Carmarthen Journal

TO OLIVIA (PG)

★★★★★

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OVER the course of a distinguis­hed literary career, Roald Dahl dedicated books to each of his five children.

The name of his eldest daughter, Olivia, appears at the beginning of James And The Giant Peach when she was still alive and posthumous­ly in The BFG, after she had passed away from encephalit­is following a measles infection.

When the seven-year-old died on November 17, 1962, there was no measles vaccine in England. Dahl and screen star wife Patricia Neal went on to become passionate advocates for the campaign to immunise children.

John Hay’s heartfelt drama, based on Stephen Michael Shearer’s biography of Neal, chronicles the impact of Olivia’s death. A stylish animated sequence over the opening credits traces the paths of RAF fighter pilot

Dahl (Hugh (Bonneville) and Tony Award-winning actress Neal (Keeley Hawes) to their home in Great Missenden, via Hollywoodl­and.

It’s 1961 and James And The Giant Peach has sold just over 2,600 copies. Unpaid bills are piling up and Neal is searching for a film script worthy of her talents.

While Dahl pens his next book, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, in the garden shed, Neal tends to their brood, Olivia (Darcey

Ewart), Tessa (Isabella Jonsson) and Theo (Alfie and Tommy James Hardy).

The sudden death of eldest child Olivia casts a dark shadow over the household.

Neal becomes frustrated by her husband’s refusal to articulate his feelings and the marriage reaches crisis point when director Marty Ritt (Conleth Hill) implores her to return to LA with her children to star in Hud opposite Paul Newman (Sam Heughan).

■ On Sky Cinema from Friday.

 ??  ?? Hugh Bonneville as Roald Dahl and Darcey Ewart as Olivia Dahl
Hugh Bonneville as Roald Dahl and Darcey Ewart as Olivia Dahl
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