Review of Goodbye Christopher Robin

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What ‘Goodbye Christopher Robin’ achieved best, for me; was it’s ability to generate that childlike sensibility of entering another world within another time. Winnie the Pooh was a story I can vividly remember being transported to as a child and when the narrative in this film enters the Hundred Aches wood I could grasp that sense of escape just as vividly. 

it's difficult to really unpack the atmosphere of sheer ‘pooh era’ loveliness because it's a tingle on the top of your skin when you experience the light flares of the forest and enchanting music. The cinematography and music is at its most effective during the father-son woodland bonding moments. There is an effective sense of scale as the harsh scenes of war and PTSD are contrasted with the transformative yet small moments too. When Milne is having to parent alone for the first time and serving dinner he becomes animated and present for the first time in so long and starts bringing the animals personalities to life. One theme the film manages to capture really effectively is the important role art and imagination plays in dark times. There is a constant atmosphere shift in this film distinguishable by ‘slightly saccharine flute’ and ‘foreboding oboe’ for when a dark scene finds the light - and with very wonderful visual transitions. The stories we all remember are interwoven in a ‘Saving Mr Banks’ kind of way, in that they seem to bring an extra layer of meaning to the original stories. There is a really magical moment when snow starts to fall upward as they are coming out of an imaginary world and I thought there are many visually creative moments like this that really worked.

Strangely enough however the moments that I was less convinced by was the negative transpiring of Christopher robins fame. I felt like they rushed into this plot point and made Christopher Robin very quickly object in an abrupt ‘first world problems’ tone and I was aware of the script slipping into a more cliche traps. The scenes during ‘Winnie the Poohs’ success showed a very appealing and visually charming life style it was difficult to experience the building of pressure and the robbing of childhood that was spoken about. 

Overall I would praise the beauty of the film, the ingenuity of its transitions and the sobbing noises I could hear in the auditorium around me at the end.