Whistle Down the Wind

Forbes' first film, a reef-ridden whimsy about three Lancashire farm kids who find a fugitive murderer (Bates) hiding in the barn and think he is Jesus. Done with a kind of grubby lyricism borrowed from Jeux Interdits, the early scenes are quite effective as the children matter-of-factly wonder how to react (should they curtsey, steal the family bottle of port?). But as the parable (and the parallels) extend towards a scene in which the killer is apprehended and adopts the posture of crucifixion as he is searched, it all becomes more than faintly embarrassing.