Restless Spirits

Starring:Lothaire Bluteau, Michel Monty, Juliana Wimbles, Marsha Mason, Leslie Hope, Ben Cook, Eugene Lipinski, Brooke Johnson, Dan Lett, James Allodi, Nickolas Swan, Brittany Allen, Lauren Collins, Sheldon Turcott, Lizz Alexander, Kristen Gutoskie, Martine Rochon
Director: David Wellington
Studio: Showtime Ent.
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
This gentle, modern-day fairy tale explores a family trying to recover from a father's death. Katie is a combative 12-year-old; her brother Simon is almost mute; their mother desperately needs time to rebuild her life. She takes the kids to visit their dad's mother in Newfoundland where Grandmother Lydia (played with grounded depth by Marsha Mason) tells Katie she understands that she has "to stay angry or you'll forget him." Lydia says that "some people have the gift of seeing," and Katie and Simon prove her right when they meet Charles Nungesser and François Coli, historical French aviation heroes who disappeared trying to beat Lindbergh across the Atlantic in 1927. These lost souls repeat their fateful crash into the swamp every time the fog comes in. Katie realizes they must finish the flight to enable their escape to heaven and begins the improbable task of raising their plane from the deep. The antagonistic relationship of the aristocratic and pompous Nungesser and his kindly navigator is portrayed with picaresque charm by the charismatic Lothaire Bluteau and the humanistic Michel Monty. Nungesser bemoans being beaten by a "mailman," while Coli mourns the loss of his wife and child. Resurrecting L'Oiseau Blanc helps Katie interact positively with people and develop friendships. By the magical climax, she learns what inspired her father to be a test pilot. --Lloyd Chesley

More Haunted Houses - Tortured Souls & Restless Spirits
Average customer rating:
More Haunted Houses - Tortured Souls & Restless Spirits

Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000FKP0A0
Release Date: 2006-05-02

Description

There is no doubt that spirits of some kind exist. Whether they are ghosts in the paranormal sense or merely the memories of long ago tragedies, MORE HAUNTED HOUSES visits five homes where the past impresses itself on the present. At each one, psychics, scholars and descendants of the people involved help to tell fascinating stories from beyond the grave. At the Donnelly Farm in Lucan, Ontario, a family of Irish immigrants was burned to death over a century ago. The descendants of the vigilantes who killed them are still haunted by the long-ago crime. California's Winchester House was specifically built to house the spirits of those killed with the legendary Winchester rifle--but does it also house the ghost of the eccentric woman who had the mansion built? On New Orleans' Rue Royale, people say the spirit of the black mistress of a rich white man still haunts the site of their forbidden love. The shade of a "devil baby," abandoned at birth in Chicago's Hull House, is said to reside within those walls. And a building that is now a housing complex for Army Officers is overshadowed by the fate of Mary Surratt, who was hung there for her role in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. You don't have to believe in ghosts to be enchanted by the spooky stories of MORE HAUNTED HOUSES.

Average customer rating:

A nice little movie
The kids loved this.
Nice Family Film
Touch of Aviation History with Disney Flare
Poignant film for all the family

Restless Spirits
Starring: Lothaire Bluteau , Michel Monty , Juliana Wimbles , Marsha Mason , and Leslie Hope
Director: David Wellington
Manufacturer: Showtime Ent.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00005MM5R
Release Date: 2001-09-25

Amazon.com

This gentle, modern-day fairy tale explores a family trying to recover from a father's death. Katie is a combative 12-year-old; her brother Simon is almost mute; their mother desperately needs time to rebuild her life. She takes the kids to visit their dad's mother in Newfoundland where Grandmother Lydia (played with grounded depth by Marsha Mason) tells Katie she understands that she has "to stay angry or you'll forget him." Lydia says that "some people have the gift of seeing," and Katie and Simon prove her right when they meet Charles Nungesser and François Coli, historical French aviation heroes who disappeared trying to beat Lindbergh across the Atlantic in 1927. These lost souls repeat their fateful crash into the swamp every time the fog comes in. Katie realizes they must finish the flight to enable their escape to heaven and begins the improbable task of raising their plane from the deep. The antagonistic relationship of the aristocratic and pompous Nungesser and his kindly navigator is portrayed with picaresque charm by the charismatic Lothaire Bluteau and the humanistic Michel Monty. Nungesser bemoans being beaten by a "mailman," while Coli mourns the loss of his wife and child. Resurrecting L'Oiseau Blanc helps Katie interact positively with people and develop friendships. By the magical climax, she learns what inspired her father to be a test pilot. --Lloyd Chesley

Customer Reviews:

A nice little movie.......2006-09-24

Restless Spirits is a nice Canadian movie, but it did not have an enormous budget or well-known cast (apart from Oscar-nominee Marsha Mason.)

Basically, a girl in 1997 discovers crash-landed French aviators from 1927 on a foggy night, and is the only one who can see them. She helps them recover and repair their airplane so they can continue the quest to be the first men to cross the Atlantic in a plane (their attempt was 2 weeks before Lindbergh's).

The actors playing the historical characters of French aviators Nungesser and Coli were very good and entertaining, and frankly, their interaction was the best part of the movie.

The other plot aspects of the movie (girl not getting along with mother, etc, and rocky friendship with a local boy) were OK. The lead actress, who was quite good as well, seemed a couple years older than her character's 12 years, but that is typical movie casting.

This is like a low-budget Disney movie (but not too sweet), so it is pretty safe for family viewing, though a young girl slips in one "S" word off camera, and a tee-shirt has an "E" logo and the word "Egotesticle" on it - which I found amusing.

My only "problems" were with the reality parts (such as 2 men lifting an engine weighing at least 350 lbs, etc, and some other "convenient" circumstances), but not the fantasy parts.

The movie is an interesting blend of drama, fantasy, and aviation history. Though I'm way past the Disney age group, I enjoyed it for what it was.

The kids loved this........2006-09-05

This Showtime movie is available on video and we rented it from Blockbuster. The story is well-written and wraps up nicely at the end...just what the kids are looking for. I was intrigued by the overlap of time periods and weaving the father's interest in aviation and the impact of his death on his daughter. My kids watched it twice and were moved both times.

Nice Family Film.......2005-12-15

David Wellington's award winning "Restless Spirits" is a family film much on the order of "The Boy Who Could Fly". The restless spirits belong to an actual pair of 1927 French aviators who aviation historians believe made a successful transatlantic flight two weeks before Charles Lindbergh did in May, 1927. Their names were Charles Nungesser & Francois Coli (humorously played by Lothaire Bluteau & Michel Monty) and the prevailing theory is that they crashed in a isolated area of Newfoundland.

These two ghosts are tangible and approachable, even friendly although Nungesser works hard to give an unpleasant impression. Adults looking for gore, scares, and atmosphere will be disappointed although the film does succeed at developing a decent amount of tension.

Juliana Wimbles does a nice job as Katie, a twelve-year-old who has not yet accepted the death of her test pilot father and whose mother has parked her and her younger brother at their paternal grandmothers while playing around in Europe with a new romantic interest. Marsha Mason plays the grandmother who has had little contact with the two children prior to this visit. She happens to live near a haunted pond and in the tradition of "Sixth Sense" Katie soon discovers that only she and her brother can see the ghosts.

Because of her father's occupation Katie has a natural bond with the two French aviators and figures out why they have not passed on. In 1927 they became lost in the fog and crashed into the pond, on foggy days they must repeat the events that led to their deaths. Katie enlists the help of Andy (Ben Cook), a young neighbor who has a crush on her. They work to restore the wrecked plane so the ghost's can finally escape the pond. Suspense is generated by the interference of Andy's nasty sister, and by the competition of two archaeologists who are trying to unravel the unsolved mystery of the doomed flight.

In the process Katie is able to finally come to terms with the loss of her father. She gains an understanding of death from the disparate reactions of the two aviators to their ghostly situation. Nungesser, the pilot, is upset about losing out on the fame of the first transatlantic crossing and embarrassed at crashing. Coli, the navigator/mechanic is crushed by the realization that he will never see his family again. Katie begins to understand that her father was a mix of these two sets of motivations. Pay attention to Katie's interactions with the two aviators because it is in this substitute father/daughter dynamic that the film transcends the ordinary ghost story.

This is a well scripted and pleasant film with a very original premise that the whole family should enjoy, but don't expect shock and horror.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Touch of Aviation History with Disney Flare.......2003-05-16

Aviation Buffs will enjoy this story of 2 aviators trying to make first Transatlantic flight from France to USA. After crash landing in Newfoundland the deceased aviators spirits are seen by a girl with *The Gift* of being able to see them. The girls deceased father, a test pilot, had same insight. When they tell her there story she decides to help them retrieve their crashed plane from lake and help them to assemble plane to so they can continue their journey. Superb storyline that whole family can enjoy. Excellent ending, Don't miss this one. AAAAAAA+++++++

Poignant film for all the family.......2001-04-17

Some films never quite make it to the big time which is a shame because they have so much too offer but don't have the pulling power of a big name star behind them. "Restless Spirits" is such a film that has been overlooked and because of this many people are missing a treat of a film. Juliana Wimbles plays a young girl Katie traumatized by the death of her test pilot father. With her younger brother she is sent by her mother to stay with her Grandparents in Newfoundland. In trying to come to terms with the loss of her father she finds herself drawn into a 70-year-old mystery, the disappearance of two French aviators who were trying to beat Lindburgh on his epic journey across the Atlantic in 1927. The two pilots were killed when their plane crashed into a swamp one foggy night and their spirits are doomed to return whenever go reappears. Katie, sensitive to her own recent loss soon realizes that her two new ghostly friends will never find peace unless they can continue the journey that was so tragically cut short 70 years previously. Through shear determination Katie manages to retrieve most of the plane and put it back together with duct tape and tarpaulin. Unfortunately aviation historians are hot on the trail of the two missing pilots and whisk away the plane before Katie can decide how she is going to set her friends free. Aided by a skeptical young friend the young girl sets about helping the ghostly pilots make that one last journey that will free their restless spirits. The ending is a joy to watch, with wonderful special effects, a haunting musical score, and acting that brings a lump to your throat. Only watch this film if you want a gentle, slow moving plot about human nature, the strength of the human spirit and the dream that life after death just might be real. All in all, an excellent film for all the family.

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