Amazon.co.uk Review
Set in Brighton in 1951, Wish You Were Here contrasts an England of post-war conformity with the free-spirited nature of a girl, Lynda, on the verge of womanhood, played by the then 17-year-old Emily Lloyd, giving one of the great screen debuts. Filled with youthful energy, good-natured yet delighting in shocking the prudish world around her, Lynda is innocently flirtatious and eager to discover sex. She can't quite understand why everyone disapproves so much, and the film expertly balances uproarious comedy with drama in what is essentially a complex character study. The second, darker half has shades of Lolita, with the excellent Tom Bell in the older man role, while Lynda herself in some ways anticipates Laura Dern's Rambling Rose (1991). Director David Leland also wrote the Brighton thriller, Mona Lisa (1986), and Personal Services (1987) based on the true story of the madam, Cynthia Payne. It is on Payne's own early memories, as told to Leland, that the fictional Wish You Were Here is partly based, while Leland went on to further explore female sexual awakening in The Land Girls (1997), again exploring female sexual awakening --Gary S. Dalkin
DVD Description
DVD Special Features:
Video Aspect Ratio: Feature 4:3
Main Soundtrack: English Mono
Subtitles: None
Disc Format: Single Sided, Single Layer DVD 5
From the Back Cover
Set in an austere post-war Britain Wish You Were Here tumbles through the hilarious and outrageous sexual adventures of a 15 year old Linda. It is a story of an irrepressible human spirit that refuses to be crushed by her colourless surroundings.
Showered with awards together with critical and public acclaim since its first triumphant showing at the Cannes Film Festival, Wish You Were Here was honoured with 3 BAFTA nominations, 2 Best Actress awards for Emily Lloyd and the Peter Sellars Award for Comedy for director David Leland.
