WATERLAND (1992)
A film review by Vince Deehan
Copyright 1996 Vince Deehan
Directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal Written by Peter Prince. Based on the novel by Graham Swift Cast: Jeremy Irons, Sinead Cusack, Ethan Hawke, Grant Warnock, Lena Headey, David Morrissey and John Heard.
WATERLAND is an unusual and original film set in both the US and the UK concerning the life of Tom Crick (Jeremy Irons), an English schoolteacher of History now settled in Pittsburgh, telling his American pupils of his tragic past in England. Irons' character has been settled in the US for about twenty years, although settled is perhaps not a word that could be used to describe his life. His wife Mary (played by Irons' real-life wife Sinead Cusack) tells Tom that she anticipates the prospect of having a child soon. This worries Tom, who knows that Mary is incapable of having children, and he immediately becomes concerned that he may be "losing" his wife. Losing her to the pain and trauma of her childhood.
Tom teaches at a high school in Pittsburgh and we see Tom teaching History to a class of teenagers in 1974. The kids don't seem particularly interested and when one of the pupils, Matthew Price (Ethan Hawke), articulates this disinterest directly to Tom, the teacher finds himself resorting to telling his own personal history in a wildly misguided attempt to capture the pupils attention. Tom tells the class of his teenage years in East Anglia on the flat east coast of England. His story concerns his relationship with his sweetheart Mary (now played by Lena Headey). The kids are partly amused and partly shocked when Tom describes how he and Mary had sex on trains when they were only sixteen. One pupil voices her concern and tells him how she is now sixteen and states she is not sexually active herself and clearly shows her discomfort. Although this partly puts Tom off his stride, he continues to regale the pupils with his stories.
Tom tells them of how his older and slightly retarded brother Dick (David Morrissey) also took a shine to Mary. When young Mary tells Tom that she has seen Dick following her around on his motorbike, Tom unwisely suggests that Mary should talk to his brother so as to teach him what girls are like and so that this would enable him to be able to get a girlfriend of his own. Tom unwittingly sows the seeds here for an imminent tragedy that will have a profound effect on his life forever.
WATERLAND's strength lies in the great script, excellent cinematography of the flat and slightly eerie flatlands of Anglia by Robert Elswit, and some outstanding acting. Chief acting honours go to Jeremy Irons and Lena Headey. Irons plays a man who is not exactly bursting with charisma but Irons makes you interested in this rather tragic character. Lena Headey who plays the young Mary, as a sixteen year old, is outstanding in a very demanding role that would be beyond the reach of many young actors. Unfortunately Grant Warnock as the young Tom, while good, is no match for Headey's skills and rather lets their scenes down somewhat. David Morrissey plays the retarded Dick to perfection and Pete Posthelwaite, although in a very small part, is as brilliant as ever. Sinead Cusack as the adult Mary is badly letdown by the false teeth she is made to wear in the film, that frankly make her look preposterous and detracted my attention from her good performance.
WATERLAND is a quiet film which tells an intriguing story and tells it with great style.
Review written on Sun 3rd March 1996 by Vince Deehan (vince@deehan.demon.co.uk)
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