Saturday, August 11, 2012

The Moth

I decided to watch another movie based on one of Catherine Cookson's books.  This one is called The Moth and it is the eighth movie that I have seen that is based on a book by Catherine Cookson.  I was reading some reviews on other blogs about The Moth and it is a favorite of many.  As usual with a Catherine Cookson movie I was drawn into the story and sat through all three episodes of The Moth in one sitting.  For me it is not my favorite of all the Catherine Cookson productions, but it is a good movie.   The time period is 1913 in Northumberland, England.


I think that actor Jack Davenport is the reason why The Moth is a favorite movie.  The Moth focuses around the life of Robert Bradley which is handsomely portrayed by this actor.  Robert Bradley is a very talented carpenter by trade.  Robert has a very good heart and stands up for himself in a strong willed manner.  He will not allow himself to be bullied into anything and does not care what other people think. 

   Jack Davenport as Robert Bradley

Robert's father passes away and his estranged uncle offers him an apprenticeship.

Millie Thorman is "The Moth".  It is not really clear to me in the movie why it is called The Moth.  I suppose that if I read the book the title would make more sense.  Anyway, Robert meets Millie for the first time one night while he is down at the like watching the reflection of the moon.  Millie shows up and at first looks like an eerie apparition.  She certainly frightened me.  Millie is very childlike and mentally is like a little girl.  She likes to go out walking during the night to follow the moon.  Millie is also the by product of an affair that her mother had with a man who was her true love.  

Millie worries her family when she goes out walking and on this particular night her sister Sarah and their man servant finds her with Robert.

 Sarah Thorman

Sarah Thorman has been engaged for three years, but her fiance's mother does not like her and he is afraid to stand up to her and marry the woman he loves.  Sarah breaks off her engagement and moves on.  She is attracted to Robert and experiences moments of jealousy.  

 The man servant for the Thorman family despises Robert.  In order to stop Robert from becoming the new head of the Thorman estate through his marriage to Sarah, the man servant sets the mansion on fire.


The house is destroyed but the man servant is killed trying to rescue Millie whom no one frealized was still in the house when he set it ablaze.  Robert resuced Millie, but his hands and arms were badly burned in the process.



When Robert has recovered enough from the fire he marries Sarah.  There are other subplots to this story that are also very interesting.  It is a good movie just not my favorite.  I felt that it was a little rushed and some things could have been explained better.  There is a lot of meat to The Moth storyline and maybe it should have been 4 episodes instead of three.
 


3 comments:

Victoria said...

I've never heard of this movie but it sounds good! Did you buy it or were you able to rent it?

Collar City Brownstone said...

I have the unlimited streaming package at Netflix and that is how I saw this movie.

Phylly3 said...

I have read quite a few books by Catherine Cookson in the past. But I haven't seen very many adaptations of her work. I don't believe I read this one though.