Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy bring enchanting Enid Blyton adaptation to life

As children, we devoured Enid Blyton’sFaraway Tree stories and dreamt of visiting the different lands that appeared at the top of the Faraway Tree in the middle of the Enchanted Wood.

We wholeheartedly believed in Moonface’s round room with curved furniture, and the Slippery Slip, Mr Watzisname, who found out his name in the Land of Secrets and promptly forgot it, and dear Saucepan Man who caused a great deal of confusion.

The descriptions of food, from Google (yes, Blyton imagined it in 1939, long before it was a verb), buns with sherbet-filled currants to the toffee shocks that grew as you ate them till they exploded, kicked off rather disastrous kitchen experiments.

When news of an adaptation broke, one was cautiously optimistic, wondering if the filmmaker’s imagination would mesh with our own. The Magic Faraway Tree, while not being a slavish adaptation of the books, is very much a spiritual reimagining of the series. There is a gentle humour, vivid imagination and a quiet wonder to the film that makes it irresistible.

Tim (Andrew Garfield) and Polly (Claire Foy) Thompson move to the country with their three children, Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy), Joe (Phoenix Laroche), and Fran (Billie Gadsdon). While Beth and Joe are addicted to their screens, Fran is the dreamer who rarely speaks. Polly is an inventor who creates a smart fridge (with Judi Dench’s voice) but resigns when she learns of the secret cameras placed on the fridge to spy on people.

Tim says it is the perfect time to leave for the country, and though the children are resistant at first, once Fran discovers a whole new world in the Enchanted Wood, the others join in as well.

The cast draws us into the magical world with their spirited performances. Garfield and Foy are the kind of storybook parents any child would love. Nicola Coughlan is delightful as the non-winged fairy, Silky, while Rebecca Ferguson (quite a change from Silo’s Jules to be sure!) is a hoot as Dame Snap singing ‘Teddy Bear’s Picnic’.

There are departures from the book, as expected, and Moonface (Nonso Anozie) is not how I imagined him, though Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns) is exactly right. The Slippery Slip is not a hole in Moonface’s floor, but going down it seems to be ripping good fun. Having what one imagined brought to life exactly would have been rather spooky, no?

ALSO READ: ‘The Runner’ movie review: Gal Gadot runs flat out to save this generic thriller

The palette is not overtly twee, comfortably walking the line between reality and full-blown fantasy with fairy dust and beautiful towering trees. There are nice touches such as a talking toothbrush warning against cavities in the Land of Goodies and Dame Snap explaining that she used to be called Dame Slap and that her name changed because she cannot slap her students, much like in the later editions of the books where Dame Slap’s name was changed to Snap.

While there is enough to engage and delight Blyton devotees, the film also has enough whimsy and charm to welcome people unfamiliar with the books. And there are going to be sequels!

The Magic Faraway Tree is currently running in theatres