A magical story indeed

Rating: Null/10 (12 September 2010)

Sir James Barrie (Johnny Depp) is a well known playwright. This film is based on the true events that led to his greatest creation, Peter Pan. In the film, it seems Mr. Barrie has lost his flair for plays. During one of his daily visits to the park, he meets the Davies family, a widow, Silvia Lewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet) and her four sons. Mr. Barrie finds the motivation needed for his next play through his relationship with the Davies family, Peter Davies (Freddie Highmore) in particular.
This film shows the importance of not taking things to seriously; to take time to use your imagination to enjoy life and not be in a hurry to grow up. The relevance of one's imagination is apparent from the beginning of the film to its ending. The director, Marc Forster, uses motifs to demonstrate the imaginary scenes in various parts of the film. For example, as Mr. Barrie is watching the audience reaction to his play in the film's beginning, he sees rain falling inside the entire theater when in fact it is not. Another example is when Silvia's mother, Mrs. Emma Du Maurier (Julie Christie), is scolding the boys while holding a spoon in her hand. Mr. Barrie is watching and visualizes a hook in place of her hand and spoon.
Forster utilizes the indirect-subjective point of view to bring us into the lives of the characters and their imaginations. The camera angles and point of view make us feel as though we are standing right beside the characters. Equally important are the settings and costumes. We are fully transported back to 1903 where social status is very important and reflected in the costumes worn by the characters. The sound of the horse hooves and carriage wheels transporting people about the streets adds authenticity to the time period. All of the theses elements put us with the characters at the appropriate time in history.
The film Hook directed by Steven Spielberg also follows a similar theme to Finding Neverland. In Hook, Peter (Robin Williams) must find a way to use his imagination so he can fight Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman) and save his children. The same can be said of Peter Davies.
During the film, I believe the theme of Finding Neverland is summed by Mrs. Snow (Eileen Essell) as she says to Mr. Barrie, "I suppose it's like the ticking crocodile, isn't it? Time is chasing after all of us, isn't that right?"