Bridge to Terabithia [Blu-ray]

I remember reading Katherine Paterson's book to my youngest - her brother was way too old and sophisticated for "that sort of thing" (but I suspect he listened in!) Years later, I reread it just for me, and have since passed it along to my grandchildren. There are so many really good messages in there - without being preachy or talking down to children (of any age!)

When I heard that the story was being made into a movie, I wondered what they would do with it and was a bit concerned that the heart of this tender tale would not be well served by Hollywood. Well, I needn't have worried - director Gabor Csupo did a skillful job of driving this one and keeping it faithfully on the road from start to finish. I confess I had not heard of most of the young actors but that turned out to be a definite advantage - for me, they really did become the characters they were portraying. Here is a kid who doesn't fit in at school and, as the only son (with four sisters) at home, doesn't seem to feel any real connection with his father either. Not a happy time of this little guy's life! Then he meets and makes a new friend (Lesley) - and it's magic. I won't ruin the story for anyone here - I really hate that! However, I will say that, together, they find Terabithia and, at the same time, learn to live in and understand more about their real world. (That bullies have often been bullied.....)

There's no getting around this - there is a very sad part of the story and some people may worry about their children being upset. The movie deals with the "bad stuff" realistically but doesn't dwell on it. When reading the book and it came to "that part", my daughter (who has the tenderest heart in the world) was less upset by it than I was!

Some young neighbours have told me that this is their favourite movie EVER - even beating Harry Potter (high praise indeed!). I have to say that it is one of my favourites too - for children or otherwise.

There is some fantasy to be found, but this movie is more focused on the Human condition, on the trials and tribulations we often encounter as older children.

The movies starts with what I found to be an incredibly stirring opening scene. We follow Jess as he goes about doing the 2 things he most loves...running and drawing. After a few moments his drawings start to come to life, even flying around him as he runs through countryside. with an incredibly moving main title playing in the background, this is the look, and feel, and sound of imagination set free, of limitless possibilities, of what being Human is all about. I knew from these first few minutes that this was going to be something very special. It was, from beginning to the final fade out.

The movie's main theme is, as the movie title suggests, a bridge...the bridge we build to connect with another. It is shown to be the magical process that it is, as we watch Jess and Leslie become best friends. It is all the more magical in that both Jess and Leslie are, more or less, loners, outsiders. By building a bridge between them, this encourages them to build bridges with others. Leslie befriends a misunderstood 8th grader, Jess reaches out to a teacher that he likes (for those who think it's inappropriate, you are cynical and paranoid). It really is something beautiful to watch..and listen to, as the soundtrack is quite amazing.

Oh, for those out there that think this is not a movie for children (age 8+ should be fine IMHO), give children some credit and stop trying to protect them from EVERYTHING.

I saw this on Tv but only the last half. I wanted to see it all and I really enjoyed it. I will look at it again