Released a few months after Rain Man. This BBC film that had a cinema release and won several awards at the Venice Film Festival was dubbed Rain Woman.
Lillian Huckle (Peggy Ashcroft) has been locked up in an institute for 60 years. Now the psychiatric institute is closing down and Lillian in under the care of her nephew Hugh Ambrose (James Fox) who works in the city.
Hugh is wealthy enough take care of an elderly aunt he does not even know, he also does not regard it as a burden. For his wife Harriet (Geraldine James) it is a different matter altogether. She is pregnant with a second child and unhappy.
Harriet also thinks that there is more to Lillian who is basically institutionalised. Flashbacks show young Lillian who is in love with one of the twin brothers who increasingly became difficult and opinionated. Hence why she was taken away.
Writer Stephen Poliakoff revisited children who suffer from psychiatric trauma in The Lost Prince.
Like Rain Man, it becomes a bit of a road movie. Harriet takes Lillian to a hotel where they bond a little. Both were or are carefree spirits who felt hemmed in. Lillian comes out a bit from her shell when Harriet feels unwell.
Directed by Peter Hall, this is a small scale drama but I did feel Poliakoff's writing lacked polish here. Maybe the script needed a few more drafts. This was Peggy Ashcroft's last role.
Lillian Huckle (Peggy Ashcroft) has been locked up in an institute for 60 years. Now the psychiatric institute is closing down and Lillian in under the care of her nephew Hugh Ambrose (James Fox) who works in the city.
Hugh is wealthy enough take care of an elderly aunt he does not even know, he also does not regard it as a burden. For his wife Harriet (Geraldine James) it is a different matter altogether. She is pregnant with a second child and unhappy.
Harriet also thinks that there is more to Lillian who is basically institutionalised. Flashbacks show young Lillian who is in love with one of the twin brothers who increasingly became difficult and opinionated. Hence why she was taken away.
Writer Stephen Poliakoff revisited children who suffer from psychiatric trauma in The Lost Prince.
Like Rain Man, it becomes a bit of a road movie. Harriet takes Lillian to a hotel where they bond a little. Both were or are carefree spirits who felt hemmed in. Lillian comes out a bit from her shell when Harriet feels unwell.
Directed by Peter Hall, this is a small scale drama but I did feel Poliakoff's writing lacked polish here. Maybe the script needed a few more drafts. This was Peggy Ashcroft's last role.