Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Annie Rose Buckley
Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures
Runtime: 125 mins. Reviewed in Dec 2013
| 
| 
Everyone probably has a view on Mary Poppins, how much they like her or, perhaps, have some reservations. A personal response: when I saw Mary Poppins in 1965, I felt somewhat bad for having some caution about this most famous nanny. She seemed far too severe in her manner and in her speeches. So, while I enjoyed the film, Mary Poppins was not a heroine for me in the same way as Maria Von Trapp in The Sound of Music really was! And then came Jungian psychology: Jung described a perspective on the criteria one used for making decisions, whether they were clear, logical and objective or whether they were more personalised. Mary Poppins was certainly clear logical and objective, not exactly my cup of tea.
But, back to the review of Saving Mr Banks. Being a bit wary of Mary Poppins, I wondered whether I would enjoy this film. I definitely did and would heartily recommended it to most audiences, especially older audiences who remember seeing Mary Poppins half a century ago and to those who’ve seen the film and watched it on television in the succeeding decades. It brings Mary Poppins to life in the persona of her creator, P.L.Travers.
This is a film about the making of Mary Poppins. Walt Disney had been asking P.L. Travers for the rights to make the film since the 1940s when his daughters read and enjoyed the stories. She had resisted but, in the early 1960s, running short of funds, she was persuaded to go to Hollywood, meet Disney and discuss the screenplay for the film. She had many reservations, certainly did not want any animation, was wary of it being a musical, and she didn’t want Dick Van Dyke. In fact, when she went to the meetings with the screenwriter and the Sherman Brothers, who are composing the songs, she stipulated that all the meeting should be tape-recorded.
It is wonderful to see Emma Thompson as P.L.Travers. She portrays a difficult personality, not immediately blessed with personal communication skills. We see this in her dealings with her agent, on the plane with the flight attendant, with all the staff at the Disney officers, even with Walt Disney himself. She disliked a lot of the screenplay, took umbrage at some of the songs, especially when the Sherman Brothers invented the word ‘responsibilit’which she urged them to unmake. And there is a humorous moment when the brothers conceal the music page which starts ‘Super…
And Disney himself is played by Tom Hanks, bringing dignity to the role as well as an affable approach to his difficult author. There are many scenes in the Disney offices, interesting and entertaining, but very helpful in terms of dialogue, descriptions of characters, especially Mr Banks and his mustache, and the composing of the songs. Mrs Travers also has a visit, with Disney himself, to Disneyland.
There is a very good supporting cast including Paul Giamatti as her Los Angeles chauffeur, Bradley Whitford as the screenwriter, Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Godly as the Sherman brothers.
But, this is only half the film. In fact, it opens in Maryborough, Queensland, in 1906, with the author herself as a little girl whose nickname from her father was Ginty. The family was poor, the father working in a bank, but having a drinking problem. He was devoted to his daughter, sharing her love of stories and poems. Later, the family is transferred to south-western Queensland where her father works in the bank, almost getting fired because of his drinking.
The sequences of Queensland are intercut all the way through the film with the scenes in Hollywood. What happens is that the adult Mrs Travers is understood through her childhood and her relationship with her father, and Mary Poppins is understood from the childhood, especially with the aunt (Rachel Griffiths) who looks and sounds like Mary Poppins when she comes to look after the family during the father’s illness. It is quite surprising to find Colin Farrell playing the father, strongly and sympathetically, despite his drinking and his failings.
There is plenty to interest and enjoy in this behind-the-scenes story of the difficulties and joys in making Mary Poppins classic movie.
12 Random Films…
