This offbeat film is funny, tragic, and all the stops in between...and if Rita Tushingham, as the teenaged heroine "Jo", is the movie's heart, its soul is Murray Melvin, whose subtle but searing performance as her friend "Geoff" is one of the greatest on film (it deservedly won him the Cannes Film Festival's "Palme d'Or").
Most of the musical score may sound odd to American ears (I believe it reflects the instrumental music that actually accompanied the stage play from which this film is adapted), but the chorus of lilting children's voices, singing a traditional song, that is heard over the movie's opening and closing sequences, is extremely effective.
Most of the musical score may sound odd to American ears (I believe it reflects the instrumental music that actually accompanied the stage play from which this film is adapted), but the chorus of lilting children's voices, singing a traditional song, that is heard over the movie's opening and closing sequences, is extremely effective.