Reviews
Speak Like a Child (1998)
beautifully photographed dark parable.
I viewed this film at the recent London film festival screening, at which the director was present to discuss his work. The story is a bleak tale of life for 3 teenagers in a remote children's home and its effects upon them in adult life. Told in flashback, the story recounts how the three (2 boys,1 girl) band together emotionally and physically in the face of adversity, ultimately committing murder and covering it up. In the present, the three are all sad, emotionally drifting individuals who return to the scene of their crime, each with a different agenda. The story builds in both the past and present to a violent climax. Filmed in Scotland, although set on the Northumberland coast, this film is effective in drawing one into the plight of the three main characters, although we are almost in a dreamworld, set outside of normal society - so remote is the location.