Dubby Bhagat

Kathmandu:

Finding Neverland’ has been nominated for seven Oscars, the highest number after ‘The Aviator’ (eleven) which we chatted about recently. One of the Oscars is for Johnny Depp who plays JM Barrie who wrote Peter Pan. If he does not get the Oscar and it goes to Leonardo DiCaprio who acts as a Howard Hughes in ‘The Aviator’ it would be a crime. Of course the two are not the only contenders and it could go to any one of the three other nominees.

DiCaprio can be seen to be making a visible effort to be Hughes and he doesn’t always succeed despite the fact he won The Golden Globe Award. Johnny Depp does not act as JM Barrie: he is JM Barrie down to the accent.

‘Finding Neverland’ is about Barrie and the Davies family, a mother played brilliantly by Kate Winslet and her four children, one of them the extraordinary Freddie Highmore, who inspired the writing of Peter Pan. We watch as Depp’s marriage to Radha Mitchell who plays Barrie’s wife comes apart. We are a part of the action as Barrie’s storytelling takes us to beautiful places of the mind to where a dog turns into a bear in a circus, to where we suddenly

meet Red Indians and Cowboys in the Wild West, to where we are transported to Never Never Land. We are in a part of period England as Johnny Depp convinces his producer acted by Dustin Hoffman (paying for his sin of panning Barrie in the movie ‘Hook’) to go against his times by doing a children’s story for the serious stage. We are drawn into the writing of Peter Pan as we become witness to the platonic intimacy between the widow and Depp and the growing closeness between the playwright and the four boys, both relationship condemned by society as represented by Barrie’s friend Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Julie Christie who acts as Winslets mother. In his new book of poetry, ‘The Lake Fewa And A Horse’, Yuyutsu RD Sharma talks aptly of how a social milieau can crush creation with lines perennially relevant, that Barrie, too, must have felt: “Enemies of poetry shall first blast a poet’s innocent, aerial hand drawing pure mandalas of lilting alphabets on a crisp homemade sheet of paper and laying the last flower on the poet’s grave...”

Says critic Glenn Kenny: “But while all the forment, emotional and otherwise, that arises from Barrie’s new alliances moves the picture along at a steady clip, ‘Finding Neverland’ is less about its story line than it is about how receptivity to and generosity towards one’s fellow human beings can spur the imagination. Barrie’s realisation of Peter Pan here coincides with a very rude intrusion by Real Life into his new Neverland, and the picture’s conclusion wrings real tears, which are all the more earned because they’re not slapped out of you. I don’t think there’s another actor alive who can convey the intermingling of gentleness and passion with as much precision as Depp.”

David Levine considered to be the nastiest critic in America said: “Finding Neverland is highly entertaining while packing a giant emotional punch. Images of fantasy and reality are intermixed at will to create a deft connection as Barrie’s life begins to imitate his art. The film claims that it is based on true events, and screenwriter David Magee has tactfully chosen to keep his story light and focused on details that most closely parallel Barrie’s connection to Peter Pan. We’re easily at the mercy of Neverland largely because of his impeccable cast — each deserving of special mention if more space allowed. For his part, Depp has once again positioned himself for another run at Oscar gold. His subdued, yet utterly charming performance as Barrie strikes a perfect note and illustrates his great range when contrasted to his dynamic turn in Pirates of the Caribbean. As one of the Davies boys, the cute, but highly gifted Freddie Highmore easily matches Depp’s virtuosity stride for stride.”

My favourite moments are the first night of Peter Pan and a special showing of the play under very special circumstances. It is here that we learn that Neverland is a metaphor for a place in the imagination, eternal wisdom and even immortality. ‘Finding Neverland’ is about Five Stars, several tissues and hopefully many Oscars. Besides, Best Actor the other nomination are for Art Direction, Costume Design, Film Editing, Music Score, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.