Michael Morpurgo’s 1990 children’s book, set in France during World War Two is brought to the big screen, placing a coming of age tale against the backdrop of the darkest chapter in human history.
Michael Morpurgo’s work has a history of delivering tales of war to younger audiences in a manner that is relatable to younger readers, whilst not holding back on the realities of the history that his stories have a responsibility to tell. His work has been brought to the screen before, most notably with Steven Spielberg’s War Horse in 2011. Waiting for Anya aims for the same level of success, but sadly this worthy story just doesn’t quite have the sophistication to bring Morpurgo’s tale to the screen in a manner that is all that affecting.
Set in the small Southern France village of Lescun, nestled in the mountains that mark the Spanish border. There, a young shepherd boy named Jo (Stranger Things’ Noah Schnapp) has a chance encounter with lonely widow Horcada (Angelica Huston), and discovers that she is hiding a Jewish man, Benjamin (Frederick Schmidt), who is waiting for his daughter to arrive before heading across the border to Spain. With more Jewish children seeking refuge at Horcada’s farm, Jo decides to help her and Benjamin keep the children safe whilst they bide their time for Anya’s arrival, something which proves dangerous with the increasing presence of German troops.
The story that Waiting for Anya is telling is more than worthwhile, as a story of a group of people coming together to do what is right in the face of powerful, evil aggression still holds a sense of prevalence. Unfortunately for the film, this adaptation feels rushed, unwieldy and frankly quite messy. There’s very little sense of pacing and little sense of character driving the scenes, instead it just seems to tick off the general beats of the novel, hoping it coalesces as a whole. That means that any moments of tension are rushed, and no moments between character register as they are not given any chance to breathe and resonate before moving on to the next moment of incident. It means that any scene that on the surface should pack emotional wallop simply just sit there and don’t hit with the level of resonance that the context should demand.
Performance wise, it is also something of a mixed bag. Schnapp is a very empathetic lead, Huston has been much better in the past, and while it’s nice to see Jean Reno in something after what feels like years, his character is just one of many who get somewhat lost in the mix. Thomas Kretschmann makes the best impression as a conflicted German soldier, giving the film its most complex figure, but again the film only really scratches the surface of that complexity.
Waiting for Anya may be located in a very picturesque region of France but it also lacks much of a visual style, largely resulting in images that feel more flat than dynamic. It may be telling a story that feels worthwhile, but sadly the film seems to take that for granted, putting together its adaptation in a fashion that feels half-hearted and awkwardly structured, proving to be a disservice to both its source novel and the young audience it is seeking to enlighten.
Waiting For Anya is now on general release.
