Wah-Wah

Richard E. Grant makes a good directorial debut with this semi-autobiographical story of a young boy's life in Swaziland. The story takes place in the late 60s. Young Ralph Compton (Zachary Fox) is in the back seat of a car. In the front seat his mother Lauren (Miranda Richardson) is having sex with a man who is not his father. Obviously, she thinks that Ralph is asleep but he is not. Things between Ralph's mother and father Harry (Gabriel Byrne) keep getting worse. Eventually Lauren leaves Harry and Ralph to run away with the man who was in the car - who happens to be Harry's best friend. They are both devastated as is Gwen (Julie Walters) who is the wife of the man who strayed. Harry starts drinking heavily and Ralph decides that the best thing to do is go away to boarding school.

Two years pass and it is time for Ralph (now played by Nicholas Hoult) to return home. To his surprise his father has remarried. Harry's new wife Ruby (Emily Watson) is a free spirited American who can't stand all of the snobbish bullshit (which she calls Wah-Wah) of the upper crust colonials. You would think that Harry would be happy with his new wife but he is still embittered by what Lauren did. Adding to his problems, Swaziland is on the brink of independence and as Harry works for the Crown he is afraid that he will be without a job. All of this only makes him drink more and become very abusive towards Ruby and Ralph.

In the meantime, Ralph is trying to sort out things for himself. Princess Margaret will attend a special independence ceremony and a group of the colonials are planning a special performance of Camelot for her. To ease his mind a bit and get him out of the house Ralph decides to take a lead part in the play. I don't want to say any more about the plot of the film except that there are a few twists and turns in the lives of the main characters.

The film was shot in Swaziland and it is beautiful to look at. Byrne, Watson, Richardson, Walters and Hoult are all top notch. So are the supporting players which include Celia Imrie and Fenella Woolger. Grant did a good job of fleshing out the characters in his script. This coming of age tale is a very bumpy ride but it is told with affection instead of bitterness. I really liked this film and I hope that people get to see it but it is very small and I am afraid that it will be overlooked. If you can't see it in a theater then look for it when it comes out on DVD.