Swallows and Amazons

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Philippa Lowthorpe directs. Julian Court behind the camera. Ilan Eshkeri scores. Dave Thrasher cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in Armenian, English, Russian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 10 years ago.
• 2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Armenian, English, Russian.
• 3Directed by Philippa Lowthorpe, shot by Julian Court. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Ilan Eshkeri. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Dave Thrasher shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Dane Hughes and Orla Hill and Teddie Allen carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Some summers you treasure forever".
• 8IMDB entry: tt1227183 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Julian Court

Original score

Ilan Eshkeri

Editing

Dave Thrasher

Production design

Suzie Davies

Costume design

Amy Roberts

Makeup / hair

Carolyn Cousins

Stunt coordinator

Paul Kennington

Runtime

97 min · 1h 37m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

L

IMDB

Swallows and Amazons (2016) ↗

Also by

Philippa Lowthorpe

• 
  The Crown

  2016 · ★ 8.2
• 
  Call the Midwife

  2012 · ★ 7.6
• 
  Three Girls

  2017 · ★ 7.3
• 
  The Other Boleyn Girl

  2003 · ★ 7.1
• 
  H Is for Hawk

  2025 · ★ 7.1
• 
  Willow

  2022 · ★ 6.6

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Swallows & Amazons - Official Featurette - Out now on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital

  Featurette · Official
• 

  ▶
  SWALLOWS & AMAZONS - Official Trailer - Out now on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Reno2017-01-15
  ★ 7/10

  The battle for an island. This is a perfect summer film for the families that produced by the BBC. Based on the children's book of the same name. Frankly, I haven't seen the television nor the film adaptation of this. It looked very fresh to me, so I enjoyed it thoroughly. I'm a big fan of children's films and this one reminded my childhood vacation in the grandparents' rural. Surely everybody, I mean most of us had this kind of adventure, sometimes that ended very seriously. This is mainly about a group of children and their summer adventure, especially sailing in a large lake and exploring an uninhabited island of it. Mrs Walker brings her four children to their grandparents' house in a small English village. The bored kids decide to go sailing on the lake nearby where their father promised to take them one day, but now he's out in the sea far away on the job. Somehow they manage to get permission from the elders and so their adventure begins. They arrive on the island and claim it. But another group who already claimed it challenges them. So their rivalry begins which leads to some great adventures, day and night. How things going to work between them is told in the remaining. Though there are more that takes place alternatively, like the real spy-game of the grown- ups. How these two stories going to meet was revealed with a decent twist. But the thriller parts were compromised since the film is aimed for the little ones. "I hereby name it Walker Island and claim it for our own." Great quality, loved the production. The locations were awesome. Initially I thought this will going to take place in the real Amazon, Brasil, but still I'm satisfied with it. I don't know who is this director, but a well done job. I also don't know whether the story is from the book or just the characters, but expecting a sequel and if possible a film series. I'm not expecting the whole 12 books to be made into films, thought at least a trilogy, since it's a live-action and the kids would grow up fast, they have to hurry up like they did for 'Harry Potter' film series. The story takes place in the summer 1935 and its atmospheres, especially the addition of the spy thing was a smart move as those times were tensed with the early stage of the World War II. Its stretch also gives the adults a reason to watch the film, but sadly that sub-plot was under-used. Anyway, I recommend it to all, since it falls into PG. But there was a scene when the kids decided to go find the source of the fire they saw afar, that part was so edgy. Like that, there are a few more which creates uneasy in the perspective of kids. Overall the film looks like a non-magical version of Narnia with four siblings and their exploration turned into an unplanned adventure. Yep, it's not summer yet, off the season, but still I loved it. This is one of the first films to I watch in the 2017, but definitely first children's film. On so many levels, it was a very good film, particularly if you haven't seen the other versions like me and a kid's film fan, you will have a good time. But for the families, as I said earlier, it is not to be missed. It got mixed to positive response from both the film critics and the movie goers, but personally I think it's much better than what they have said. So go for it... 7/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• HA

  Harbour Pictures

  GB

• 

  BBC Film

  GB

• BR

  British Film Company

  GB

• 

  Electric Shadow Company

  GB

Key crew

• Standby Property MasterKevin Day
• EditorDave Thrasher
• SoundMartin Beresford
• ProducerJoe Oppenheimer
• ProducerNick Barton
• NovelArthur Ransome
• ProducerNick O'Hagan
• Key Makeup ArtistCarolyn Cousins
• First Assistant DirectorNige Watson
• In Memory OfAndrew Athill
• Production DesignSuzie Davies
• Dialogue EditorDavide Favargiotti
• Set DecorationLisa Chugg
• CastingShaheen Baig
• Post Production SupervisorMeg Clark
• Foley EditorAlex Outhwaite
• ArmorerMark Shelley
• Visual Effects ProducerTim Caplan
• Special Effects SupervisorBen Ashmore
• Makeup DesignerJill Sweeney
• Key Makeup ArtistVictoria Yates
• Stunt CoordinatorPaul Kennington
• Visual Effects ProducerNoga Alon Stein
• Costume DesignAmy Roberts

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• island
• based on novel or book
• boat
• summer
• based on children's book
• 1930s
• lake district

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2016-08-19L

Also known as

International titles

• Hirondelles et amazonesFR
• Golondrinas y amazonasES
• 스왈로와 아마존KR