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I had seen the previews of this movie and I wasn’t particularly drawn to it. But a friend recommended it and I figured on some good scenery. The film does deliver on the good scenery but there is more than this. The setting of the film is 1942 in Scotland and centers around the fable of the Loch Ness Monster. Could it be a hoax or could such a creature exists in the deep under waters? The story starts with a young boy who is with his Mom and his sister and relatives in a relatively remote and pristine Inn by the waters which seem to be connected miles down to the open seas. The boy finds a small creature in his basement, who is hungry and hurting and he develops a secret nurturing and helping relationship with this young creature of unknown origin whose mysteries become further revealed later in the movie. His mother is played by the wonderful Emily Watson, who portrays more of a normal and regular women, neverertheless highly desirable to watching eyes. She has an appealing mix of maturity and still residing youthfulness but it is her semblance of inner strength that seems to emanate most and becomes part of the lingering appeal and just about everybody is the film is drawn to her as the bedrock. The backdrop of the film is the big war whose outcomes and duration is for now quite uncertain, and the immediate threat of the Germans reaching into this otherwise pristine locale that seems to take the form of a last bastion. It is possible for German subs to come in to the area from the seas. The idea reminded me of a film from Woody Allen called Radio Days when the threat of German submarines hovered over the Rockaway’s on Long Island, New York and radio was the main way people got their news over the airways. Soon more characters are introduced to the film as the mysterious creature remains in the lodge in the basement almost as a secret pet. A battalion of the army is given permission from the high government official to camp in the area with the top lieutenants staying in the lodge. The boys dad had gone off to war more than a year ago but word as to what has happened hasn’t been given yet. Another character is introduced when a helper is hired for maintenance and general help for the large Inn. His background is not immediately apparent and soon becomes the subject of speculation. but unless he is hiding something he appears to be a great guy. He soon becomes aware through circumstances of the mysterious animal and helps the boy. The head of the army is stationing his troops in the area to keep an eye out for an inland invasion precipitated by submarines coming in from the coast. They have set up firearms along the inland coast and are on the look out for any signs of imminent threats and have dotted the inland coastlines with lookouts and various armaments. A central character in the movie becomes the head of this battalion who is obviously attracted to the character played by Emily Watson and is trying to impress her with his army status and is becoming territorial about keeping her attention but arc’s widely and seems to be trying to make more of a roundabout impression or he seems to be moving towards her obliquely. In the meantime, she is impressed by the helper as a person and her admiration for some of the qualities she sees in him seem to surface somewhat and they are qualities that oppose the harshness of the bad news that is permeated the outer world through the news of war. Then her own needs for closeness seem to have gone in absentia due to the overhang of the war and the stranglehold it seemed to have on just about everything. Yet recognition of the ways things could maybe be different was still there. I don’t want to give away too much of the movie from here, but it is of course in part a fable. The two central men give competing views on the war and what it could mean. The presentions aren't so divergent that you can't see both sides. In the creatures first foray through the house, he is attacked by the dog and reacts with fear, and the boy when he first sees the army coming in to town, looks at one of the mean soldiers with fear so both the boy and his fabled creature share some of the same introductory type emotions to the wider world. I would say to a degree that this film also has at times that typical European feel in film, where there is an emphasis on symbolism and character development rather than a more overwhelming pursuit of the audience. And not only the creature but the area of itself and the people and it's history seem fabled yet now so close to the looming visitudes of war. The most unusual aspect of this film is the way it felt. It would be hard to pinpoint exactly what it was, whether it was some combination of the acting, dialogue and the meaning conveyed, the character portrayals and the various resolutions, the scenery, the streaming of the movie from scene to scene but this film to me felt like I was under a small flowing waterfall and the velocity of the flow was absolutely just right and manageable to what I wanted and the water temperature was mint. The flow of this waterfall would be just the right size for someone standing there wanting to enjoy it. For that reason, I would highly recommend this film, it seems to operate so well, especially in the second half at the level of feel.
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