'This is a book that makes you late for things.' (Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 1903) what such a perfect thing to say about anything, and certainly true for "Riddle of the Sands" by Erskine Childers. I first discovered the 1979 film at that same time last year when I was recovering, it is the perfect feel-better film to watch (with that tea and cereal that you'll remember), sleepy-eyed and ensconced in white blankets and pillows. The pre-WWI spy thriller captures so much of the beautiful nautical romance of the book, as flimsy and wildly far fetched as "The 39 Steps," but a perfect Boy's Own Adventure, with two boys/men navigating the shallow rivery German dunes trying to discover and then foil a planned invasion of Britain.
And the movie is beautifully coloured and filmed, with a compelling musical accompaniment as Carruthers (Michael York) and Davies (Simon MacCorkindale) sail the paintbox waters. The narrative varies slightly from the book in that there's a lot more eventful action to the plot (the book is full of incredibly lengthy, dreamlike passages about navigating the Frisian dunes) but it still has the same quiet Buchanesque spirit. Highlights will include any scenes with the nuanced antagonist Dollmann (wonderfully-voiced Alan Badel, perhaps a kind of mirror of Irish sympathiser Childers?), and one of the final scenes when Carruthers disguises himself as a navy man. A nice light poetic watch Xo
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