Gulliver in Lilliput

In Hollywood s hands, who knows what might have happened in this Jonathan Swift classic. Such concerns can be shelved when the BBC s doing the moviemaking. Gulliver in Lilliput, shot in characteristically weird BBC style, is a delightfully acted and deliberately restrained (but not too restrained) adaptation of Lemuel Gulliver s most mesmerizing travel adventure. The plot will be familiar to anyone awake for a semester of freshman English lit: Ship s surgeon Gulliver goes overboard and washes ashore on the mythical island of Lilliput, where a cast of teensy-weensy kooks--each barely bigger than his baby toe--has tied him down as a security measure. The Lilliputians are a paranoid lot--the wildly narcissistic emperor and his self-congratulatory empress initially take Gulliver for a spy from a neighboring land with which they are warring over the proper way to crack an egg, but thrill-seeking Lelanda helps the man-mountain ingratiate himself to the bickering, bumbling royals. Flattery s the key: flinging around words like effulgent to describe the emperor s eyes scores him full acceptance and a following of compliment-chasers. But his shenanigan is short-lived. When the bottom drops out, Gulliver must beat it, leaving brave Lelanda behind and feeling curiously brokenhearted. The film s special effects aren t spectacular by today s standards, but the sets are inspired and the costumes great to look at. Most important, Swift s circa-1700 sense of humor translates through time and generations. For kids 8 and older, it s a jump on future homework, for those who ve already done their reading, it s a light, laugh-along refresher course. --Tammy La Gorce