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Wah-Wah
Richard E Grant writes and directs this semi-autobiographical tale of a young boy's experiences growing up in colonial Swaziland, and his difficult relationship with his alcoholic father
Making the shift from acting to directing isn't always easy, but after an already lengthy career as a performer, Withnail & I star Richard E Grant has moved behind the camera. Wah-Wah is an engaging tale of Grant's upbringing in Swaziland during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Names have been changed and timescales compressed, but Grant insists that everything in the film is based on actual events, which makes this an extraordinarily honest piece of work, as well as a portrait of the last days of British Colonialism that's truthful but never bitter. Swaziland is depicted as a similar environment to South Africa in 1987's White Mischief, with boozing and infidelity amongst the rich white classes the result of boredom as much as anything else. Eleven-year old Ralph Compston (Scott) gets an uncomfortable lesson in this world when he witnesses his mother Lauren (Richardson) having illicit sex with his father's best friend, and the result is that his parents' already strained marriage comes to a messy end. His mother leaves without any warning, his father Harry (Byrne) starts drinking heavily, and eventually things get so bad that Ralph is bundled off to boarding school. Three years later, he returns home (now played by Nicholas Hoult) to find his father has just remarried to Ruby (Emily Watson), a lively American ex-stewardess who he's only known for six weeks. Initially, Ralph is moody and resentful towards this new arrival, but gradually Ruby's free-thinking attitude and her refusal to blend in with the upper-crust English Colonials - whose slang-heavy mode of speaking she christens "Wah-Wah" - means that the two of them form a powerful bond. While a subplot involving Ralph's gradual rebellion against the 1940s-style Colonial life (including a slightly out-of-place sequence where he goes to see A Clockwork Orange) is a little predictable, the film really makes an impact when his father's drinking habit worsens. As the date for the handover of independence for Swaziland approaches, the combination of emotional wounds from Harry's previous marriage, and the fact that he will soon lose his job as a government minister send him spiralling into a bitter and violent depression, and Byrne does an amazing job bringing this to life. Switching from warm humanity to unpredictable menace in a heartbeat, Byrne is both terrifying and heartbreaking. He's matched by a series of excellent performances from the rest of the cast, especially Emily Watson as the wild, unpredictable Ruby. The risky but rewarding blend of drama and comedy pays major dividends thanks to these excellent performances, and Grant backs them up both with some pithy, finely tuned dialogue, and a surprisingly assured visual style. He makes the most of the expansive Swaziland landscapes, utilising the widescreen photography to eye-catching effect throughout the film, and keeping the action resolutely cinematic even while the film never truly moves beyond its traditionally English, slightly old-fashioned atmosphere. Not all Grant's stylistic tricks come off, however, and there are moments where the film feels slightly over-directed - particularly in the abrupt flash-forward that's designed to show time passing while Ralph is at school, but which ends up emphasising the lack of resemblance between Scott and Hoult. Thankfully, these don't stand out too much, and while the story contains its fair share of emotional pain and hardship, Grant continues to ride the fine line between comedy and tragedy. He doesn't judge the characters, but neither does he shy away from showing their more negative sides, balancing the personal story with a depiction of history, and delivering a well-crafted and affecting drama that's both heartfelt and ultimately forgiving. Verdict If his debut is anything to go by, Richard E Grant has a promising career as a writer-director ahead should he ever wish to give up his day job. |
