When the Whales Came
| When the Whales Came | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Clive Rees |
| Produced by | Simon Channing-Williams |
| Written by |
Michael Morpurgo (novel and screenplay) |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Christopher Gunning |
| Cinematography | Robert Paynter |
| Edited by | Andrew Boulton |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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20 October 1989 |
|
Running time
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100 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
When the Whales Came is a 1989 British film, based on the 1985 children's book Why the Whales Came written by Michael Morpurgo. The film is set on the fictional British island of Scylla, while the location of the book is explicitly identified as Bryher, one of the Isles of Scilly.
Two children named Gracie Jenkins and Daniel Pender are best friends living on the island of Bryher. They enjoy sailing wooden boats that they make off the numerous beaches, but the tide carries their favorite one across to a forbidden bay. This is the home of a local hermit nicknamed the Birdman, whom all the children are forbidden to go near and whom none of the adults trust. This is partly due to him being born on a nearby island named Samson which all locals avoid, as they say it is cursed. On stormy nights he goes over to Samson and can be seen sending lantern signals out to sea.
Daring to go to the Birdman's beach, Daniel and Gracie find the missing boat on the sand with a message written in stones, left by the hermit. Daniel leaves a further message saying thank you and tells him their names. Later the Birdman leaves them a beautiful carving of a seabird and the children hide it at Gracie's house.
Life on Bryher is hard and very rustic. The villagers survive on fishing and growing their own produce. Daniel's father is a violent man who has to work extra hard in order to feed his large family of seven children. Gracie's parents, Jack and Clem, are kinder; Gracie is an only child as their parents have not been able to have more children. However, her father doesn't see school as important for Gracie in their lives as fishermen, while her mother wants her to have an education.
The local school is on a nearby island and ruled by Mr Welbeloved, who struggles to get the rustic students to work. He is worried over the coming war and warns children to be vigilant against any who might be sending messages to enemies.
Daniel and Gracie soon meet the Birdman in person, discover that he is kind, gentle and profoundly deaf. They begin a secret friendship. Born as Mr Woodcock on another nearby island named Samson, he tells the children that when he was a small boy, a group of NarWhales were beached and slaughtered by the islanders for their valuable horns. The NarWhales cursed them and the boat shipping the islanders and horns to the mainland was sunk, the Birdman's father among them. Next illness and death struck the island, then the plants began to fail, chickens stopped laying and the islanders left all except the Birdman and his mother. Mrs Woodcock had sworn she would not leave her husband's ghost alone, but when the Well runs dry, she is forced to leave. Before they do, the curse claims the Birdman's hearing, making him deaf.
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