Swallows and Amazons (2016 film)

Synopsis

The film is based on Ransome's book, but the script incorporates many changes in the plot. It chronicles the story of Walker children on their holidays in the Lake District. They want to camp on an island in the lake. When they get there in the boat "Swallow", they soon discover they’re 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. The film was also shot in Yorkshire. at Plumpton Rocks parkland near Harrogate (the location for 'Wild Cat Island')

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."

Critical reception

Writing in British daily newspaper 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."

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."

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 "For 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."

Trevor Johnston in the Radio Times thought that "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".