''My Life So Far'' is a 1999 film about a year in the life of a ten-year-old Scottish boy. It was directed by

Hugh Hudson Hugh Hudson (born 25 August 1936) is an English film director. He was among a generation of British directors who would begin their career making documentaries and television commercials before going on to have success in films. He directed the ...

, with screenplay by Simon Donald. The film is set in 1927 and is based on the

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiog ...

s of

Denis Forman Sir John Denis Forman (13 October 1917 – 24 February 2013) was a Scottish executive in the British television industry long associated with the ITV contractor Granada, and with various charitable and governmental bodies in the arts. Career Fo ...

, a British television executive.

Plot

The film tells the story of how the Pettigrew family, living in their family estate Kiloran House in Scotland, deal with changes brought by the end of World War I, told through the point of view of one of the Pettigrew children, Fraser (Robert Norman). The family is headed by the maternal grandmother MacIntosh (Rosemary Harris), affectionately known as "Gamma", whose decisions are to be obeyed without question. Gamma's son Morris (Malcolm McDowell) left home to build a career for himself and become a well-to-do businessman; while her younger daughter Moira (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) followed the traditional route – she fell in love with Edward Pettigrew (Colin Firth), gave up becoming an opera singer and settled down at her family estate to raise a large family. Edward typical of country gentry – owns a minor business (turning sphagnum moss into medical dressings), pious and defender of traditional values (gives a speech at every Sunday service), loves and listens only to

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

and has a passion for inventions and mechanical improvements all over the estate. All of which are laughed at by Morris, who lives in London but comes back to visit often, as he is competing with Edward to inherit the estate after Gamma passes away; they mutually loathe each other. Edward does not appreciate and resists changes in the world, but the harder he tries, the more things fall apart. Morris and his beautiful and charming French fiancée Heloise (Irène Jacob) introduce

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

to the children ("the sound of the devil speaking" according to Edward). An emergency landing brings the eldest daughter Elspeth's (Kelly Macdonald) first suitor – French show pilot Gabriel Chenoux (Tchéky Karyo). Fraser finds grandfather MacIntosh's hidden book collection, and to rebel against his father, sets out to read them all. He misunderstands the definition of " prostitution", and believing it to be a business term, suggests to all guests at Morris and Heloise's engagement party that Moira, Heloise and Gamma should go into prostitution to enhance the moss business. Worst of all, Edward makes a pass at Heloise prior to the wedding. During a

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns slidi ...

game held in her husband's honor, Gamma falls through the ice into the lake, which shortly causes her death by

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

. She bequeathed the estate to Edward, leading to a physical altercation between Edward and Morris at her wake, during which Edward claims that Morris lost more than the estate to him. Thereby, Moira finally confronts him, saying she has been aware of him and Heloise all along. Months pass before Edward finally wins back Moira, and the family settles back into its old routine. On a Sunday morning, all Pettigrews are heading to church, except Fraser. Edward finds him relaxing in a

chaise longue A chaise longue (; , "long chair") is an upholstered sofa in the shape of a chair that is long enough to support the legs of the sitter. In modern French the term ''chaise longue'' can refer to any long reclining chair such as a deckchair. ...

in the library, a cognac glass filled with milk in one hand and a lit cigar in the other, swaying his head and body to Louis Armstrong's "

On the Sunny Side of the Street "On the Sunny Side of the Street" is a 1930 song composed by Jimmy McHugh with lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Some authors say that Fats Waller was the composer, but he sold the rights to the song. It was introduced in the Broadway musical '' Lew Lesli ...

" (a secret gift from Heloise). Instead of being angry, he smiles and closes the door, leaving Fraser to enjoy himself.

Cast

* Colin Firth as Edward Pettigrew *

Rosemary Harris Rosemary Ann Harris (born 19 September 1927) is an English actress. She is the recipient of such accolades as a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award. In ...

as Gamma MacIntosh *

Irène Jacob Irène Marie Jacob (born 15 July 1966) is a French-Swiss actress known for her work with Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski. She won the 1991 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for the Kieślowski film ''The Double Life of Vero ...

as Aunt Heloise *

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (born November 17, 1958) is an American actress and singer. She made her Broadway debut in the 1980 revival of ''West Side Story'', and went on to appear in the 1983 film '' Scarface'' as Al Pacino's character's sist ...

as Moira 'Mumsie' Pettigrew *

Malcolm McDowell Malcolm McDowell (born Malcolm John Taylor; 13 June 1943) is a British actor, producer, and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Alex DeLarge in ''A Clockwork Orange.'' He was born in the Horsforth suburb of Leeds and raised i ...

as Uncle Morris MacIntosh * Robert Norman as Fraser Pettigrew * Tchéky Karyo as Gabriel Chenoux *

Kelly Macdonald Kelly Macdonald (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish actress. She is known for her roles in '' Trainspotting'' (1996), '' Gosford Park'' (2001), '' Intermission'' (2003), '' Nanny McPhee'' (2005), '' No Country for Old Men'' (2007), ''Boardwa ...

as Elspeth Pettigrew * Titus MacTavish as village boy * Jamie MacTavish as a gardener * Douglas Forrest as Colin Firth body double

Reception

''My Life So Far'' received fairly positive reviews from critics, as it currently holds a 70% rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 27 reviews.

References

External links

* * * *
Roger Ebert's review of the film
{{Hugh Hudson 1999 films British biographical films British coming-of-age films Films based on biographies Films directed by Hugh Hudson Films set in 1927 Films set in Scotland Films produced by David Puttnam Films scored by Howard Blake 1990s English-language films 1990s British films