Main Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Emily Watson, Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Julie Walters
Release Year: 2005
Country: UK/FR/ZA
Run Time: 99 minutes
Plot
Actor and author Richard E. Grant made his directorial debut with this period comedy drama inspired by his own experiences growing up in colonial Africa in the sixties. Ralph Compton (Zachary Fox) is the 11-year old son of Harry (Gabriel Byrne), the minister of education in the British-controlled African nation of Swaziland. While Harry is a likeable and well-connected man, his marriage to Lauren (Miranda Richardson) is on shaky ground, and when he learns she's been having an affair with one of his best friends, she leaves him and he begins drinking heavily. Harry sends Ralph to boarding school when things start to get unpleasant, and after two years he returns home to discover that some changes have been made. Ralph (now played by Nicholas Hoult) finds that his father is still drinking, but seems a more relaxed and better adjusted man -- and has just remarried, having tied the knot with Ruby (Emily Watson), a former stewardess from America. Ralph naturally resists Ruby's presence in the house, but the two become close, as Ruby indicates that she understands Ralph better than anyone else (and he senses the same). Meanwhile, the British start to withdraw from Swaziland. Wah-Wah received its world premiere at the 2005 Edinburgh Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
When Ralph Compton (Nicholas Hoult) asks his mother (Miranda Richardson) why she ran off with "Uncle John" she replies, "he says what he means." Yet one of the problems with Wah-Wah is that, despite their priggish British background, the characters say what they mean all the time. The story is constantly lurching from one balls-out confrontation to the next. Actor Richard E. Grant's first directorial effort shows early potential, opening with some wonderfully illustrated scenes, as young Ralph (Zachary Fox) endures a backseat view of his mother fooling around and his father, Harry (Gabriel Byrne), is awarded a meaningless medal in service of the British Empire. Set in Swaziland, South East Africa, in the late '60s, Pierre Aïm's linen-white, airy cinematography captures the deceptive beauty of a tropical colonial outpost on the wane. The story is based on Grant's childhood and at times it falls into the overambitious muddle of an autobiography writ large. One problem is that Grant does a far better job of depicting the insulated British society than life at home; a country-club production of Camelot looks like it could be a movie in itself. Another is that he tries to cram way too much into the plot: first love, artistic awakening, alcoholism, familial breakdown, colonial criticism, and redemption. About three quarters of the way through, and almost out of nowhere, it's revealed that the Compton family saga is supposed to mirror the downfall of the Brits and the formation of an independent state, and we're asked to feel triumph for a native people we haven't been shown anything about. The score, too close to the Days of Our Lives theme for comfort, doesn't help. Emily Watson was nominated for Best Actress and Grant for Debut Director for the 2005 British Independent Film Awards. ~ Michael Buening, All Movie Guide
Celia Imrie - Lady Riva Hardwick; Fenella Woolgar - June Broughton; Sid Mitchell - Vernon; Zachary Fox - Young Ralph
Credit
Richard Field - Supervising Art Director, Celestia Fox - Casting, Chris Curling - Co-producer, Sheena Napier - Costume Designer, Charlie Watson - First Assistant Director, Richard E. Grant - Director, Isabelle Dedieu - Editor, Joel Phiri - Executive Producer, Jeremy Nathan - Executive Producer, Julia Blackman - Executive Producer, Patrick Doyle - Composer (Music Score), Gary Williamson - Production Designer, Pierre Aïm - Cinematographer, Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar - Producer, Pierre Kubel - Producer, Jeff Abberley - Producer, Dominique Levert - Sound/Sound Designer, Richard E. Grant - Screenwriter
Wah-Wah is a 2005drama film, written and directed by British actor Richard E. Grant and loosely based on his childhood in Swaziland. Filmed and set in Swaziland, the film was premiered at the 2005 Toronto Film Festival and also opened the Edinburgh Festival to critical acclaim.[citation needed] It received a gala screening at the East End Film Festival in London and received a limited release in the United States on 5 May 2006.
With this semi-autobiographical tale of his childhood in Swaziland during the last days of the British Empire in Africa, Grant relates the story of Ralph Compton, whose family’s disintegration mirrors the end of British rule. After witnessing his mother's adultery with his father's best friend, Ralph must survive not only boarding school but also his beloved father's remarriage to Ruby, a fast-talking American airline stewardess, and his father's gradual descent into alcoholism.
Grant initially wrote the film loosely based on his own childhood experiences after a screenwriter recommended he write a screenplay after reading his memoirs of his Withnail and I experiences. The first meeting with a producer took place in 1999 and took almost seven years to complete.[1] Grant initially had trouble securing actors; Rachel Weisz, Toni Collette, Meg Ryan, Emmanuelle Béart, Ralph Fiennes and Jeremy Irons all turned down roles. Julie Walters was eventually the first actor to be signed. Grant intended for the part of Ralph to be played by two actors but the casting director, Celestia Fox, insisted on one actor. During the casting sessions, Grant noticed the similarity between Zac Fox and Nicholas Hoult and persuaded Celestia Fox to cast them. The part of the father was meant to be younger but, as all the actors asked in that age range passed on the role, an older actor, (Gabriel Byrne), was chosen. After the original producer left the project due to a career change, Grant was approached by Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar to produce the project, a decision he later came to regret.[citation needed]
Production and aftermath
The film was the first ever to have been shot in Swaziland; indeed, at one point the government tried to charge them to film the scenery. The filming took place over about two months and post-production took place in England and France. Many of the actors remember it as an enjoyable experience.[citation needed]
Wah-Wah received its premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and received a special Toronto Film Festival screening in September 2005.[2] Grant also kept a diary of his experiences of the film, later published as a book, (The Wah-Wah Diaries), which was met positively by the critics, many of whom were impressed at the honesty of the tale, especially in regard to his frictional relationship with the "inexperienced" producer.[3][4][5] Grant mentioned in subsequent interviews that she was a "control freak out of control" and that he would "never see her again as long as [he] lives".[6][7] In a BBC interview, he again mentioned his "disastrous" relationship with Mention-Schaar, relating that he received five emails in the last two months of pre-production from her, that she rarely turned up on the set and failed to obtain clearance both for the song rights and to actually film in Swaziland (without the knowledge of Grant, who eventually was forced to meet the King of Swaziland to seek clemency).[8]
Wah-Wah was generally met positively by critics. BBC Movies said it was "superbly performed and fluently shot", but lamented its uninteresting subject.[9] David Hughes of Empire magazine said that the film was "an unforced, engaging and surprisingly incisive account of the disintegration of British rule in Africa".[10]Time Out noted that "Gabriel Byrne gives a great performance as Ralph’s troubled father, Harry, and Miranda Richardson and Emily Watson are enjoyable as Harry’s wife and American lover". Variety said that "above all, the film has a wonderful sense of ensemble in the portrayal of its inbred community, and the focus stays tight on the people rather than political events" and The Los Angeles Times said that "Grant opens up his life, not with embarrassment or explanation but with humanity and gratitude. Emotional, melodramatic and sentimental, the film unabashedly wears its heart on its sleeve, and is the better for it."[10]Roger Ebert was less praising, noting that he "admired the movie and was happy to see it but can think of two other films about whites in Africa that do a better job of seeing their roles."[10]
Box office
Due to the film's limited release, Wah-Wah earned about $234,750 in the United States and totalled around $2,846,148.[11][12][13]
