The Happy Valley

Although I found it an extremely interesting story line, I found the corporal punishment scenes rather disturbing, I definitely found them to be very graphic and may I say a little over the top. I am anti corporal punishment and I think that anyone with like views would therefore find this film rather disturbing.

Holly Aird sparkles in this intriguing but ultimately unsatisfying 1940's set Kenya drama, as a plucky teen with an awful home life. She's regularly beaten by her horrible tutor, insulted by her bigoted stepfather and neglected by her socialite stepmother. She seems to have made one friend in an elderly gentleman, but when he gets accused of murder... well, let's just say things escalate from there.

There are a lot of interesting scenes in The Happy Valley, which not only show off the gorgeous African landscape but also the prejudiced and downright offensive attitude the white British population took towards the natives back then. It's telling that the only one who treats them with any respect is Juanita (played by Holly Aird) herself a bit of an outcast. Things would change slowly over the years, but back then must've been a pretty bad place to live if you were black... or thought of them as 'people', come to think of it.

What the good moments fail to do though, is coalesce into a worthwhile whole. For all of Holly Aird's promising acting chops and a decent turn from the always reliable Denholm Elliott, the film lacks a sense of direction... with some parts going on for too long and others fading out just as they're getting interesting. And yes, I DO realise this was 'based on a true story' so they couldn't change that much, to which I would reply... maybe they could've turned it into a half-hour episode of something instead? Or simply, not bothered to make it in the first place...?

No, that's unfair... it's not nearly as bad as that. But as the sudden conclusion arrived and the ending credits rolled without emotion from me, all I could think of was: is this one of those films that could've been better if they'd been a bit more daring with their adaptation?

Yes. I easily think it could've been. 5/10.

I was fascinated by this account of life, through a child's eyes, in 1930s Kenya. The attitudes, history and culture were all an eye-opening, first-hand insight into colonial Africa. The depiction of Juanita's treatment at the hands of her Governess and step-father might be vivid (though not graphic - the cane's grisly progress is implied through sound only and girlish suffering, cleverly depicted by the actress), but they come directly from her own account and are not only valid, but necessary to the plot. Without being given an indication of the injustice she experienced, we would be denied a valuable insight to her story. Juanita Carberry may not have been alone in these trials, but very few have the courage to recollect.

It is difficult to disagree that the floggings of Juanita Carberry were, perhaps, excessive, but it was she who exposed Jock Delves- Broughton's confession. Compared with "White Mischief", this is a far superior film, better acted, particularly by Holly Aird & Michael Byrne who is wholly repellent as Jack Carberry - which may have provoked the disgust expressed in the other review. Denholm Elliot, an actor who has always managed to get into the essence of the characters he portrays, is outstanding as Broughton. The sense of period is imaginatively evoked, the settings realistic and one really feels that this is what was happening in Kenya during the war; bored people trying to justify their empty lives. It really deserves to be issued in DVD format