Home By Christmas
(PG), Roadshow Entertainment
Kiwi film-maker Gaylene Preston has taken a rather different approach to telling a story on the big screen. In a kind of personal journey of discovery, Preston tells her father's story of his wartime experiences.
But rather than tell it in a traditional way, Preston has
adopted a virtual-documentary-style approach. Using such a method removes the glamour of war and we start to get a sense of the reality of how war splits families apart.
Her father - Ed (played by Tony Barry) - had never been open about the war, preferring instead to duck and weave whenever the subject was raised. But in his advancing years. and with failing health, Ed opens up to his daughter in revealing interviews.
In his own words he tells of his World War II experiences, while archive footage brings those memories alive. When Ed went to war his young wife,Tui (Chelsie Preston-Crayford) was pregnant. Despite vowing he'd be "home by Christmas", it was another four years till he was seen again.
Tui's struggle to cope with his absence is also quite enlightening. Her loneliness almost drives her into the arms of another man and when Ed returns she must learn how to love him again. The pace of Home By Christmas is not fast but is in keeping with the simple times it portrays. It certainly will strike a chord with many Kiwis (and their families) who endured similar wartime hardships.
