Once upon a time (say late 2011), Simon said “Gosh Claire, I really think you’d enjoy the adult works of A.A. Milne.” And I said, “He seems extremely prolific and eminently useful for A Century of Books so why not?” And down the rabbit hole I went (this is a particularly good joke if you know about the Rabbits. Which you probably don’t. Which is why you should read more A.A. Milne).
Having now read 30+ of his works (22 of which I somehow managed to review here), plus Ann Thwaite’s excellent biography, and Christopher Milne’s autobiographies (The Enchanted Places and The Path Through the Trees), I feel pretty close to A.A.M. He is one of my favourite authors and, frankly, human beings. So it was armed with all this knowledge of him that I went this week to see the newly released film “Goodbye, Christopher Robin”.
Simon, the chief A.A.M. advocate hereabouts, also saw the film and had his own thoughts about it.
Covering the period between the First and Second World Wars, the movie looks at Milne’s life as he recovers from his experiences in WWI, becomes a father, and creates the children’s books that would make both him and his son immortal, to their mutual horror and to the detriment of their relationship.
It begins with Milne stumbling through parties and opening nights, haunted by memories of battle that make it difficult for him to function in the swirl of society his wife, Daphne, so adores. Illustrator E.H. Shepard stands stoically by, a fellow survivor, to let him know he is not alone. To Daphne’s frustration, Milne struggles to finish new works, including the anti-war book he feels passionately about. A move to the country doesn’t help much and it isn’t until Milne is left alone for several weeks with his adorable son, from whom he has been distant until this point, that inspiration strikes in the form of children’s poems and, eventually, stories. And then the whirlwind begins.
It makes for a strong narrative in a film that is beautifully shot and competently acted.
However…
I can understand why Milne was portrayed as having writer’s block even though the years covered were some of his most prolific and successful. I can see why shell shock is a convenient basis for this, even though there is nothing in A.A. Milne’s, Thwaite’s or C.R. Milne’s writings to suggest he actually had it. And I can forgive the “let’s hit the viewers over the head” approach to the film’s central anti-war message and lack of mention of Milne’s real-life about-face regarding war (despite having been a life-long pacifist (even before serving in the First World War) and the author of the anti-war book Peace with Honour, Milne was incensed by Hitler and felt passionately that the Second World War needed to be fought and there was honour in doing so. When Christopher wanted to leave Cambridge and join up but was having trouble passing the medical, he turned to his father, who gave him every possible support).
No, what truly bothered me about the film is the misrepresentation of the relationship between A.A. Milne and his son. It is accurate in parts but robs them of the close and happy years they actually had together before the rift emerged.
In the film, A.A.M. only notices Christopher (or Billy Moon, as he was known to the family) when the womenfolk are away from home and there is no other caregiver for the little boy. The two play in the woods, A.A.M. recaptures the joy of childhood and is suddenly inspired to write what will become instantly successful children’s poems and stories. He – and especially wife Daphne – are swept up in the success, essentially abandoning Christopher once more.
While it’s true that Christopher Milne resented his parents for not protecting him from the success of the books and was haunted his whole life by Christopher Robin, the fictional boy with his name, the truth of their relationship was very different, at least during the period covered by the movie.
A.A. Milne really only had two people he was truly close to his entire life: his brother, Ken, and his son, Christopher. While Christopher was growing up, both before and after the children’s books, he and his father were best friends and did just about everything together. It was a close and loving relationship that endured as Christopher grew to adulthood.
For me, the most upsetting scene in the movie is between father and son, when Christopher accuses his father of basically only using him for copy and then ignoring him for the rest of his life. However, in real life it was Christopher who dropped his father and the split didn’t occur until after Christopher had joined up during the war. Unfortunately, it was a rift that would only grow larger as Christopher grew older. What the film does get right is that the great tragedy of both their lives was the success of that bear of very little brain.
The Captive Reader 
Claire- How was or is your trip? I’ve subscribed to the Ambling Adventurer but have not seen much. I hope you are having so much fun that you don
t have time to write about it!
It was great! I’m back now, after having discovered that trying to blog from an iPad is a hellish thing to do. The travel blog will be updated soon, I promise!
Thank you ever-so-much for this thoughtful,insightful review of the movie. I will see it, but, it is good to have your perspective on the whole of the story from this and remembering past posts.
It’s a pleasant film but I’ll rest better knowing that you (and my other readers) know there’s a bit more to the story than what you see on the screen!
You are basically the only person whose views I wanted to hear about this! (And one of my favourite things to come out of blogging is putting you on to AAM). I think I was so relieved that it wasn’t fey and twee that I forgave a lot of other things – though, looking back, I am sad that they oversimplified so many aspects. Inevitable I suppose! And was worried that PTSD had been mentioned in Thwaite’s book and I’d forgotten it… so relieved to hear my mind isn’t wandering.
I too love that we are AAM buddies, Simon. And now that I’m planning on ACOB (oh how long since I’ve used that abbreviation!) for 2018 I’m realising what gaps he can fill in there since I still haven’t read everything. How prolific he was!
In the end, I suppose I’m just happy they cared enough about Milne to make a movie. I wish it were more accurate but that’s film-making for you. If Thwaite hadn’t been a consultant only imagine how outlandish it might have been!
Gosh, yes, hearing ACOB again is bringing it all back!
It makes me mad when real characters are so mis-represented. I know movies have to compress and simplify … but I don’t think they have to be so egregiously distorting. Will avoid this.
To be fair, it’s not a total misrepresentation and does do many things quite competently (in fact, I was very pleased with how Daphne Milne was handled). However, I think it does muck up the central relationship rather shockingly. Still worth seeing if you have any interest in Milne, though.
That’s what I mean – if the central relationship is misrepresented, then everything is tainted. I’d have much more tolerance for unimportant details and things around the edges being changed.
Thank you for this post. The author is unknown to me and I need to delve further.
Re the horror of blogging from an iPad. I tried this once. Failed badly
Delve away! I hope you’ll enjoy his work as much as I do.
Brilliant post – it’s making me order more books than any other single post I can think of! I feel myself going down that rabbit hole. I need Ann Thwaite’s biography, and his own Autobiography, and The Path Through the Trees, and…and…
You do! You really do need all those books as they are marvellous! Happy reading.
I loved reading your review, I didn’t know anything about A A Milne prior to seeing the film, and what little I read about him after did not place him in a flattering light. Where do you think is a good place to start to get into his writing? Other than the Winnie the Pooh books, of course 🙂 after reading your post I feel compelled to read more A A Milne.
If you’re interested in learning more about the man himself I’d recommend either his autobiography or Ann Thwaite’s excellent biography. For his own works, I love the collections of his writings for Punch (The Day’s Play, Once a Week, The Holiday Round, and The Sunny Side). And since his greatest output was his plays, I’d start there with The Dover Road or Mr Pim Passes By.
Thank you so much for the suggestions! Before I read his plays or that writing collection I’ll probably start with his autobiography. I think it will be really interesting to read his story in his own words.
I enjoyed his pieces about Archie, Dahlia, Myra and Simpson. Yes, the film was “bound” to oversimplify (or is that a facile assumption?) – and it has certainly encouraged me to put the autobiography on my reading list, thank you! (Dorothy Parker’s 4-word review of, I think, Now We Are Six: “Tonstant Weader fwowed up” is never far from my mind but I still love all four Pooh books.)