Synopsis
Set at the end of the 1960s, as Swaziland is about to receive independence from United Kingdom, the film follows the young Ralph Compton, at 12, through his parents' traumatic separation, till he's 14.
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Cast
- Nicholas HoultRalph Compton - 14 years
- Gabriel ByrneHarry Compton
- Emily WatsonRuby Compton
- Julie WaltersGwen Traherne
- Miranda RichardsonLauren Compton
- Celia ImrieLady Riva Hardwick
- Zac FoxRalph Compton - 11 years
- Julian WadhamCharles Bingham
- Fenella WoolgarJune Broughton
- John MatshikizaDr. Zim Mzimba
Recommendations
- 80
Los Angeles Times
Both acidly funny and very moving. - 75
Christian Science Monitor
Grant is a fine actor ("Withnail and I," "Gosford Park") and, although he doesn't appear in Wah-Wah, his spiritedness as a performer carries through to some of the others in his cast. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Veteran actor Richard E. Grant makes his writing and directing debut with Wah-Wah, a startling portrait of his own startling and unusual childhood, growing up in Swaziland in the waning days of the British Empire in Africa. - 70
Variety
Flavorsome performances by a seasoned cast, held in check by Grant's traditional but well-crafted, always cinematic direction. - 70
The New York Times
Yet for all its studied snobbery and brittle entitlement, the film is never mean-spirited: even Ralph's monstrous parents are treated with more compassion than they deserve. Clearly, Mr. Grant's memories are more fond than bitter - even if the same probably can't be said of the Swazis. - 70
Washington Post
Grant's unblinking but sympathetic depiction of this emotionally unhinged world makes the viewer feel like an illicit, enlightened gawker, and it has the enormous fringe benefit of fine performers, including Richardson, who puts endearing vigor into the adulterous Lauren, and Julie Walters, Ralph's aunt, who tells the boy her frequent tipsiness is a recurring case of "sunstroke." - 60
L.A. Weekly
Though far from expert filmmaking - visual clichés fly thick and fast - the movie has a swooning feel for the stark beauty of the African kingdom in which it was shot. - 58
Entertainment Weekly
An overdeveloped coming-of-age potboiler.
