This Happy Breed

This Happy Breed

(David Lean, 1944)

Rating: 4/5

Reviewed by Dave Lancaster

Summary: David Lean's least epic film, 1944's 'This Happy Breed' is a rich examination of family life on the cheap between the wars.
 

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David Lean will forever be associated with the sweeping widescreen vistas of 'Lawrence of Arabia', 'Doctor Zhivago' and 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' but his earlier, cheaper, more typically British works are just as rich in their own way.

'This Happy Breed', which has been beautifully restored ahead of this Blu-ray release, charts the life of a family and their visitors following their move to a new home.

It takes place between the two world wars as the Gibbons family struggles to find their feet again but they're the salt of the earth. It's the warm resilience of Noel Coward's characters that helped make 'This Happy Breed' the most successful film of 1944.

Lean is still developing his visual style here. Indeed, it's his first film to which he bears sole credit as a director. His use of space is extraordinary. We never feel as if we are on the stage, inside a small set. Instead, we explore the little bits of detail that makes a house that looks like all the rest really stand out for its inhabitants.

 

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