This is an effective story of bullying, and a withdrawn child who yearns for something different -- in her case, for the freedom symbolised by her memories of the seaside. Background characters who at first seem one-dimensional take on additional depths as the crisis breaks.
However, the BFI transfer I saw at the Mediatheque did seem to end very abruptly (on a few seconds' irresolute shot of Eleanor's parents in their kitchen just after we see her bag go in the bin), and I did wonder if the version originally transmitted contained a more conclusive ending. The running time was listed at circa sixty-five minutes whereas the digital transfer only seemed to run to fifty-something minutes long.
As it stands, we never really find out what happens to any of the protagonists...
However, the BFI transfer I saw at the Mediatheque did seem to end very abruptly (on a few seconds' irresolute shot of Eleanor's parents in their kitchen just after we see her bag go in the bin), and I did wonder if the version originally transmitted contained a more conclusive ending. The running time was listed at circa sixty-five minutes whereas the digital transfer only seemed to run to fifty-something minutes long.
As it stands, we never really find out what happens to any of the protagonists...
