Between two world wars, the Mackintosh family live in splendid isolation in magnificent old Harewood House, beside a Scottish Loch. For young Fraser( Robbie Norman), an endlessly curious boy, life is a wonderful adventure. His grandmother, gamma he calls her, played by Rosemary Harris, is the stern matriarch of the family; his mother, Moira (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), is her daughter and his uncle, Morris, (Malcolm McDowell), who has become very rich, makes occasional visits from his London home. Fraser`s father, whom he totally adores, is Edward (Colin Firth), an inventor who dreams his life away on impossible projects. It`s a peaceful life, until Uncle Morris arrives with his French wife, Heloise, (Irene Jacob) and suddenly things aren`t quite the same.
My Life So Far is based on the autobiography \"Son of Adam\", by Denis Forman, well known in Britain as a tv executive and currently director of the Royal Opera House. Producer David Puttnam and director Hugh Hudson - the team that made the award-winning Chariots Of Fire in 1981 - have used the book as the basis for an exploration of what life in Britain used to be like for the privileged few - a time when families were closer, children more innocent, and the outside world barely intruded - no radio or tv in those days.
It`s a simple story, beautifully made and very well acted - especially notable are Colin Firth as the charmingly ineffectual father and Malcolm McDowell, in his most substantial role for years, as the rakish Uncle. But scenes involving French pilot Tcheky Karyo don`t seem to add much to the story and there`s a tentative, unresolved feeling to this resolutely old-fashioned foray into family life.
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