Rating of
3/4
Family values
Bribaba - wrote on 05/03/11
Little Miss Girly has a brother called Sonny and together they invite random pick-ups to their home to meet Mumsy and Nanny. There’s choccy biccies and nice cups of tea on the menu, but only medicine for dessert. “It’s the rule” as Mumsy points out to a reluctant diner. “Sod the rules” he barks, in one of the many Pinteresque exchanges, “where’s my teacake?”
The house, already seething with sexual repression amidst the children’s games and nursery rhymes, heats up considerably when one ‘guest’ (or ‘friend’ as they are known) seeks a way out of the madness by playing the women off against each other. Sonny captures this and worse on his Super 8 camera and in doing so evokes the spirit of Peeping Tom, a film which preceded this by nine years.
‘Little Miss Girly Packs Her Bags And Another One’s Off To The Angels’ sings Girly herself (to the tune of Nellie the Elephant) after the latest atrocity. Such rhymes and rules offer the family home security and protect it from the ravishes of London, swinging away outside. In this sense it is similar to the recent Dogtooth, a Greek art-house film.
Sight and Sound likened the story to some of Tennessee Williams work particularly Baby Doll, a description well suited to the girly herself. Despite being full of English eccentricity rather than Deep South nut jobs, this is a credible comparison. I’m not a big fan of Freddie Francis (as director) but he does a great job here, making the mental seem almost normal and ensuring things don’t get too camp. Peeping Tom rightly got a champion to rescue it from the vaults, let hope Mumsy et al get theirs.
