Made in 2004 this short film is very closely based upon 'The Open Window' by arch satirist of the Edwardian era Saki (Hector Hugh Munro). The story was originally published in 1914 in the author's 'Beasts and Super-Beasts' collection and follows that collections theme of human animal interaction with the title change being the only notable difference to the story as written.
Michael Sheen plays the fabulously named Framton Nuttel sent to the country to recover from his nervous exhaustion where, letter of introduction in hand, he calls on Mrs Sappleton, an acquaintance of his sister, played by 1990s coffee peddler and Excalibur's Guinevere, Cherie Lunghi but first meets her niece Vera (Ghosts' Alison, Charlotte Ritchie) who tells him of the loss of her uncle and cousins and the reason for the open French windows.
At only 12 minutes The Open Doors is exactly as long as it needs to be and not a second is wasted. Lunghi is calmly assured in the type of role she was made for, Ritchie, only 15 at the time, is a little drama school in her delivery but carries the story well and Sheen is at his comedic best, bumbling, wide eyed and twitchy, suddenly confronted by a tale of the supernatural and it all comes together in a hugely enjoyable adaptation
If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much welcome a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain
Affiliate links are provided for your convenience and to help mitigate running costs.
No comments:
Post a Comment