Louise Watts

I watched the film at last, after reading yhe book twice, 10 years apart. I honestly don't know how anyone can understand Shriver's characters WITHOUT having read yhe book first, as the film necessarily misses so much out. Eva is certainly a cold mother, but Kevin was always a difficult and unrewarding child. He seems to relish showing her up, even from an early age, and behaves totally differently for his father, thus driving a wedge between Eva and Franklin. The nasty twist at the end of the book isn't apparent in the film, which simply shows Eva experiencing life before and after the event. In the book, written as a series of letters to Franklin, we get a much fuller sense of the difficulties she faced. This disturbing film is one of the best.

The key element for me was the gulf between the shallow materialism and thoughtless joshing of the Londoners and the true community and graft of the Cornishmen. The music producers were so self centred and arrogant and didnt credit the fishermen wirh feelings let alone the nouse to determine their own paths. Best scene was when the producers realise what they've lost... Good film!