I was very impressed, an excellent and highly sensitive production that documents the famous author Rudyard Kipling's efforts to gain his heavily short sighted son John (Jack) Kipling an officer's commission in the armed forces.
I was impressed by the acting on all accounts, particularly David Haig, and his and Kim Catrell's interaction as husband and wife is notably natural and moving. Daniel Radcliff also performed well. Many have doubted his skill as an actor, I like many have never been overwhelmed by his performances in the Harry Potter films, but I have never been his severest critic either, believing much of his defiances to be due to weak screenplays. His performance here - with far better material to work with - stands up well to scrutiny, as he manages to project a sensitive combination of youthful ambition, the upper classes belief that they were the natural leader of the common man, and the basic fear of war and death. To those who have scorned at his casting, I can think of no other actor who would be able to draw the attention of the younger generations to such a subject.
It must be noted that the quality of this production was superb, with trench life realistically recreated to the extent that it was shown. The contrasting camera work between the home and trench environment, may seem obvious but it was skillfully done, creating the right tensions between circumstances, without making you feel nauseous. The locations, costumes, set e.t.c were unnoticeable in the best possible way, in the sense that nothing jarred on your mind or felt modernized or out of place. Again this may seem an obvious comment but often period pieces (unfortunatly often produced by ITV) fall into this trap.
Above all this though, what impressed me most was how skillfully 'My Boy Jack' portrayed attitudes to war.
It manages to portray realistically the proactive and enthusiastically patriotic attitudes to war and empire that were predominant within the middle and upper classes in the Edwardian era. The vigor with which this is done is impressive as it would easy to dilute such attitudes for the modern pallet, especially considering Rudyard Kipling's popularity as a children's author. This attitude is combined superbly with Rudyard's disillusionment after his son's death. His personal grief and guilt jars movingly against his empire ideals, which he clearly clings onto in a belief that his son was doing his duty for a cause he believed in. It is an internal conflict which I'm sure holds just as much resonance for todays soldiers and their families.
I was impressed by the acting on all accounts, particularly David Haig, and his and Kim Catrell's interaction as husband and wife is notably natural and moving. Daniel Radcliff also performed well. Many have doubted his skill as an actor, I like many have never been overwhelmed by his performances in the Harry Potter films, but I have never been his severest critic either, believing much of his defiances to be due to weak screenplays. His performance here - with far better material to work with - stands up well to scrutiny, as he manages to project a sensitive combination of youthful ambition, the upper classes belief that they were the natural leader of the common man, and the basic fear of war and death. To those who have scorned at his casting, I can think of no other actor who would be able to draw the attention of the younger generations to such a subject.
It must be noted that the quality of this production was superb, with trench life realistically recreated to the extent that it was shown. The contrasting camera work between the home and trench environment, may seem obvious but it was skillfully done, creating the right tensions between circumstances, without making you feel nauseous. The locations, costumes, set e.t.c were unnoticeable in the best possible way, in the sense that nothing jarred on your mind or felt modernized or out of place. Again this may seem an obvious comment but often period pieces (unfortunatly often produced by ITV) fall into this trap.
Above all this though, what impressed me most was how skillfully 'My Boy Jack' portrayed attitudes to war.
It manages to portray realistically the proactive and enthusiastically patriotic attitudes to war and empire that were predominant within the middle and upper classes in the Edwardian era. The vigor with which this is done is impressive as it would easy to dilute such attitudes for the modern pallet, especially considering Rudyard Kipling's popularity as a children's author. This attitude is combined superbly with Rudyard's disillusionment after his son's death. His personal grief and guilt jars movingly against his empire ideals, which he clearly clings onto in a belief that his son was doing his duty for a cause he believed in. It is an internal conflict which I'm sure holds just as much resonance for todays soldiers and their families.