BOOKS, RADIO AND TV
A poignant dramatisation of AA Milne’s relationship with his son, set in the Sussex Weald GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN
What to watch and read this month, from the film Goodbye Christopher Robin to Patrick Barkham’s Islander.
Winnie-the-Pooh is cherished around the world, but once upon a time, he belonged to a boy called Christopher Robin. And as a child, it can be hard to share your plaything, especially if it means you are left without anything to call your own.
This deeply moving film tells the story of author AA Milne and his son Christopher Robin, whose toys inspired the Winnie-the-Pooh tales.
Traumatised by his service in the First World War, Milne retreats with his wife and son to Sussex, to find solace in Ashdown Forest. Milne’s wife Daphne, played with glittering sharpness by Margot Robbie, struggles with the tedium of rural life; young Christopher’s care is left to his adored nanny Noo (the excellent Kelly Macdonald). When Milne is required to look after his son alone, the two discover the wild joys of the woods, and the cast of Winnie-the-Pooh is born. But the book’s success takes its toll on the fledging father-son bond.
Domnhall Gleeson is superb as silently anguished Milne, while Will Tilston is delightful as the loving but lonely Christopher Robin, known to his family as ‘Billy Moon’. With gorgeous scenes of the golden Weald, this is a beautiful film about childhood, family and loss. Maria Hodson, reviews editor