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Distributor:
Universal Home Entertainment
Region 4 | PAL FORMAT | 94 minutes
Available to buy
Certificate: PG
Director: Kirk Jones
Extras: Yes
ANYONE
IN IT WE KNOW?
Emma Thompson, Colin Firth,
Kelly MacDonald, Angela Lansbury, Celia Imrie, Imelda Staunton,
Elizabeth Berrington
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WHAT’S
IT ABOUT THEN?
Truly
magical in every sense of the
word, Nanny McPhee is pure joy
from start to finish. Emma
Thompson, who wrote the script
based on books by Christianna
Brand, headlines as Nanny McPhee
in a story set in a period
England that bears resemblance
to the Victorian and Edwardian
eras but remains non commital.
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Colin
Firth is the harassed Mr Brown,
a make up artist for a firm of
undertakers and a single father
to 7 unruly kids who have
already seen off a multitude of
Nanny's before the arrival of
McPhee. Nanny McPhee is all
warts, bulbous nose, mono brow
and extensive bustle and the
children soon learn that their
new nanny is no ordinary nanny
and with her magical walking
stick she is soon bringing them
into line as with each of
Nanny's five golden rules being
learnt the children learn about
themselves and become nicer in
the process. At the same time
Nanny McPhee herself is
transformed.
The
idea of a stranger arriving in a
household to make changes has a
long pedigree in cinema and
literature with movies such as
The Passing of the Third Floor
Back and The Bishop's Wife
offering up similar themes but
Nanny McPhee doesn't really
explore this and being a family
movie there probably really
wasn't the space to do so anyway
but its never explained where
Nanny McPhee comes from or where
she gets her "skills".
Not that it matters of course
the movie doesn't need to
explain just entertain and that
it does superbly.
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There
is also a very cute subplot
about Mr Brown having to search
for a wife in order to save the family
home (Angela Lansbury cameos as
the wicked [well definitely
misguided] Aunt Adelaide who is
convinced the family needs a
mother and is prepared to
withdraw the stipend she gives
to Mr Brown if he doesn't get
one) and not seeing the real
love under his very nose.
Nanny
McPhee is a great family movie
that appeals on lots of levels,
theres a high humour quotient,
complete with slapstick for the
kids, great special effects and
a romantic overtone that gives
you that nice warm glow at
movies end. A definite must
see.
ANY
SPECIAL FEATURES?
Heaps
of featurettes from casting the
kids (who are all great by the
way), a behind the scenes look
at putting the village together,
a look at the transformation of
Emma Thompson into the initially
ugly Nanny McPhee. There is also
a whole heap of deleted scenes,
out-takes (including a great bit
where Colin Firth surprises the
cast by appearing as Nanny
McPhee), a look at the work of
author Christianna Brand and
audio commentaries from director
Kirk Jones, Emma Thompson and
producer Lindsay
Doran.
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