Mr. Pip

2013 • 115 minutes

About this movie

As a war rages on in the province of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, a young girl becomes transfixed by the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations, which is being read at school by the only white man in the village.

Ratings and reviews

I chose this on the strength of Hugh Laurie's previous performances and of course was not disappointed there. What surprised me was the strength of the story. It's starts as if it were a frothy feeling driven story about the joys of education and reading but descends half-way through into a reflection of truths that a 'civilized' society would prefer to avert their eyes to. Indeed at points I felt unable to go on but desired to see the characters herein finish their journeys. This is not really a movie that leaves you with warm feelings but instead leaves you with a better empathy for any person who has escaped a brutal reality. Good but hard.