Whistle Down the Wind - Josephine Botting (BFI Film Classics)

'Whistle Down the Wind' by Josephine Botting (BFI Film Classics 104-page paperback)

Josephine Botting's study of Bryan Forbe's adaptation of Mary Hayley Bell's 1958 novella places this remarkable film within the landscape of the British industry in the early 1960s and examines the ways Bell's source material is adapted for the screen.

Botting assesses the creative contribution of Forbes and explores how the screenplay, cinematography, editing, musical score by Malcolm Arnold and use of sound contribute to the creation of an emotionally powerful narrative, yet one which avoids the sentimentality or 'cuteness' that child-centred films can suffer from. She traces the film's critical reception and addresses its neglect in recent literature, along with its relationship to works such as Kes (1969), The Railway Children (1970) and El Espíritu de la Colmena (Víctor Eríce, 1973), which similarly present the adult world through the eyes of children.