Back Home (British Telefilm)
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C Telefilm: B-
Peggy Dickinson (Sarah Lancashire) is hoping for a great
future for her and her family now that World War II is over, but her daughter
Rusty has been in the United States so long, she may have become more
Americanized than ever expected. When
she comes Back Home (2001) to a victorious-enough Britain, Peggy feels
like she is more of a stranger, though not as much as her husband Tom (Adrian
Lukis) back from actually fighting the war.
That is an ugly situation, of a family unit grossly
interfered with, of scars from fighting the original Axis Of Evil spreading
into corners of otherwise normal life not usually as addressed or as
considered. That is the nice thing
about Michelle Magorian’s book, adapted by three other writers into the
teleplay for this film. This may sound
melodramatic and does have some predictability, but like so many Holocaust
stories just now being shared, it is one of those untold stories worth your time. This was a pleasant surprise.
The 1.33 x 1 image is fine for a recent production from TV
for DVD, from a clean source as it should be for only a few years ago. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has some Pro
Logic surrounds that play just fine.
Extras include an interview with Michelle Magorian (10:28) that is
actually presented in anamorphically enhanced 16 X 9/1.78 X 1 video, plus her
bibliog. & biographies, text notes and cast profiles. Director Simon Massey did a nice job of
helming this story and along with a believable cast; Back Home is one of
the better British TV films of recent years.
- Nicholas Sheffo
