The Case for Stiff Upper Pips

It was a bit strange seeing the NZ On Air and NZ Film Commission logos pop up after the Paramount star fly-by as the opening credits for Mr Pip rolled by, but considering the source novel and the subject matter, perhaps that is not really that surprising.

The book Mr Pip is set in the late 80s and early 90s as civil unrest on the island of Bougainville has cut off supplies and contact from the outside world, and clashes between local militants and the Papua New Guinea military have robbed the village of most of its young men.   

As the teachers withdraw, Mr Watts (Hugh Laurie), a white man living on the island with his local wife, decides to reopen the school, with the focus of his lessons the Charles Dicken’s classic, Great Expectations, at the heart of his syllabus.  One of his students, the bright Matilda (played by the extraordinary Xzannjah), gets caught up in the story, much to the dismay of her pastor mother, Dolores, and then the conflict comes to town...  

I am not always a fan of these kinds of movies, where some inspiring teacher reads a classic Western novel and the local inhabitants fall under its spell, possibly as I have never really found myself so completely overwhelmed by any nineteenth century novel myself.  However, in the minds of the people imagining the minds of Matilda, all the characters are black and all the outfits brightly coloured and all the surroundings are tropical, and every time we were invited into this imaginary world, I had to smile at those touches.

There was less smiling at some of the goings on in the real world, mainly the chilling visitations by the military, though also some of the attempts at “yokel-ing” up the locals.  Perhaps it was just me, but the attempts at contrasting the local lore with the story telling prowess of Dickens seemed a little awkward, especially coming after a real battle of the books, between Great Expectations and the Bible.   

Throughout it all, things progress pretty much on island time.  There is a slow unfolding of events, only really shaken by Watt’s retelling of the tale and during the occasional visits by outsiders.  They are all seen through the incredibly large and soulful eyes of Matilda, and she really centres the film in a character that I think is relatable in almost any culture.

I won’t go into much more of the story, but suffice to say that the quality of the acting is superb throughout, even if the unhurried pace is occasionally on the draining side.  However, that languid pace just makes the violence, when it comes, seem all the more powerful and emotional.

Verdict: I enjoyed Mr Pip more than I thought I would, though not quite as much as the Orator.  The cast is all superb, even if I had to hide a smile when I saw some familiar Kiwi faces show up, and the subject matter is dark and intense, even if I wasn’t entirely sure by what Matilda really saw in the story.  7 pips out of 10.