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MAKING A LAST MAKING A LAST
Wrinklies to
the rescue in
Mrs Caldicot’s
Cabbage War
The classic Ealing film of old revelled in seeing the little man triumph against the odds, and maybe there is something of that spirit too in the new British film, quaintly-titled Mrs Caldicot’s Cabbage War.
Starring Pauline Collins, John Alderton, Peter Capaldi and Paul Freeman, it proves to be comedy with a dramatic edge as it recounts the plight of a woman sent prematurely into an old peoples’ home after the death of her domineering husband.
“There is a touch of Ealing come- dy about it,” nods director Ian Sharp. “Those were beautifully-made films but today the whole generic title of ‘Ealing Comedy’ almost hints at some- thing that was rather sweet, a little twee and very much of the 50s. Yet when you look at them they are, I think, stunning films which often had something to say.
“This story does take a bit of a sideswipe at the way we tend to just stick our old people into a corner, and leave them to it. There is a certain poignancy about this woman’s plight. She’s just dumped after her husband is killed, her kids don’t particularly want to look after her, so they hike her off fairly quickly into this old peoples’
home. And that’s where she decides to take a grip on her life.
“The story is all about resistance, and also about tyranny. If you sit back and take it then life will kick you in the face. That’s really what the gist of the story is. There comes a particular point where the flame of resistance burns bright and Mrs Caldicot decides to take a hold of her life.
“There’s something there for everybody to recognise in themselves, although we are essentially making a
EXPOSURE • 6 & 7