Mr. Pip

Mr Pip is a 2012 New Zealand movie based on Lloyd Jones' novel Mister Pip. Andrew Adamson wrote the film adaption, which he also directed.

Andrew Adamson directs Hugh Laurie in this drama set during the 1990s civil war in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, following one girl’s fascination with the Charles Dickens’ novel ‘Great Expectations’. Adapted from the acclaimed 2006 novel by NZ author Lloyd Jones.

Shattered by the war over copper mining, Bougainville’s te­achers have fled. But the eccentric Mr. Watts (Laurie) has remained, the object of much curiosity and scorn who sweeps out the ruined schoolhouse and begins to read Dickens’ classic “Great Expectations” to the students. 14-year-old Matilda (Xzannjah), is transported into the Victorian world, finding inspiration in it while her everyday life is filled with harsh uncertainty as the realities of the civil war come to her village.

Critic Reviews:

• " Adapted from the best-selling novel by Lloyd Jones, Mr. Pip is a movie coming from a good place, destined to take you to a bad place. " – Leigh Paatsch

• " I love films that surprise me and this heartfelt and unexpectedly powerful film that uses Charles Dickens' Great Expectations as a catalyst for inspiration, certainly does that " – Louise Keller

• " Hugh Laurie as the children's teacher Mr Watts is both hauntingly sad and inspiring, and the captivating Xzannjah as Matilda is a natural. " – Rebecca Barry Hill