A young girl, Natalie, is bored when taken on a day out by her mother, Hazel, and her mother's new boyfriend, Jim. When they stop in the middle of a field of bright yellow rapeseed, Natalie leads Jim a merry, provocative dance under the blazing sun. Show full synopsis
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An intriguing tale about power and desire, Yellow (d. Simon Beaufoy/Billie Eltringham, 1996) explores the deep unease adults feel when confronted with
pre-pubescent sexuality, and the strange combination of naivety and power that
children can possess. Since the increasing exposure of child abuse cases has left many people feeling more cautious and vulnerable in the presence of children, the directors aimed to make a film that would examine, "how this has
affected ordinary people and how they deal with the natural physicality of
children."
Much of the film is seen from the point of view of Natalie (Nicola Bland),
the seven year-old girl, and this is reflected in the way the film is composed. Here
is a world that jumps from the intensity of extreme close-ups to sudden
whip-pans and boundless wide-shots, reflecting the disjointed, seemingly
irrational perspective of the child. The use of colour also contributes to a
sense of heightened emotion and dislocation, and the colour-saturated rape field which provides the film's title represents Natalie's sense of release at being freed from the confines of the car and an adult world.
Writer/directors Simon Beaufoy, best known as writer of The Full Monty (US/UK, d. Peter Cataneo, 1997), and Billie Eltringham, are both graduates of the Bournemouth Film School, and previously collaborated on Physics For Fish (tx. 19/10/1993); they later recombined for the feature This Is Not a Love Song (2002)
David Morrison
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Complete film (12:24)
