what the kids think, and even try to go against his mother, just to help those he realized were in need?

I think Tom learns another lesson as well - that sometimes when people refuse the help we think they need things don't necessarily turn out as one fears. In keeping with the spiritual undertones in this film, Tom learns that sometimes it is best to leave other people's life in God's hands - that no matter how well-meaning we are, He loves people and cares for them in His own way.

Nobody would say this is an angel movie, or a church movie. It is an entertaining, compelling and wholesome movie that must speak to human's natural spiritual inclinations. Hence, everyone I've shown it to comes away feeling good . . . As if "touched by an angel" themselves!

This is the best film I've ever seen about time travel.Tom is a young lad who's mom has a new fellow.Tom falls through the back of a fireplace in a burned out farm house with a dog.They end up in the dog's time.That is where Tom meets May a girl of his age.Tess is May's dog,and she went looking for someone to help May.This film is way to good to know much more about it.You have two kids by the end that have helped each other.Don't miss this fine film.

i saw this as an in flight movie and thought it was incredable it brought tears to my eyes i have spent several years trying to track the movie down appartently its not too popular if no one rents it out but id strongly reccomend this to any age!

I saw about 5 min of this movie at an RV show and the whole family said we had to get it. When it arrived we hoped it was as good as we had thought. We were not disappointed. It was the best movie/DVD we have seen in a long time. It was one of the few movies that I have watched where I did not want to get up and miss something. The movie people really need to make more movies like this. Better than anything coming out this summer.

There are already excellent synopses of this excellent family drama here at Amazon; I just wanted to add my praise to this very good family film from The UK. It is a great "temporal displacement" story where a troubled boy is transported from modern England back to WWII and engages in an important time paradox to save a young girls family so that she might grow into the woman she should be, and changes himself in the process.

Great film 4 ¾ *

Set in present day England, a boy is transported back to 1942,his adventures are heart warming. The movie is well cast and the story was wonderful.