Mr. Pip

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Louise S @RT17539800 Apr 12, 2026 I really enjoyed this-the visual beauty. Matilda is a perfect main character,her powerful imagination breathes life into this movie. After what we all experienced during Covid,the extreme isolation of Papua New Guinea during the Beaugainville War 1988-1998 has resonance for all .Prior to 2020 the idea that it would be impossible for people to replace a ball or books in the 1990’s would seem ridiculous. But the entire movie had an amazing perspective and beauty that was absolutely resonant. I would suggest that every teacher should see this movie -if only to better understand the myriad perspectives students bring to the material being taught. I took several graduate courses in international literature but this movie was not just an additional view of the world , it lights sparklers in my brain 🧠 every single time that I watch it .It brings tears to my eyes , joy to my heart and cracks my skull to grow a bit larger to hold my greater sense of the world See more Felix T @RT65172655 Dec 21, 2022 Hugh Laurie was outstanding compared to what I was expected. The tone shift halfway through the flick left me cold. I had no desire to see such brutality. See more Aug 22, 2020 I expected a heart-warming piece of fluff (not generally what I watch, but hey, Hugh Laurie). This movie is much more than that. Try "coming of age on a war-torn island with the help of Charles Dickens and a wonderful teacher." Which sounds a little sappy but most definitely is not. See more Jun 2, 2020 song language story and the point of it context See more Aug 9, 2018 Why didn't this film receive an "R" rating? I was disturbed by the level of violence, and turned the movie off when it seemed that more was on its way. This is a dvd I would not recommend viewing. See more Mar 14, 2016 Have you ever been so greatly impacted by a book that it changed who you are or how you saw the world? Or have you ever found a best friend in a book? A faithful companion in one of the characters? Or maybe you found refuge in a book, a way to escape the horrors of your world. In a world full of terror and fear, where war was destroying the lives of people, a young girl Matilda found a way to escape the burden of life in Bougainville during a war. With the help of her teacher Mr.Watts, and Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, Matilda's life was changed. This beautiful story has been told in two different ways, through the original book Mister Pip, and through its adaptation, a film Mr.Pip. Both the book and the film track how the book Great Expectations and Matilda's teacher Mr.Watts influence Matilda's life from her early teenage years until she matures into a young adult. Although both the book and the movie both told the same story, and had the same plot, there were differences between the two which made each of them unique. In the film, there were three places where its interpretation of the book was trivial. Three of these significant differences included: a scene that was in the book but was missing from the movie, a choice Matilda made that was different in the movie and the book, and lastly the way Matilda ended up drowning was different in the book and the movie. In the book Mister Pip there was a steady progression of events, with each event getting worse. This progression of events was not in the film. By omitting one scene from the book, the film failed to maintain the steady progression of events that the book had. The scene that was in the book, but was not in the movie, was when the redskin soldiers burned down everyone's houses. In Mister Pip, each time the soldiers came to Bougainville, they took something away from the people. Their visits got worse each time. They started off with taking something relatively small away from Matilda. Her possessions. Then it got worse. The soldiers took her homes. Then the soldiers did the worst possible thing they could have done. The soldiers took the lives of Matilda's mother and Mr.Watts. This series of events set up suspense in the book. It built tension. It showed how things seemed to keep getting worse for Matilda. This build up of tragedies successfully conveyed the horrific nature of what was going on in Bougainville as well as the unfairness of the situation. Without the scene of the houses being burned down in the film, there was no longer any progression of the horrible events. It went from burning the people's possessions, to burning the people themselves. It didn't build the tension, which took away from the story portrayed in the film. By leaving out the scene in the film where the houses are burned, other events had to be changed as well. In the book and in the film, Matilda's mother, Dolores had stolen Great Expectations from Mr.Watts. Shortly after the book had been stolen, Matilda had found it in her father' sleeping mat, and had figured out that her mother had stolen it. The choice she made after finding Great Expectations was different in the book and in the film. In the book, Matilda had chosen not to confront her mother about the book, and to leave the book where it was. When the redskins burned the houses down, Matilda's mother, Dolores, still had the book wrapped up in Matilda' father's sleeping mat. This led to the book being burned. This left Matilda's mother responsible for the destruction of the book Great Expectations. Naturally, Matilda was angry with her mother for not only stealing the book but for being responsible for it's destruction. However, in the movie, when Matilda found the book in her father's sleeping mat, she stole the book back from her mother and snuck it back into Mr.Watts's house. She placed it in one of his dresser drawers. When Mr.Watts's possessions were burned by the people of Bougainville, the book was burnt with them and Matilda was left with the guilt of being responsible for the destruction of the book. Although Great Expectations was stolen by Matilda's mother, and Matilda knew about it in both the book and the movie, her choice regarding what to do was different. In the book, she was left with a feeling of anger towards her mother, whereas in the movie she was left with a strong feeling of regret and guilt, which was seen by the look on her face as she desperately tried to grab the book out of the burning dresser. Towards the end of the book, Matilda carelessly walks around in a storm after the death of Mr.Watts and her mother. She has lost the will to live. She doesn't see the purpose of living anymore. As she's walking, the storm keeps getting worse. In the book, Matilda stops by a river and thinks how dying wouldn't be so bad. At that moment, a giant wave from the river comes and sweeps her in. The water is rough and Matilda starts drowning. The moment she is deprived of oxygen, she has a revelation. She realizes that she doesn't really want to die, so she fights to try and stay alive. This shows how Matilda was psychologically damaged by not only the death of her mother and teacher, but by the previous events of the war. It showed that Matilda was not in the right state of mind, and so was unable to think clearly. The way Matilda drowned in the book was an accurate reflection of the state of mind she was in. In the film, when Matilda was standing near the river during the storm, she saw Mr.Watt's red nose in the river, so she dove into the river to try and get Mr.Watts's red nose. Since the water was really rough, she ended up drowning. She also fought to stay alive in the movie. The way Matilda started drowning in the film reflected the importance of Mr.Watts to her. By diving into the river during a storm to get the red nose, it showed how much Matilda missed Mr.Watts. She risked her life just to get a memento of him. When Matilda ended up drowning, it was a moment of vulnerability for her as she was clearly still affected by grief and was not in full control of herself. In the book, the author chose to use this moment of vulnerability to convey how deeply affected she was by the events of the war whereas the director of the film used this moment to show the importance of Mr.Watts in Matilda's life. The book and the film were both incredibly emotional and touching. They both conveyed the story in a successful manner, however I personally believe that the book was better than the movie, because I interpreted the book in a different manner than the director did. The director of the film believed that the scene of the burning houses wasn't important in the story, but I did. I believe that the scene of the burning houses is a crucial piece of the story as it develops the story. Also, regarding the burning of Great Expectations, the directors believed Matilda felt guilty for her mother's actions, whereas I thought Matilda felt anger towards her mother for destroying the book.The last significant difference in interpretation is the part where Matilda started drowning. The director of the film used this moment to show the importance of Mr.Watts in Matilda's life whereas I interpreted this part of the book to show how emotionally hurt Matilda was. Despite these differences in interpretation, I still think the movie did an exceptional job in conveying the story. See more Read all reviews

Mr. Pip

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