The Young Visiters

After a brief introduction by J.M. Barrie (Alec McCowen) and shots of the young Daisy Ashford (Carina Radford) working on a book, this children's fantasy film about the aristocracy in England at the end of the 19th century begins its surreal journey. Comedienne Tracey Ullman plays Ethel Monticue, a woman who must decide between two suitors: the suave and worldly Bernard Clark (John Harding) or the clod Alfred (Kenny Ireland), sent off to London to learn how to become a gentleman. Unreal sequences, such as entering the chambers of the aristocratic elite through caverns, or a train that is really a horse stable, take the narrative of the film away from logic and into the fantasy of a child's imagination. Ullman and Ireland are excellent as the comic Ethel and Alfred, and in general this make-believe tale is one that could be appreciated by parents as well as children.