OK film fans, earlier today I was complaining to a friend about not having seen anything of substance that was any good. There are a few films out now and a few nominated for an Oscar that I've yet to see and I was planning on checking one of them out tonight. But after a long day where work can be, in the words of Sting, "a humiliating kick in the crotch", I was just looking forward to coming home, having some diner and vegging out. But every once in awhile you get lucky and the leprechauns of cable programming smile on you. You turn on the TV and just the film you need, not even one you had in mind, is awaiting to rejuvenate you.
Finding Neverland is a remarkably heartfelt film of great beauty, sadness and ultimately hope. It is the story of playwright Sir J.M Barrie (Johnny Depp in an Oscar nominated performance) and his inspiration for the classic tale Peter Pan. Barrie was a man who ostensibly never wanted to grow up, perhaps brought on by his difficult childhood and, at between 5' and 5' 3", his own diminutive stature. The film compresses the true facts of his life creating a story more interested in the emotional creation of the play than the biopic details.
Barrie, in the throes of an underwhelmingly received play and a marriage of convenience (it is commonly held the marriage was never consummated) has a chance encounter with a recent widow, Sylvia Davies (Radha Mitchell), and her four sons. He quickly takes them to heart, wanting to introduce his own sense of magic and awe into their world; a world sadly lacking the abundance of imagination young children should have, lost when their father died. He is especially determined to free the heart and mind of young Peter, who seems to have completely lost his childhood with the loss of his father.
But even in the Edwardian 1900s of London Barrie's time with a widow and her children did not go unnoticed and rumors abounded. More concerned with appearances in society than her daughter's and grandchildren's happiness, Emma du Maurier (Julie Christie) disapproves of the time they spend together. His wife's concern is likewise rooted more in appearances than in concern for her marriage. In response to this Barrie promptly spends the summer with the family in his country cottage, fanning the rumors but strengthening his bond with the Davies family. As he leads the boys in imaginary games, dressing up as pirates, cowboys and Indians, he watches them as they revel in their play; Barrie himself remembers the importance of imagination and hope which he imbues in his new play. When Sylvia's "chest cold" turns out to be more serious, it becomes a true test of the spirit of hope Barrie has restored in the Davies family. A test to being able to change things by simply believing them to be different.
One of my favorite lines comes early in the film, shortly after his most recent play has tanked and his benefactor, Charles Frohman (Dustin Hoffman) lets Barrie know that he's extended the lease on the theater in the hopes of recouping his losses with his next play. As he sits in the empty theater, workers dismantling the stage, we get the following exchange.
Barrie (sighs): "It was never meant to be taken seriously."
Frohman: "You know what happened James, they changed it."
Barrie: "Who changed what?
Frohman: "The critics, they made it important"
As Barrie reminded us with Peter Pan, what is important is to take play seriously. Life is already an arduous journey, without the spirit of imagination to dream of better things, to be hopeful, it is nearly unbearable. A few weeks ago a friend of mine asked me if I had ever been moved to tears by a film. At the time, I couldn't remember anything beyond childhood films that had moved me to such a state. The truth is, when I first saw this film I was that moved. The loss of our imagination and its companion, hope, which we all possessed as children, is worthy of strong emotions. And as this film flits between the realm of the imagination and realities of Barrie's life it pulls at our every emotion until we truly understand the importance of the Neverland inside each and every one of us.
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