A biopic to the author of my childhood favorite character that doesn’t shy away from the darker parts? Well, I know what film I’m going to watch.

The story of A.A. Milne was something I knew about even when I was a kid, and while I was able to separate fiction from reality, it put a lot of the stories like Pooh's Grand Adventure: Search for Christopher Robin in a pretty harsh and disturbing light.

i finally got around to watching this film yesterday, and domnhall gleeson and will tilston were absolutely incredible. they played off of each other so well and really helped to sell a very difficult tonal shift between the magic of childhood and the harsh loss of innocence. margot robbie was also great at portraying the multiple facets of daphne. you see those glimpses of her acting motherly toward billy, but you never forget how painful it is for her. it added a lot of nuance, to as, you said, a potentially hateable character. seriously, this was so good. fantastic insight as always, mat. i would argue that this is actually a better film than finding neverland or saving mr. banks.

I didn't do any research about the movie before seeing this review, so I kind of assumed that it was a Disney film since they own the animated versions of the Winnie the Pooh characters. I'm really glad it isn't, because it seems pretty likely that they would have "softened" the truth and made it more saccharine overall.

@FilmBrain

6 жыл бұрын

The film perhaps softens the truth a little bit (the film has what could be termed as a "happy ending" that isn't strictly true to real life, but makes sense dramatically), but this definitely isn't a Disney film. I don't think there's any direct drawings of Winnie the Pooh or related characters aside from sketches and allusions, which is likely because of rights.

@TherealRNOwwfpooh

6 жыл бұрын

They soften everything. Remember the Grimm Fairy Tales they adapt? Besides, C.R. himself wrote of his account on the subject in his two memoirs. "Enchanted Places", about his childhood in Ashdown Forest - the REAL 100 Acre (or Aker in the books) Wood in REAL LIFE - and the fame that the books and subsequent Disney adaptations had on him & his already strained relationship with his parents. Then, in "Life After Pooh", he transitioned from that to his wartime experience, then his marriage to first cousin Lesley Silincourt, who really, didn't help with his resentment towards the commercialization of his youth & furthermore, distanced himself from his mother, because neither Daphne Milne nor her brother Audrey, Lesley's father, saw eye-to-eye due to family problems & so, even on her deathbed, Daphne Milne refused to see her adult son once he & Lesley married & had disabled daughter Clare, who was born with cerebral palsy, likely due to the incestuous nature of her parentage. Clare herself is largely why the Disney adaptations have to steer the course (i.e. "play it safe") when it comes to the brand's licensing because she has sued them on occasion for trying to deviate from the formula her grandfather wrote & that her father represented. It's part of why the 2011 film (actually animated using old-school hand-drawn techniques too, like cell-shading, with computers only helping with small aspects) returned the brand to its roots of adapting chapters of Milne's work & reintroduced C.R. back as the main human. In this article from 19 October 1998, Gyles Brandreth gives an account of his late-life friendship with Christopher Robin Milne . www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/i-knew-christopher-robin--the-real-christopher-robin/ The other day, on a television programme in America, I was introduced as "a guy with a true claim to fame - he once shook the hand that held the paw of Winnie the Pooh". Yes, I knew Christopher Robin, the real Christopher Robin, the most famous small boy in literature. We first met about 18 years ago when I was writing a musical play about his father, AA Milne. I made the pilgrimage to Dartmouth in Devon where Christopher, then about 60, and his wife, Lesley, owned and ran a bookshop and cared for their severely disabled, grown-up daughter, Clare. Christopher - slim, a little bent, owlish glasses, tweed jacket - was not at all as I had expected. I had been told I would find him painfully shy, distant, introspective, diffident about his parents, reluctant to talk about Pooh. He surprised me at once. He was consciously charming, courteous, kindly, gentle but forthcoming, amusing, amused. He said: "Of course we must talk about Pooh." He had a mischievous twinkle. "It's been something of a love-hate relationship down the years, but it's all right now." "Now we are sixty," I said. He laughed. "Yes, believe it or not, I can look at those four books without flinching. I'm quite fond of them really." He had said goodbye "long ago", but he wasn't angry any more. For years he had been fiercely independent, rejecting the idea of any financial help from anyone. To have taken a "lift from my fictional namesake of all people" would have been the final insult. In time, he did take the money: "I had to accept it, for Clare's sake." The income generated by the four books - published in 30 languages - has been extraordinary. Milne's literary estate is divided four ways, between his family, his school (Westminster), his club (the Garrick) and the Royal Literary Fund. In 1966, the Walt Disney organisation acquired a 40-year film, video and merchandising licence in the Pooh characters. The cartoon version of Pooh appals devotees of EH Shepard's original drawings, but its commercial success is undeniable. In 1947, without regret, A.A. Milne let Christopher's childhood toys go to America. With Christopher's blessing, Milne's U.S. publishers gave them to the New York Public Library, where they are now on display. Christopher was content never to see them again. "I like to have around me the things I like today, not the things I once liked many years ago." Christopher felt that his father was almost jealous of his own creations. "'The House at Pooh Corner' was to mark his meridian. After that came the decline." Milne was 46. He lived another 28 years. He went on writing - plays, novels, polemics - but the public only really wanted Pooh. Reading A.A. Milne's autobiography, you are struck by the underlying sadness, the painful longing for the golden English childhood that has vanished & the deep frustration that all anybody ever wants to ask about is Pooh. He called the book "It's Too Late Now" and you sense that, despite having created characters that have joined the ranks of the immortals, he died a disappointed man. By contrast, I reckon Christopher was happy and fulfilled when he died two years ago. I last saw him in Duke Street, Chelsea, around the corner from the house where he was born. I was giving a talk to a writers' group about his father's work. Christopher arrived, unannounced, and, disconcertingly, sat immediately in front of me, in the first row. I finished my talk by reading the famous final paragraph of The House at Pooh Corner: "So they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest a little boy and his Bear will always be playing." "Yes," muttered Christopher, "dammit." And he laughed.

Film Brain in the Thumbnail be like "CHILDHOOD DON'T LEAVE ME!"

In real life (before the writing of Winnie the Pooh) Christopher WILLINGLY went into the bear cage, AND SO DID SEVERAL OTHER CHILDREN, ON A REGULAR BASIS. Te real shock is, the Zoo allowed it.

As someone who has loved this franchise since I was a baby, I NEED to see this movie.

I remember growing up reading a book with an audio cassette about the soldier Harry Colebourn and his relationship with the bear cub that inspired A.A. Milne's work. I'm definitely checking this one out when its on the cinema listings.

Has anyone read Christopher Milne’s memoir, The Enchanted Places?

@unamed2516

6 жыл бұрын

GameStation3 I was reading it but I think I gave it away with some other books and I kind of wish I didn’t

We need more reviewers on Channel Awesome to do these kind of essays

I really liked your thumbnail. The Winnie the Pooh toys (all the characters) are really cute.

Too bad I won't get to see this in Canada for a while, I was a huge fan of Winnie the pooh when I was a kid, making me wanting to watch the film about the creator and the backstory of his son and his creation and the drama from the books he wrote.

Holy crap. I didn't give this movie that much thought when I saw the trailers, but after seeing this, I think I might give it a watch when I have the chance. I need to watch your Projector show more often. :)

I seem to recall there was already one movie about the making of Winni the Pooh... or maybe not? They sure are making a LOT of such biography-movies these days.

Thanks for the upload. This review is indeed helpful for me. I just might check this out in theaters rather than on video. :-)

What are your thoughts on the switch in perspective during the second act? It didn't occur to me til the day after watching it but it seemed an odd choice which mostly worked well.

Well you've got me hyped, really want to see this now, thanks Matt

I always say I'm gonna give these films a look and then suddenly it's been like a year or more. I have no follow-through... This review is just as wonderful as the first time I watched it (which was 110% BTW). Just what I needed before I turn in for the night to hopefully keep the nightmares away.

I've never thought about this before, but where do you get the clips you show? Online trailers?

@FilmBrain

6 жыл бұрын

Trailers, featurettes, and clips the distributors release themselves. The amount released tends to vary wildly: for example, Overdrive had huge chunks released, but Breathe only had 2 trailers and 2 clips to use. Typically stills are used when nothing else is available.

I finally saw the movie last year & it was actually pretty good. Domnhall Gleeson was easily the best actor in the movie given it’s mostly about Milne & his son. Margot Robbie is good, but she’s not in most of the movie to make too much of an impression; ironic as Daphne and Christopher didn’t get along when Christopher got older IRL

I haven't looked at Pooh Bear the same ever since I read through the newspaper comics. Pooh's a jerk in those. The history of the character and the stories really are sad. I'll try to see this when it comes on home release. Most movies like this don't tend to play in my area.

@MontyPythonFanatic2

6 жыл бұрын

VauschthePuca Even in the 1977 Disney movie, Pooh’s a bit of a prick. He eats Rabbit out of house and home!

I really hope I get to see this ❤️.

was Christophers parents there and said yes when the reporter sent him into the bear pit because holy fuck

@ZipplyZane

6 жыл бұрын

Winnie was a bit of an attraction. He was raised from a cub by humans, and was considered so tame that they regularly let children go in the pit and ride him. That is when Christopher Robin fell in love with him, and named his toy bear after him.

@ZipplyZane

6 жыл бұрын

Source: www.history.com/news/the-true-story-of-the-real-life-winnie-the-pooh

@CanIswearinmyhandle

6 жыл бұрын

ok that explains it, although it still dosen't seem like a very good idea.

@r4h4al

6 жыл бұрын

Yeah was going to say it was a tame bear.

Looks a good film, I might have to check it out! Would you say it's one of the best of the year

@FilmBrain

6 жыл бұрын

I don't think I'd go quite that far, but I thought it was a decent watch.

@autobotstarscream765

6 жыл бұрын

Film Brain What would you say are the best of the year so far?

@FilmBrain

6 жыл бұрын

T2 Trainspotting and Baby Driver are the ones that come to mind.

@r4h4al

6 жыл бұрын

Just saw it, it was amazing!

This should be called goodbye childhood

@LucyLioness100

3 жыл бұрын

That kind of is what happened to the real Christopher Milne throughout the majority of his youth. He was bullied constantly by peers & his own cousins and his relationship fractured with both parents until their deaths (he sort of patched up with his father before A.A. Milne died)

Were you able to get any szechuan sauce in the UK???

@AlexBabbage

6 жыл бұрын

It wasn't in Canada, so I seriously doubt it would make it to the UK.

I watched the movie it was ok

Goodbye Film Brain's hairline.

Huh, the author of wine the Pooh was an war veteran. The more we know . I like wine the poo as a kid and even those I never got into the books but this is still nostalgia to me.

This movie sounds depressing.

@LucyLioness100

3 жыл бұрын

It’s got a pretty harsh look at Arthur Milne’s PTSD & the fractured relationship between the family as Winnie the Pooh got popular. The Milne family definitely didn’t have to happiest life as Christopher got older & became resentful of his father exploiting his childhood

Winnie the Pooh was based on a real bear.

@FilmBrain

6 жыл бұрын

I said so in the review, and showed a picture of the real Christopher Robin next to him.

@LucyLioness100

3 жыл бұрын

Winnipeg the bear 😄

This film is not even playing in the United States until October 13, 2017.

@FilmBrain

6 жыл бұрын

It's October 17th. And I'm in the UK.

@asafisher5202

6 жыл бұрын

mythdusterds you know that was a few days ago right?

@mythdusterds

6 жыл бұрын

Film Brain The film is not playing everywhere were I live oddly. I have not seen any trailers for the film except on KZread and the film is not playing any of the 6 movie theaters in my area.

@FilmBrain

6 жыл бұрын

The US release is going to be a gradual platform, and it's currently playing in 8 cinemas and will expand in the coming weeks.

@Keopro

6 жыл бұрын

We've got it in Australia for a seemingly wide release already.